May 22-29 In Review

This past week I’ve been away from blogging because I haven’t found the time. Anyway, I wanted to take a quick look at what has happened in Yankee land lately.

May 22nd 3-5 loss to the Mets

May 23rd 4-6 loss to the Mets

May 24th Off day

May 25th Game pushed back in Minnesota to the next day

May 26th 1-0 win against the Twins in completion of suspended game; 3-2 win against the Twins

May 27th 2-8 loss to the Twins

May 28th 8-2 win versus the Indians

Notes

• Curtis Granderson was activated yesterday after being on the DL since May 1st. He played yesterday but Girardi is trying to ease him back in so he is getting today off.
• Randy Winn was designated for assignment to make room for Granderson on the roster. Was it the right move? I expected Kevin Russo to be sent down to AAA. I’m not saying it was a bad move, I just was surprised by it.
• Jorge Posada is ready to begin movement exercises and could be hitting off a tee in a few days.
• Chad Gaudin is back, and making room for him on roster is Boone Logan who was sent down to Scranton. I for one I happy to see Gaudin back with the Yankees and happy to see Logan out of the major league bullpen.

It's great to have Granderson back in center.

Enter Randy Winn

Finally proving that the “budget” does exist for the Yankees, New York have come to terms with outfielder Randy Winn on a 1 year deal thought to be worth around 2 million dollars according to Joel Sherman. My initial reaction was, “ugh.” But it only took  a few minutes to settle down and think about the deal before I began to change my mind. So if you oppose the deal right now, I suggest you stay open and really think about it.

In signing Winn the Yankees have filled their desire for another outfield bat that would come fairly cheap. There were other options on the market for the Yankees to explore, and a couple names that come to mind are Johnny Damon and Reed Johnson. Damon as we know is still looking for a 7 million dollar deal, which I don’t think he’s going to find. Wow, Boras really screwed him up. Well, goodbye Johnny, we knew you well and I wish you good luck no matter where you end up (even if you have to sign with the Newark Bears). As far as Reed Johnson goes, the Yankees consider Randy Winn a better overall player than Reed Johnson, according to Sherman.

Now, time to analyze Randy Winn. Winn will be turning 36 years old this season so he’s not a youngster, but he has been pretty durable. Winn is a switch hitter with a career .286 average, and he plays pretty good defense. His career average UZR/150 for the outfield is 4.0, and last year he put up a 17.4 UZR/150 in right field (his primary position). He also played 54 games in left field last year and he posted an insane 40.6 UZR/150 out there, but keep in mind that is a small sample size. As far as wins above replacement, Winn’s average WAR is slightly above 3 which is pretty good. Last year Winn had a 1.9 WAR. So even in 2009 which was considered Winn’s bad year he was worth about 2 wins above replacement level. If he can provide that for the Yankees he will be providing more than enough. Overall, I like the move very much to get Winn, and I also hear he’s a great clubhouse guy which can’t hurt. So thumbs up for Brian Cashman.

Plus, if he wears those cool glasses in pinstripes how can you not like him?