MVN - Most Valuable Network

Yankees Ink Ensberg/Mariners Sign Wilkerson

• The New York Yankees attempted to solidify first-base today, signing infielder Morgan Ensberg to a 1-year deal. Ensberg has always had adequate power, hitting 36 bombs in 2005 and 23 more in 2006, but only hit 12 home-runs between the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres last season. He’s been primarily a third-baseman his entire career, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does on the other side of the infield. He’s probably a better bet than Wilson Betemit or Shelley Duncan, but will have to show that he still has the power which he had back in 2005.
• The Seattle Mariners have signed outfielder Brad Wilkerson to a 1-year contract worth $3M. He will have another $2M in incentives built into the deal. The 30-year old Florida native hit .234 last season with 20 HR and 64 RBI. His stats should decline a bit moving from Arlington to spacious Safeco, but agent Scott Boras believes he will be a valuable piece even if the Mariners don’t trade Adam Jones.

TG Analysis

David Golebiewski’s Take

Morgan Ensberg

A late bloomer (his first 400+ AB season came at age 28), Ensberg’s career has hit an unfortunate snag due to  nagging shoulder and ankle maladies. The 32 year-old is career .265/.366/.476 hitter who offers a patient approach, but his power and bat speed are serious question marks at this point. His strikeout rate skyrocketed with the Padres (29.2%) and he hit a paltry .215/.305/.356 against righthanders in 2007.

In the Bronx, Ensberg joins a crowded field of first basemen attempting to keep Jason Giambi as far away from a glove as humanly possible. If Ensberg were to make the team, his role would be lefty masher (he still managed a .257/.345/.486 line against southpaws in ‘07). However, Shelley Duncan (.262/.340/.583 against lefties at AAA Scranton/WB) serves the same purpose and has more experience at the position, not to mention the presence of underrated utility man Wilson Betemit, who figures to see his share of at bats as well.

Ensberg faces an uphill climb to break camp with New York and figures to be back on the market in a few weeks.

Brad Wilkerson

A few years back, “The Last Expo” looked poised to become a star-caliber hitter, offering healthy walk rates, power and underrated athleticism.

Injuries, however, have derailed that plan. The lefthanded hitter scuffled in his 2-year stint with the Rangers, hitting .222/.300/.422 in ‘06 and .234/.317/.467 in ‘07. Shoulder problems have contributed to Wilkerson’s increased K Rates (always rather high, but 31.9% in ‘06 and 27.6% in ‘07). There’s some upside here, in that Wilkerson is still only 30 and possess the patience and pop to contribute better than average production if healthy. He won’t be helped by his change of home ballparks (2005- 2007 lefthanded HR factor for Arlington: 124; Safeco, 92), but Wilkerson is a shrewd buy-low candidate. He figures to replace the kinda/sorta/maybe traded Adam Jones in right field.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Brad Wilkerson, Morgan Ensberg, Mariners, Yankees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.