Brett Gardner, Phil Coke, and His Minor League Buddies.

 

                                       picture from: newyork.yankees.mlb.com

Man I love this guy. He's your prototypical speedster. Watching him fly around the bases and run down fly balls is a thrill. Gardner does not take his playing time for granted and will hustle day in and day out. You will never see him be nonchalant, which tells me he's paying attention. The fact that he already has a couple of walk-off hits already is icing on the cake for me. This guy can create runs with his speed on the base paths and distract the pitcher from his game plan.

-- which can lead to runs if the pitcher pays too much attention to him and just leaves a beach ball in the middle of the zone--

The only question is that if he can hit, we know he'll take his walks. He has a track record of starting slowly at every level in the minors but we have yet to see if what he displayed in September is the real Brett Gardner.

There have been rumors about Mike Cameron of the Brewers coming to the Yankees. Personally i believe this move would make little to no sense for two main reasons.

1. Cashman said he wants to get this team younger and more athetic
- Cameron is not young and isn't getting younger
- his ability is diminishing

2. I'm sorry Mr. Jackson

                                     Pic: web.minorleaguebaseball.com                                                              

- With Austin Jackson waiting in the wings, why not Melky and Brett battle it out in spring training and see what this kid has in 2010 or maybe even mid 09?

- Why bother signing a guy for a year when you have two options. Centerfield is a defensive position so carrying a guy hitting .200-.260 won't hurt you, especially if you're the New York Yankees. 

3. Ok there are 3 reasons.
- starting pitching is a must for this team, if the Yanks want to get hitting go get Tex, dump him at first, and be happy

- If Hughes and Kennedy would have combined for maybe 4 wins maybe the season would not have ended the way it did. I'm all for Hughes being in the rotation however. I want these young guys to succeed so much.

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*Speaking of which, the silent stud, Phil Coke could possibly be a starter down the road. There isn't much talk around Coke it seems, when i first saw him against Detroit i said to myself, "who is this guy and where in the world has he been all this time?" 

I find it hard to believe that the Pirates passed up this guy in the trade for Nady, he must have had a bad outing or 2. This kid looks so dominant when he pitches. I don't want to get ahead of myself because the next thing you know he could just get lit up every time. With that 0.61 era he's sporting in 14.2 innings i'd like to see more. 

I'll take this Coke over Pepsi any day. (hilarious i know)

-----MLB Nation