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Sound-off: Brett versus Melky
Yankee Stadium has been home to the greatest profusion of center fielders the game has ever known. In a nearly unbroken string, we have seen Earle Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bobby Murcer, Mickey Rivers, and Bernie Williams all patrol the hallowed grounds of the grand stadium. Tonight, we may have seen the first night of the Brett Gardner era in center field. Is Brett the man for the job; is it too early to give up on Melky; or, perhaps, will the Yanks go out and get another center fielder through trade or free agency? You guys need to tell us, but I’ll give you a few facts to think about as you make your decision.
Age: People might be surprised to learn that Melky is actually almost a full year YOUNGER (23) than Brett (24) despite his huge edge in experience. What evens them out to some extent is that Brett seems to be a much more cerebral hitter who starts slow at each level he’s been at, whereas Melky seems to have stagnated (OPS last 3 yrs: .751, .718, .718). That’s the frustrating thing: he just doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
Projectability: This is the strange part - Pecota LOVES Melky. Statistically he most closely compares to Carlos Beltran and Pete Rose. His VORP (Value over Replacement Player) projects from 13-20% over the next 7 years whereas Gardner really has no good comps and his VORP is a net minus. There are many players who seem to stagnate at Melky’s age but later breakout. Look at Nick Markakis and Carlos Quentin for recent examples.
Arm: An outfield of Damon, Gardner, and Abreu would not scare any baserunners.
Speed and Patience: Part of Pecota’s profile is that speed is not overly valued, but this is clearly Gardner’s edge. The combination of speed and on base percentage that Brett offers could be deadly for opposing pitchers. This is something we have not had since Chuck Knoblauch who, despite not completely fulfilling his potential with the team, was a potent force in the playoffs and was able to generate offense off of top pitchers like Pedro Martinez, when no one else was able to touch him. Potentially, he could create runs off of top pitchers and provide that spark when bats are slumping. His ability to terrorize the basepaths could distract opposing hurlers, as well.
What do you guys think? Melky or Brett?
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28 Responses to “Sound-off: Brett versus Melky”
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
how about both-gardner in left, melky in center, and abreu in right.
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I agree with no name, how about both? But I prefer a Damon/Matsui-LF, Gardner-CF and Cabrera-RF alignment, at least for next season until Jackson is ready…
I definitely think it’s too early to make any sort of strong judgment on the future of Gardner or Cabrera BUT it’s certainly not too early to say that Abreu is on the downward slope of his career and his diminished OBP and absent power are certainly cause for concern going forward.
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I have to agree with both No Name and Bernard…
as much as I have always loved Melky, his recent tragic slump has left me frustrated… I like the idea of having Gardner get on base and be a pitcher’s worst nightmare, like a Jose Reyes, or what we most recently saw, an Ian Kinsler.
We all know Joe likes to shuffle his lineup, so I see this as being an outfield being patrolled by everyone, with damon/garden in left, and melky and gardner in center, and abreu in right. Throw in the DH for damon, giambi, and when matsui comes back and Girardi should have some fun, scratching his head night after night.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:16 am
I hear the Yanks might be interested in Raul Ibanez since GodZilla’s knee is no good. I wonder if CashMan can put together a package (Kennedy & Melky & ect., ect.) for Eric Bedard and Raul Ibanez… hmmm…. That would be sweet!
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:12 am
Not sure about that - Ibanez is 35 and he’s on pace for his OPS to decrease 4 years in a row. That’s VERY scary recipe. Does Bedard have a little Jeff Weaver in him or is that just me?
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:42 am
Bedard is not that good…. I don’t think they should get him. He’s not worth the investment to get production similar to what we can get now or from our system.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 am
Bedard needs an attitude adjustment, but I would take him in a heartbeat. How many leftys do you think the Yanks have?
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:36 am
I always liked Melky. When he’s hitting well, he’s an extra base machine. But I haven’t seen that at all this year, and that’s tough to figure. He’s been the starting CF since Day 1, and outside of some early power, there’s been nothing. His arm is a great tool, but with Cano barely getting on at the bottom of the order, there are a lot of rally killers in the 8-9 spot of the lineup. I’d say give Gardner a few more games in a row to see what he could offer (try him in left to give Damon a DH breather with Matsui on the shelf), and Joe should compare them side by side. When Matsui comes back, pick one to go with for the rest of the year. Melky hasn’t “earned” any more loyalty than that.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 am
Melky will come around.
Like Bernard says, perhap Gardner in RF until Jackson is ready - but I would prefer Jackson be ready for the start of bext year
Damon/Matsui in LF is good for awhile
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:18 am
We already lived through a decade of a center fielder with a little girl’s arm in Bernie “most overrated position player in history” Williams.
I do not want that again, and Gardner has no arm. Leave Melky in CF and put Gardner in LF or RF. Trade Abreu or Damon. Melky is still a kid. He is learning on the job, maybe the Yanks rushed him, but they should stick with him.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 am
abreu has a pretty good arm i dont know where you get his arm wouldnt scare any baserunners
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
Abreu’s arm isn’t accurate at all and he is a horrible fielder.His arm doesn’t scare baserunners because the ball won’t reach its target.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 am
To early to tell.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 am
Hopefully you can get a laugh out of this question, how many “Trip Aces” shirts have you sold lately?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
I’m going to address the question of Melky vs. Brett and not get into all the other outfield stuff. If Gardner can be productive (big if), I think it is a no brainer that he should start in CF. I think what he can provide offensively and his range in CF out weighs his weak throwing arm. Right now that is Melky’s only plus and thats just not good enough. I would think Melky would still get starts in CF against LHPs unless Gardner can prove he can hit lefties too. I think many Yankee fans have fallen in love with Melky but offensively he’s really not that good.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:54 am
I think the yanks should try and trade away matsui and damon and then put gardner in LF. Give melky some more time to develop because he is still very young though I am getting tired of his slumping.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 am
Abreu has a solid right fielder arm. He’s not Vlad Guerrerro, but he’s decent. When we had an outfield of Damon, Matsui and Abreu last year, though, teams were running all over us. That’s what I meant. It’s no slight on Abreu, but he would be the only outfielder w/ anything remotely resembling a decent arm. This is particularly exacerbated by Yankee Stadium which has an expansive left and center field area.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I would never take Bedard just because he’s a lefty… I don’t think he has what it takes, he’s not a #1 starter, as his experience in Seattle has shown, and he just overall doesn’t impress me.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Why would you trade Damon? He’s the hottest hitter on the team and producing when it counts. Matsui is also excelled as the DH this year, with the issue of his balky knee. Injuries happen, but these two hitters are still producing, so it’s premature to get rid of them for an unproven prospect. Let the kid have some playing time, ala Ellisbury in boston, and then rate him if he can take over LF or CF or not.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Play ‘em both, put Damon at DH. Sadly I think Matsui is going under the knife and will be done for the year.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Brett hands down. His speed in the outfield and base pads more than compensates for his lack of arm strength. He covers more ground in the outfield which may ultimately help him record more outs and stop runners from turning singles into doubles.
His energy and passion for the game was evident in his first at bat. He hustles on every play. He appears to be the type of hard nosed player the Yankees have lacked since the days of Paul O’Neil and Scott Brosius. He never looks to take a play off and cares about his performance.
Brett shows much more discipline at the plate than Melky. Melky too often swings at bad pitches.
I see Melky as defensive replacement in late innings. Brett has much more up-side than Melky and considering Melky’s recent plate problems, why should we not at least give Brett a try? Melky is not in a slump. This is just who he is.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Wait, Tom, which player has the higher VORP? Melky or Gardner? Because you mention Melky twice, so I was just wondering which one you meant that was actually a minus.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Melky has a much higher VORP. Gardner is actually a minus. I think I miswrote that before. I’ll correct it.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
To those who want both. Are you kidding? Melky would possible be the worst corner OF in the history of baseball.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Melky.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Gardner.
Take some pitches, dammit. And use your head.
No more head-first slides into first.
No more 1st pitch swinging after the guy in front of you just drew a 4-pitch walk.
For me, the one thing I would love to kick Melky’s butt about happened last month.
Down by a run, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded and 2 out. Melky swings at a 1-0 pitch and grounds out to end the game. Can’t take a strike or two or force the pitcher to throw strikes in a situation where a walk ties the game. Ground out with two strikes, ok. Swinging at the 2nd pitch? That was downright stupid.
Let’s get some SMART ballplayers in here.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I’ve had enough of Cabrera. The centerfielder is in a unique position on the field. He sees every pitch and every play in front of him. Despite having watched every pitch for several years, Cabrera clearly doesn’t get it, and most likely never will. Third inning, runner on third, one out, infield in, Melky up . . . swing as hard as you possibly can, strike out. Eighth inning, down by a run, runner on second, nobody out, Melky up . . . swing as hard as you can, pop up to second. He is an imbecile. He hasn’t gotten it yet and will most likely never get it. Try Gardner, try anyone, just get this dimwit out of there. And, in the process, they would be sending a not-so-subtle message to Cano - take the head out your rear-end and THINK.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Melky’s a talented ballplayer with a brain the size of a cashew. He doesn’t understand the concept of situational hitting and, most likely, never will. I’d get rid of him while he still has value.
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