Solving The Yankees DH Conundrum
The recent blockbuster trade between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners has provided the Evil Empire with a top of the rotation counterpart to CC Sabathia. Their biggest weakness heading into the season, a high upside arm to slot behind CC, has been filled. However it came at the cost of Jesus Montero, an outstanding young hitter who was likely to fill the DH role for the upcoming season.
As soon as the trade was completed rumours were swirling about how the Yankees were going to sign Carlos Pena or even Prince Fielder. These names were never a realistic option, as Jon Heyman points out that the Yankees are only expected to have $1-2 million available. So that means no Johnny Damon, no Pena and no Fielder. So what can the Yankees do to upgrade their DH position?
One solution is to use the DH to rotate their regular starters. It’s not a bad idea, given that Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are older players who need a day off the field in order to remain productive at the plate. However, that would mean that typical backups Ramiro Pena or Eduardo Nunez would get significantly more play time, which is never a good thing.
It’s clear the Yankees need to find a part time DH, preferably one who is cheap, left handed, and can play an infield role. Fortunately, such a player exists, and has even played for the Yankees before. So who is this mysterious player?
Wilson Betemit.
Yes, he struggled in his first tour of duty with the Yankees. But he’s a much improved player now, and over the past two seasons has been excellent in a platoon role against right handed pitching (posting an 865 OPS last season and 873 in 2010). He’s capable of playing third base, which would allow the Yankees to rest the increasingly injury prone A-Rod at DH while giving Betemit a chance to play in the field. Essentially the Yankees would keep all their key bats in the game vs a right handed pitcher, while giving A-Rod a chance to rest his body. Betemit is a poor defender, but the Yankees would gladly take a hit in defence if it meant that Rodriguez would play in more games. And if Rodriguez does go down with an injury, Betemit would act as a more than capable substitute until A-Rod returns. Currently the Yankees don’t have a quality infield backup, so Betemit fills that role as well as that of the platoon designated hitter.
Betemit earned $1 million last season, posting a 795 OPS with the Royals and Tigers in 97 games. Because of his low counting stats (8 HR, 46 runs driven in) it’s unlikely that he would be due for a significant raise. Even if the Yankees double his salary, Betemit would still fit within the Yankees budget while significantly upgrading the roster.
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If Carlos Pena isn’t an option because of salary, or his want to not be a part time DH, Betemit is the best option available. I wouldn’t mind bringing back Chavez and signing Betemit if the budget and roster can fit it in.
Maybe Hal or Cashman would find some extra money in the cushions if Pena stated he would take on the lesser role to play for a winner!! Would it be a lesser role really? He would be the primary DH against righties, which we would see a majority of the time…so he could realistically start 100+ games as a DH and some others as 1st base when Tex is off or worse yet…injured!