If the Yankees were able to acquire LF Alex Gordon from Kansas City for Gardner, what would their lineup look like in 2012?
Jeter
Gordon
Granderson
Cano
Texeira
Rodriguez
Swisher
Montero
Martin
I know that would put LH hitters in the 2-3-4 spots but I think this line up would really scare the heck out of opposing pitchers.
Keep juggling, but A-Rod’s not going from 4 to 6 even if it would be better for the team.
I think they’ll trade Montero in a package to get an arm.
Is that a trade that’s being discussed? I’m not sure why Kansas City would do it.
Texeira is a switch hitter and not a lefty, by the way. But either way I don’t think that’s how the lineup would look. I think Girardi is maried to having Rodriguez hit cleanup. I don’t know why he’s been hitting Texeira third instead of Cano - well, it’s because he didn’t want two lefties in a row, but giving at-bats to Tex and taking them away from Cano is stupid - but in the playoffs he may have finally gotten it right and put Cano third. We’ll see if they stick with that next year.
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Not really discussing a trade. It would be hard to get Gordon without giving up pitching and the Yankees can’t afford to give up many arms.
But with Gordon that would be an absolutely killer line up. With the right field fence in Yankee Stadium, he’d hit 30-35 HRs. Plus he just won a Gold Glove so they wouldn’t give up too much defense.
I know you mean by the respective GMs, but if you expand the discussion to include WFAN, platooning Pujols and Teixiera between 1B/DH is being discussed.
Uh huh. That would be brilliant! For the next five years they’d be paying $40-$45 million a year for two guys platooning between DH and 1B and forcing Alex Rodriguez to play 3B full time even though he’s missed at least 25 games a year for the last three years. This is why they don’t let WFAN callers run baseball teams.
Now that Cashman has 3 more years, they wouldn’t trade Montero for any other single player in the league. Not for Halladay, not for Lincecum and not for Verlander.
That’s just silly. Of course they’d do Montero for Verlander, probably for Lincecum as well. Yeah, they’re more expensive, but they are proven top of the line starters, versus a hitter without a real position who’s had one good month.
Heck, they’d probably trade Montero for Strasburg. Or Matt Moore. Or Trout. Or Harper. Montero’s a very good prospect, but he’s not the best in the game by a long shot.
Speaking as a Yankees fan…
The pitching was already mediocre, and hasn’t gotten better yet.
The lineup COULD be very, very good, but Jeter and A-Rod are getting old, and I’m not counting on them even being as good as in 2011. The Yanks have a LOT of money tied up in guys whose best years are well behind them.
Yeah, that definitely includes Mark Texeira.
I’ve heard Cashman speak of Montero as the one prospect that he would never trade. That said, if Detroit called and offered up Verlander, he might be “convinced” by Hank and Hal to make the trade.
Montero was part of the package for Cliff Lee that Seattle turned down, so Cashman would definitely trade him to get a front of the rotation starter. And why not? Where are the Yankees supposed to put Montero?
This is nonsense, Jesus Montero is a 1B/DH who the Yankees would more than happily trade for any of the guys you mentioned. Money is not an object, the Yankees would gladly pay the salaries for any of those aces; the problem is that they’re not free agents, so you can’t get them. Unless you trade for them, of course.
Never mind the fact that the Yankees would have to give up Montero plus quite a bit more to get any of those guys. All this “Montero is untradeable” nonsense is just PR to inflate his value.
Why would the Royals do that? They have Lorenzo Cain being prepared for CF, with Bubba Starling waiting in the wings several years down the line from that. Gordon is one of the best defensive LFs in the game right now, has a good bat, and an ideal contract. The Royals don’t gain much from that trade whatsoever.
Gardner is no slouch in the field either and led the league in stolen bases.
I am not claiming they would. But…they need pitching and they would get a decent LFer plus a highly regarded young arm who together will make far less than Gordon. How about throwing in Cervelli or someone like Kontos or Warren.
A fan can dream, can’t they?
The Royals should do it because Gardner is cheaper and better. I’m just not sure why the Yankees would be interested.
+1
I was impressed by him in his limited time at the end of the year, but he has no real position.
I don’t know. Gordon had a much better year this year than Gardner. About the only category Gardner comes out on top is stolen bases. Gordon won a Gold Glove, has far more power, hit 40 points higher etc. What makes you think Gardner is a better player?
The fact that Gordon won the gold glove doesn’t mean he is a better fielder, it mostly means that gold glove voters like to reward good offensive seasons. There isn’t really much question among the advanced defensive metrics that Gardner is the top defensive left field in the league and more than capable of playing center. Gardner also walks more, strikeout less, is generally healthier, and of course is an outstanding runner. Oh and unlikely Gordon, he has had more than one good year.
Maybe, but Cashman said the same thing about Joba, and didn’t trade him when they had a chance to get Halladay, if I recall correctly. I thought that was dumb at the time.
I didn’t say Gordon was better defensively. But the difference between Gardner’s superior defense to Gordon’s defense is far, far less than the difference between Gordon’s superior offense to Gardner’s borderline pathetic offense. Gordon is considered to be an excellent left fielder. And I’m not understanding what you mean by Gardner having more than one good year. When did he have a good year? When he hit .277 with a .379 slugging percentage, a paltry 5 HRs and 47 rbis? That is what you consider a good year for a corner outfielder?
And Gordon can also play both infield corners so if you want to argue versatility I think you’ll lose there.