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QUITE FRANKLY: Who Should Be Playing CF?
By Frank Negron Jr. on June 13th, 2008 7:14 AM |
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One of the things that made the Yankees great during their last Dynasty was their stability in centerfield. Bernie Williams, following in the cleats of greats like Mantle and DiMaggio, patrolled center in six World Series, winning four rings along the way. Bernie could run, he could hit and he could field. Ok so he couldn’t throw but with all the upside, the throwing aspect of Bernie’s game was his only downside. Nowadays Melky Cabrera mans CF. But there’s some debate about whether or not he should be the man out there.
Many people, such as myself, are Melky Cabrera fans. I love the guy’s arm. When there’s a ball hit to him and he’s getting ready to try and throw out a runner don’t tell me you don’t start to get excited. His arm is incredible. His fast start this season made you wonder, can Melky be a top notch CF? Does he have the power to go along with his arm? He’s a decent .280 or .290 hitter. He runs pretty well, he’s not slow. But since that quick start this season Melky has cooled off. He’s only had three extra base hits in his last 30 games. He’s missplayed a few flyballs that have caused a few unearned runs. So shall we ask the question, is Melky Cabrera the Yankees CF of the future? Or is he holding that spot warm for highly touted prospect Brett Gardner?
Gardner was selected in the third round of the 2005 draft. Down in the minors everyone is raving about him. He has a career .387 OBP since he started playing in the Yankee organization. He has a .290 average to go along with 141 stolen bases. Now for the stuff that is making people in the organization drool: through 60 games he’s tripled his homerun total of the previous two seasons combined. He’s slugging .454, 80 points better than his career average. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Now he doesn’t have the arm Melky does but those offensive numbers to go along with his speed surely raise the question of who’s better suited for CF.
Gardner is only a year older than Cabrera. The Yankees have a good dilemma on their hands. I can see both of these guys running flyballs down in the outfield for years to come. In the near future why not have Melky in left and Gardner in center.
I believe Gardner will one day take over the Yankees CF job because of all the hype we’ve heard about him. Melky is a solid baseball player. He will improve with time. I can’t wait to see them side by side out there. Until then I like Melky in CF but I want to see what Gardner can do at the major league level. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ll get to see the future of the Yankees right before my eyes. Who do you think should be playing CF?
There are currently 10 responses to “QUITE FRANKLY: Who Should Be Playing CF?”
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I am also a Melky fan and believe he has tremendous promise. In fact, as a Yankee, I think he can be a 20-25 home run guy and as you said, bat around .280/.290 consistently. He’ll never be among the elite center fielders in the game, but I think he’ll eventually mature enough to be much better with the glove than he is now. If not in center field though, that cannon belongs in right field for sure.
I think his critics get on him a little unfairly, considering how young he is, but that said, he has been around long enough now where this must be his break out year. That excuse won’t work forever, and he needs to start showing a little more life at the plate or Gardner WILL take his spot in the future. As we all know, Yankee tradition is built on center fielders, and when they weren’t winning, they didn’t have one-my apologies to Roberto Kelly.
I trust that his relationship with A-Rod (who say what you want about him, but the guy is a workhorse) will overcompensate for his playhouse relationship with Cano (who I love at the plate, but does he play the laziest second base you have ever seen?!) Not to mention, being around a lot of those other veterans is good for any young player.
You could argue that Melky projects to be a .290 hitter, but you’re drinking krazy kool-aid to call him “a decent .280 or .290 hitter” right now. He’s a .261 hitter who should definitely have his average up above .270 by season’s end, but I see no evidence that the kid’s ceiling is much higher than .280. Which is another reason why you won’t see Melky ever moved permanently to the corner outfield. Melky ’s offense is passable while he plays an above-average centerfield. His hitting becomes an issue if you move him from center, and in particular, he does not have the sort of pop that you expect from your corner outfielders.
HE IS 23 YEARS OLD!!!!!!
Let’s talk about Cano being a lazy second baseman.
cabrera finished the season around the .280 mark last season. i think he’s only going to get better but yes right now he’s a .260 hitter. I think being around cano too much is hurting him bc i see cano being extremly lazy myself. but he too will learn. im older than melky so i know if i were out there it’d be hard to be consistent. once his body matures a little more, so will his game. but i really wanna see what this gardner kid can do
Melky’s career average has dropped to .268 – is he still a .290 hitter?
How old is Melky?
HE IS 23 YEARS OLD!!!!!!
haha
im still a melky fan but melky is playing poorly…i like the fact that the yanks are trying gardner out there. at this point he cant do any worse than melky.
what about Austin Jackson?