The Yankees have picked up the power hitting switch hitter from the White Sox. He will definitely add strike outs and some pop to the Yankees.
I would basically describe him as a much cheaper version of Jason Giambi (both get alot of walks) who can switch hit and play some outfield.
The Yankees gave up minor league pitcher Jeffrey Marquez who pitched well a couple of years ago at AA; however, he did not pitch nearly as well at AAA.
This leaves Mark Teixeira to the next highest bidder as the Yankees will play Swisher at first.
The news out of Mets camp is also that they will focus their entire free agent checkbook on pitching.
Yaros
The move does not mean the Yanks won't chase Teixiera.
ReplyDeleteSwisher could be their go-to guy off the bench. He could be replacing Betemit, the guy they traded for him. Huge upgrade there.
Plus, Swisher can play the outfield, and without Abreu, the Yankees don't have three everyday-type outfielders. Swisher could find himself platooning out there, leaving first base open.
Finally, Swisher could be a fallback option. Outside of Teixiera, who is there? If the Yankees miss out on him, they need someone, and Swisher is who they'd turn to. They don't need to commit to him yet, but having him available makes it easier if they do lose out on Teixiera.