The next line is going to be hard for me to read later and it’s something I wish I didn’t have to write, but here goes: is most likely not going to be back with the Yankees in 2013. Writing that sucked. I’ve been a Nick Swisher fan (almost to a fault) since the day he arrived in the Bronx, and he’s served the team well. Not including last night’s game, Swisher has hit .267/.365/.485/.850, good enough for a 123 OPS+ and a .367 wOBA and a 125 wRC+. He’s been worth 8.7 bWAR and 13.6 fWAR. His run with the Yankees has been nothing short of successful, but with the $189M budget looming, it’s unlikely that Swisher is back. And he seems to know it:
“I’ve been thinking a lot,” Swisher said. “That word ‘regret’ kind of pops into my head. That’s the last thing that I want to have, regardless of whatever my situation is next year. I want to enjoy this time that I have now and just soak it up, and we’ll see what happens.”
If Swisher weren’t playing well, I’d label that quote “dead man walking.” Instead, taking his good play into consideration, it’s just sad. Swisher has been productive and a great influence in the Yankee clubhouse; he will be missed when he’s gone. Again, typing that was hard and accepting that he’ll be gone is the hardest part. Perhaps, though, reading that quote from Swisher will be helpful. He seems to know the situation and if knows it and is comfortable with it, then we (I) should be as well.
Seeing a good player go because of issues not related to his performance is crappy. But, it’s business and not personal. The Yankees can’t make decisions based on how likable a player is or how much the fans like him; that’d obviously be bad business. But that’s only part of the case here. Swisher is still productive and probably has some good years left. Joel Sherman reported that the Yankees will extend a qualifying offer to Nick Swisher and would love to have him accept. I doubt he does that, but if there’s been one player that would accept a “hometown discount” to stay in New York, I think it’d be Swisher. And of course, there’s always the chance that the Yankees finagle things to keep him and trade to free up room and money (both YFU and RAB have touched on this and I’ll add my two cents: I wouldn’t mind seeing this happen. Granderson is trending towards Three-True Outcomes-ville and his defense in center is going downhill; he’s also likely to require longer and more expensive commitment than Swisher would. But, of course, there’s risk: What if they trade Granderson and Swisher leverages a better deal somewhere else? The Yanks’d be pretty screwed.
It sucks and I hate it and I’ll go kicking and screaming, but I think I need to come to terms with the fact that Nick Swisher is unlikely to be a Yankee in 2013. We’ll miss you a ton, Swish, and we’ll love your (probable) last few months in pinstripes.
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4 Responses to Trying to come to terms
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TIQ IQ
I too would rather keep swisher for 3-4 years rather than Granderson for 4-5 years. I think it would take minimum 5 years to keep Curtis, but I never loved his defense in center. His future is in right and if his legs go sooner than later, he could lose power and speed.
It’s funny that 189 million dollar budget should have Yankee fans so glum, but here we are.
I brought this up a mth or so ago on some other forums…the yanks need to keep swisher and trade grandy. They cannot afford cano and grandy w/o crippling their payroll. If u do the math @ cano 20 mil + a yr. Grandy probably 17 mil + a yr then the yanks will b left w about 60 + mil for everything else. Grandy is turning into the next rob deer or dave kingman w a little more speed. Swisher brings energy and hustle to a team that can really use it. Certain teams might b willing to trade for him in a trade of OF. Justin upton maybe. Or they can sign a guy like bourn or span and have two base stealers w gardner which would bring a better balance to their lineup. I would love to see two guys who could steal 40 + on the yanks roster. Tthe yanks have enough power i think they can afford to loose grandy. Plus we need a 3b bad. Arod stats r way better in the DH role this yr. Mcgahee might could b a sleeper as he had some solid yrs up till a couple seasons ago. But hes probably more suited for a platoon role. We cant keep crippling the payroll w huge contracts and i dont see grandy repeating 2011 although the power should maintain for a few more yrs. Swisher would b a much better option. Esp w upton probably on the trade block this winter.
As much as I love both of them, I’d let both Granderson and Cano walk and keep Swisher. I think Swish’s skill set ages much better than those of the other two, and he will be cheaper to boot. It will be sad seeing them go, but paying through the nose for their decline years will be even sadder.
I’m not opposed to letting any player go if it makes sense for the team but if you’re going to make that move you damn well better have a replacement (and no, Suzuki is not a replacement for Swisher). I can’t think of who the Yankees would get to replace Swisher or Cano. Yes, they can downgrade at those positions (more likely at 2B since they have potential in-house replacements) and use the money to upgrade elsewhere but the question remains the same – who do you propose to bring in?