The OF Question

The New York Yankees started the season with three $13/yr guys across the outfield, one is down for most of the season, one has just come off the DL and the other is playing with a broken bone is his foot. What options do the Yankees have? The longer haired member of the 3,079 Miles... team investigates:

Melky Cabrera - 21 We all know Melky came up last year and looked overmatched both at the plate and in the field. He's up again but this time he looks a bit more ready for the big dance. He looks average in the field, still nervous but made a very nice play on Friday night and seems to be gaining in confidence. At the plate he is without doubt the best option we have, he has patience and although his power numbers are woeful, he is getting bat on ball and has delivered seven RBIs this week (leading my keeper fantasy team). As long as Matsui is down and Sheffield is DHing, this is the kid I want starting.

Bernie Williams - 37 We all love Bernie, but his days as an everyday outfielder are behind him. He is struggling from the left hand side of the plate (.214) but is hitting a stunning .374 against lefties this season. He should be nothing more than a spot starter against a slow throwing lefty pitcher and pinch hitter, if the Yankees limit his role to just that then he'll be an asset to this team.

Bubba Crosby - 29 Bubba has a lot of love amongst Yankee fans but the reality is that he'll only ever be a 4th or 5th OF on any decent ML Baseball team. Shows good hustle with a good glove, but his batting is not great and we have better bats in the minors.

Kevin Thompson - 26 Kevin is back and hit a HR last night for Triple A Columbus. If the Yankees need an everyday RF if Sheffield is consigned to DHing for the majority of the near future, then this is the kid to add to the Cabrera and Damon led OF. He has hit the ball hard down in the minors and is of similar make up to Andy Phillips (who is being under utilized at the big club also). It has been a surprise he's not been in the mix to come up yet.

Terrence Long - 30 Not wanted by the Kansas City Royals but is yet good enough to play for the New York Yankees, I do love the logic in that. Long should not be around the great ballclub, let alone part of the 25 man roster. Long is the worst option, even worse than the final one I'm going to talk about...

Richard Hidalgo - 29 The only reason this guy is above Long is that when he gets in a groove he does seem to hit the ball hard for ten games or so in a row. He is extremely streaky but could provide some pop off the bench but he smacks of Raul Mondesi, talented but lazy.

So there we have it, it doesn't look great on paper but it could be worse. Melky is really staking his claim to be the answer, the next few weeks are big for him. Success means that the Yankees have an alternative to triggering Gary Sheffield's $13m option for the 2007 season, and winning the starting RF job for the New York Yankees, no pressure there then kid.