Yankees sign Morgan Ensberg

[Cocos Disciples]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3224591

 

He'll compete for the 1B job.

[jacksonianmarch]

I like the signing. This essentially assists us greatly vs lefties since Ensberg has historically mashed them. Last yr, even though he barely OPS'd .700 last yr overall, he OPS'd .830 vs lefties and in 06 when he OPS'd only .859 (well down from prior) he still OPS'd over 1.000 vs lefties. Put that with Duncan who crushed lefties last yr and historically through the minors, and you have two right handed power weapons that we didnt have for the full yr last yr. This is a good thing since we struggled vs lefties.

 

Our OPS vs Righties last yr was the best in the majors, but our OPS vs lefties was 60 points lower, good for 11th. Most of this was due to players like Abreu (.678 vs .857), Damon (.705 vs .762), and Matsui (.814 to .872). Also, Jason Giambi (even though he was dead on in splits last yr) has been historically terrible vs lefties (.843 to .970 for the past 3 yrs). This essentially guarantees that 2 of the above players sit against lefties, offering us a greater offensive capability. How will they both fit in? Well...

 

Ensberg plays 1b as does Duncan, but Duncan can also DH or play LF. Also a possibility is Ensberg playing 3b and ARod playing DH on occasion. Regardless, it offers another right handed bat coming off the bench late in games to face tough pen lefties too. I think this helps a lot. And, it is low risk, so if he continues to spiral out of control, then he is easily cut.

[riverside sluggers]

Giambi, Duncan, Betemit and Ensberg vying for ABs at 1st Base

 

Giambi, Matsui and Damon vying for ABs at DH

 

Damon, Matsui and Duncan vying for ABS at left field

 

I dont want to be Girardi when he makes his daily lineups

[26 to 6]

Well naturally there won't be room for all of them...

 

But I do like the signing.

[Mr Crunchy]

f***

there goes a nites sleep

hes battling sandy duncan meintxxx and joe pepitone for the gig is he?

is bernie being groomed as well?

how much longer is giambi on the payroll for?

hes due to bust out soon

[Gom]

It's a non-move. Ensberg hasn't been the same since he's been injured. Just because they have a lot of crap players to play first doesn't mean they won't be crap. Just a different style at the plate, but still crap.

[rician blast]

surprised the Yanks didn't go after Casey too...s*** they coulda had 4 or 5 guys battling for that 1B spot.

[rician blast]

Giambi, Matsui and Damon vying for ABs at DH

Damon, Matsui and Duncan vying for ABS at left field

 

I love this. One of baseball's premier lead-off hitters, being paid about $13m per year, is "vying" for AB's. Not sure if this is more of an indictment of the Yankees FO, the Damon signing or Damon himself.

[das11209]

Morgan and Sean can play dumb vs dumber when Sox and Yanks play each other.

[jacksonianmarch]

I love this. One of baseball's premier lead-off hitters' date=' being paid about $13m per year, is "vying" for AB's. Not sure if this is more of an indictment of the Yankees FO, the Damon signing or Damon himself.[/quote']

 

Damon needs to be scaled down a bit, but I expect him to be starting against every righty starter. When he actually was healthy last yr, he was golden again. And with some rest, I expect Damon to play like the guy who finished the yr, not the guy who started it.

 

Overall, it is an indictment of the age of the team. Matsui, Damon, Abreu, Giambi, Jeter are all 34 or above and have all ben seriously injured or banged up over the past season. They cannot be starting 150 games like they had been (sans Giambi). But if you limit them to 130-135 games, they should experience a bit of a rebound.

[Gom]

Tampa Bay 2008 AL East Champions.

[yankeessuck013]

Ensberg, 32, has played one career game at first base and in it, he committed an error.

[rician blast]

Overall' date=' it is an indictment of the age of the team. Matsui, Damon, Abreu, Giambi, Jeter are all 34 or above and have all ben seriously injured or banged up over the past season. [/quote']

 

And combined they account for what...$85 million or so in payroll? With a couple of them "vying" for ABs?

 

It's gotta make a Yankee fan a little concerned, no?

[MANNYHOF24]

This guy is the typical case of using PED's. Which is probably why the yankees signed him since it has been their trademark over the past 10 years to put a bunch of steriod users on the field.