the dump's sportslog - baseball analysis |
|
|
Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.
syndicate us (XML)
the other site thedump.org baseball resources aaron's baseball blog at home plate bambino's curse baseball america baseball blogs baseball interactive baseball junkie baseball musings baseball news blog baseball primer baseball prospectus baseball-reference batter's box bronx banter clark & addison clutch hits cub reporter dan lewis dick allen's dodger thoughts doug pappas blog dugout dollars elephants in oakland espn.com - mlb for rich or sporer futility infielder game chatter hardball times humbug indians report jeremy heit's julien's mike's baseball rants mlb center my d-rays blog newberg report no pepper only baseball matters replacement level rich's baseball beat rob neyer seth speaks some calzone the prospect report the raindrops the transaction guy transaction oracle twins geek universal blog uss mariner wait til next year will carroll's offseason GM recaps Baird(KC) Bavasi(SEA) Beane(OAK) Beattie(BAL) Beinfest(FLA) Cashman(NYY) scoreboards espn.com mlb.com talk to us matt barnard dan stein write to us matt barnard dan stein general feedback buy these books book of bball lineups moneyball nbjhba win shares blogroll us Archives 
|
6.06.2003
Yanks acquire Ruben Sierra New York Yankees get: Ruben Sierra. Texas Rangers get: Marcus Thames. There's been an awful lot of talk in New York in recent days about the Yankees desperate need for a left-handed bat off the bench or an outfielder to play some until Bernie Williams returns from injury (around the All-Star Break), as current left fielder Juan Rivera has been stinking it up (.204/.250/.286 in 52 plate apperances). I think the desperation is a bit overblown, but the Yanks could certainly use some help to, at the very least, lighten the load placed on the young and inexperienced Rivera, who is in a tough spot as a starting corner outfielder on a team like the Yankees. I'm far from optimistic about what Ruben Sierra will bring to the team...but he is a switch-hitter who can play the outfield adequately and will likely have no problem being brought off the bench as a spot starter and pinch hitter once Bernie returns. He doesn't have much of a platoon split over the past three years (he's .293/.328/.430 vs. lefties and .269/.313/.484 vs. righties) and in what is almost certainly meaningless, June's been his best month in that time frame by a significant margin, as he's posted a .313/.328/.609 line at the time of the year where the Yanks are really going to lean on him most heavily. So while I'm not particularly excited about the acquisition of Sierra, he's cheap ($600,000 this season) and will probably be useful. And to get him, the Yanks only had to give up Marcus Thames, who is a borderline prospect who had one incredible minor league season, but that's about it. There wasn't much future for him in the Yankee organization anyway, so maybe he'll get some opportunities for a Texas team that trotted out Donnie Sadler in left the other afternoon in Atlanta. I was at a Yankees-Diamondbacks game last summer and got to see Thames hit the first pitch he saw in the majors for a home run...off Randy Johnson no less...which was pretty cool. - |