It looks like Teixeira won’t be donning pinstripes. The Yanks sent P Jeff Marquez, INF Wilson Betemit, and P Jhonny Nunez to the White Sox for OF/1B Nick Swisher and P Kanekoa Texiera. While Swish can play both positions, it seems like the Yanks will slot him at 1B, and let Gardner and Cabrera battle for CF.
Nick has a career .244 AVG, but is a high OBP guy with some pop. Cashman seems to be sticking to his plan of getting back to getting OBP players. He has averaged 27 dingers over the last three years, and should be a decent complimentary piece to the line-up.
At first, I was hesitant at the thought of Swisher playing 1B, however the more I look at stats, the more comfortable I am with the move. He may never win a gold-glove, but he is certainly a defensive upgrade over Giambi. From 2006-08, his FPCT at first base has been .993, .993, and .996… not too shabby compared to Giambi’s .990 last year.
Aside from his play on the field, Swisher is supposed to be a high energy, good club house guy. He will have to shave that beard and cut his hair, but he could be a nice splash of personality to this Yankee team. He has gotten good reviews from reporters who have dealt with him in the past.
It seems that now the Yankees will make a big push to aquire pitching, pitching, and more pitching.
What i’m excited to see is Swisher’s handshakes with Melky and Cano. Every time I see Nick play he has some elaborate handshake with someone, its great.
Pretty fair deal, We can do better than Betemit for UTIL. He didn’t offer much if anything defensively, and didn’t offer much from the plate with the exception of some power. Nunez had a 4.32 ERA in 108.1 IP this year in the minors.
Texeira was a 22nd round draft pick of the White Sox in 2006. He had a 1.33 era in 61 innings this year on the farm.
