If The Yankees Could Somehow Get Carl Crawford...

[The Q Bomb]

If The Yanks could put together a package for Carl Crawford and manage to get even a second tier set-up guy I think this off-season would be a success.

Of course, I don't know that or even think that Crawford is on the market - but The D-Rays do have an abundance of young, speedy outfielders. They have no pitching - well, except for Kazmir. The Yankees have a surplus of pitching. While the quality of that pitching surplus may be debatable, I could see giving up Small and a top pitching prospect or even Wang and a top pitching prospect or Wang and Wright or Pavano with The Yanks picking up a good portion of the salary for either pitcher.

The pitching would definitely help The Rays and Crawford would solve several problems with the Yankee line-up. It would give us a legitimate lead-off guy and allow us to put Jeter back in the two hole where he rightly belongs. A line-up with Jeter second, A-Rod third or fourth, and Sheffield right behind him would be pretty awesome. If Giambi has a year like last year (minus April and May) it would be a dangerous line-up indeed. Crawford would bring much needed speed to the line-up.

A line-up like that would or should allow The Yanks to get by with a second tier set-up guy until such time that they can land a top level guy. A trade such as I outlined would also still leave us with Johnson, Mussina, Small or Wang, Chacon, Wright or Pavano. I would like to see The Yanks give Proctor a chance to start (a real chance - at least half of a season; not to bench him in May after 4 or 5 bad starts) - I think he might surprise them.

What do you guys think?

[I Love Wang]

Originally Posted by The Q Bomb

If The Yanks could put together a package for Carl Crawford and manage to get even a second tier set-up guy I think this off-season would be a success.

Of course, I don't know that or even think that Crawford is on the market - but The D-Rays do have an abundance of young, speedy outfielders. They have no pitching - well, except for Kazmir. The Yankees have a surplus of pitching. While the quality of that pitching surplus may be debatable, I could see giving up Small and a top pitching prospect or even Wang and a top pitching prospect or Wang and Wright or Pavano with The Yanks picking up a good portion of the salary for either pitcher.

The pitching would definitely help The Rays and Crawford would solve several problems with the Yankee line-up. It would give us a legitimate lead-off guy and allow us to put Jeter back in the two hole where he rightly belongs. A line-up with Jeter second, A-Rod third or fourth, and Sheffield right behind him would be pretty awesome. If Giambi has a year like last year (minus April and May) it would be a dangerous line-up indeed. Crawford would bring much needed speed to the line-up.

A line-up like that would or should allow The Yanks to get by with a second tier set-up guy until such time that they can land a top level guy. A trade such as I outlined would also still leave us with Johnson, Mussina, Small or Wang, Chacon, Wright or Pavano. I would like to see The Yanks give Proctor a chance to start (a real chance - at least half of a season; not to bench him in May after 4 or 5 bad starts) - I think he might surprise them.

What do you guys think?

I think I'm sick of people who don't understand baseball pointing out every fast guy and saying we should trade real value to get him to lead off instead of Jeter. Crawford has a .320 career OBP. Jeter has a career .386 OBP. Jeter, in his career, has hit slightly better in the leadoff spot than in the second spot. Why should he hit second?

[Sam18]

Originally Posted by I Love Wang

I think I'm sick of people who don't understand baseball pointing out every fast guy and saying we should trade real value to get him to lead off instead of Jeter. Crawford has a .320 career OBP. Jeter has a career .386 OBP. Jeter, in his career, has hit slightly better in the leadoff spot than in the second spot. Why should he hit second?

Cuz he wears #2!! That would be COOOOOL!!!!

[panicfan]

Just because Jeter is a good leadoff hitter doesn't mean the team isn't better served with him batting 2.

Originally Posted by I Love Wang

I think I'm sick of people who don't understand baseball pointing out every fast guy and saying we should trade real value to get him to lead off instead of Jeter. Crawford has a .320 career OBP. Jeter has a career .386 OBP. Jeter, in his career, has hit slightly better in the leadoff spot than in the second spot. Why should he hit second?

[I Love Wang]

Originally Posted by panicfan

Just because Jeter is a good leadoff hitter doesn't mean the team isn't better served with him batting 2.

How would the team be better served by moving Jeter to number 2, and giving the most at-bats on the team to a guy with a below-average OBP at the expense of the much better hitters in the lineup?

[Michaels07]

Tampa`s new ownership will not trade him.

[Sam18]

Originally Posted by panicfan

Just because Jeter is a good leadoff hitter doesn't mean the team isn't better served with him batting 2.

Jeter is a better hitter when leading off. Check the stats.

[Yankees1962]

Tampa is not going to trade Crawford after signing a long-term contract with him that is financially sound for the organization. That ownership group is trying to build something down there with young and exciting players. This thread needs to die quickly.

[The Q Bomb]

Originally Posted by panicfan

Just because Jeter is a good leadoff hitter doesn't mean the team isn't better served with him batting 2.

Exactly. Frankly, I didn't realize that Jeter has a better OBP than Crawford, but Jeter does not create the same kind of nervousness in the opposition as does Crawford. Jeter is not as fast and does not steal as many bases. Jeter is a good lead-off hitter, but I think Crawford would be better. Also, I don't know Crawford's age, but I believe he is young enough that one should expect him to increase his OBP as time goes on (if he is smart enough)!

Secondly, Jeter does not play centerfielder and The Yankees need a centerfield. I understand Crawford is a corner outfielder now, but believe he can play center thusly, he would fill two holes.

[Yankees1962]

Originally Posted by The Q Bomb

Exactly. Frankly, I didn't realize that Jeter has a better OBP than Crawford, but Jeter does not create the same kind of nervousness in the opposition as does Crawford. Jeter is not as fast and does not steal as many bases. Jeter is a good lead-off hitter, but I think Crawford would be better. Also, I don't know Crawford's age, but I believe he is young enough that one should expect him to increase his OBP as time goes on (if he is smart enough)!

Secondly, Jeter does not play centerfield and The Yankees need a centerfield. I understand Crawford is a corner outfielder now, but believe he can play center thusly, he would fill two holes.

You need two teams to make a trade and there is no incentive for Tampa to help out the Yankees.

[I Love Wang]

Originally Posted by The Q Bomb

Exactly. Frankly, I didn't realize that Jeter has a better OBP than Crawford, but Jeter does not create the same kind of nervousness in the opposition as does Crawford. Jeter is not as fast and does not steal as many bases. Jeter is a good lead-off hitter, but I think Crawford would be better. Also, I don't know Crawford's age, but I believe he is young enough that one should expect him to increase his OBP as time goes on (if he is smart enough)!

Secondly, Jeter does not play centerfield and The Yankees need a centerfield. I understand Crawford is a corner outfielder now, but believe he can play center thusly, he would fill two holes.

You are very wrong. The next time you're confused about stats, look some up. That 66 points of OBP are infinitely more valuable that the nervousness that Crawford produces. There is no way that Crawford would be a better leadoff hitter than Jeter, because he doesn't get on nearly enough to do significant damage with his legs. And taking walks is not usually an acquired skill. You either do it, or you don't.

[panicfan]

That's fine,

I'm just saying its not like he's a horrible 2 hitter. So if we got a traditional leadoff guy its not like the team would fall apart. And stats aside, my baseball gut likes Jeter in the 2 hole.

Forget Crawford, is it the end of the world if the 1 hole has a .320 obp and te 2 hole has a .382 obp? That sounds pretty good to me.

Originally Posted by Sam18

Jeter is a better hitter when leading off. Check the stats.

[Sam18]

Originally Posted by panicfan

That's fine,

I'm just saying its not like he's a horrible 2 hitter. So if we got a traditional leadoff guy its not like the team would fall apart. And stats aside, my baseball gut likes Jeter in the 2 hole.

Forget Crawford, is it the end of the world if the 1 hole has a .320 obp and te 2 hole has a .382 obp? That sounds pretty good to me.

If your leadoff hitter has a .320 OBP then your team has serious problems. And why isn't Jeter the "traditional" leadoff hitter?

[I Love Wang]

Originally Posted by panicfan

That's fine,

I'm just saying its not like he's a horrible 2 hitter. So if we got a traditional leadoff guy its not like the team would fall apart. And stats aside, my baseball gut likes Jeter in the 2 hole.

Forget Crawford, is it the end of the world if the 1 hole has a .320 obp and te 2 hole has a .382 obp? That sounds pretty good to me.

"Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have sh!t for brains. "

Your baseball gut runs contrary to a huge volume of statistical evidence. There's a reason that we use statistics. They avoid the kind of baseless subjective judgements like "my baseball gut likes Jeter in the 2 hole." Its not the end of the world if you have a leadoff man with a .320obp and a #2 hitter with a .386obp. But that, especially combined with the fact that you're stealing at-bats from Rodriguez, Sheffield, Matsui, and Giambi, is horrendously stupid baseball strategy.

[YankeePride1967]

Originally Posted by panicfan

That's fine,

I'm just saying its not like he's a horrible 2 hitter. So if we got a traditional leadoff guy its not like the team would fall apart. And stats aside, my baseball gut likes Jeter in the 2 hole.

Forget Crawford, is it the end of the world if the 1 hole has a .320 obp and te 2 hole has a .382 obp? That sounds pretty good to me.

A .320 OBP, you are talking Tony Womack level.

[Sam18]

Originally Posted by GoRocket

A .320 OBP, you are talking Tony Womack level.

I think you're being too kind to Mr. Womack.

[whalers]

Originally Posted by I Love Wang

I think I'm sick of people who don't understand baseball pointing out every fast guy and saying we should trade real value to get him to lead off instead of Jeter. Crawford has a .320 career OBP. Jeter has a career .386 OBP. Jeter, in his career, has hit slightly better in the leadoff spot than in the second spot. Why should he hit second?

I agree. I like Jeter at leadoff. He ranks among the top in every category you would want to see a leadoff hitter succeed. He had better stats as a leadoff hitter than Johnny Damon this past season. I do like the idea of Crawford. I doubt they would trade him since he is signed longterm. They will be dealing an outfielder at some point but my bet is on Huff. I'd settle with Gathright. Doesnt have the bat but he has the glove and would come much cheaper.

[I Love Wang]

Originally Posted by Sam18

I think you're being too kind to Mr. Womack.

His career OBP is exactly 4 points lower than Crawford's.

[panicfan]

Well its a good thing we have a baseball genius like you around. Isn't Jeter a player who's value goes beyond stats?
Please, its not like Jeter's been a leadoff guy his entire career.

Originally Posted by I Love Wang

"Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have sh!t for brains. "

Your baseball gut runs contrary to a huge volume of statistical evidence. There's a reason that we use statistics. They avoid the kind of baseless subjective judgements like "my baseball gut likes Jeter in the 2 hole." Its not the end of the world if you have a leadoff man with a .320obp and a #2 hitter with a .386obp. But that, especially combined with the fact that you're stealing at-bats from Rodriguez, Sheffield, Matsui, and Giambi, is horrendously stupid baseball strategy.

[YankeePride1967]

Originally Posted by Sam18

I think you're being too kind to Mr. Womack.

To take this strategy further, we should move A-Rod and Sheffield to 8 and 9 in the order.