Why the Yankees’ latest transactions are ‘terrifying,’ says an announcer

admin | December 8, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Something about the Yankees signing three outfielders at the Winter Meetings has YES play-by-play announcer Michael Kay concerned.

After acquiring Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from the Padres and Alex Verdugo from the Red Sox this week, New York now has an outfield stalemate. Kay, who also anchors “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN New York, is terrified.

“There is one feature of both arrangements that they made during the winter meetings that has me scared… “I’m not at ease with Aaron Judge in centerfield,” Kay remarked on Thursday.

This comes after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman informed reporters on Thursday that if the season began tomorrow, Judge would be the team’s Opening Day centerfielder.

On Wednesday’s “The Mayor’s Office” podcast, former Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey expressed concern about Judge playing centerfield, saying it would put too much strain on the former MVP.

“I trust Brian Cashman knows it’s probably not optimum to have Aaron Judge play 100 games in center and that something is going to be done,” Kay went on to say. “I don’t know if they end up spinning Verdugo for pitching.” Because the optimal defensive setup for the Yankees is to put Trent Grisham in center and Judge and Soto in whichever corner you want.”

Grisham, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, is without a doubt the team’s greatest defensive outfielder. He ranks higher than Judge, Soto, and Verdugo in outs above average and range runs above average, both of which are determined by how quickly a fielder can get to balls hit in his vicinity.

He also has the most experience in centerfield, having played more than 4,000 innings there, far more than Judge, Soto, and Verdugo combined.

The issue is that he is comparable to Joey Gallo, an outstanding defender with a low batting average who strikes out far too often. Grisham batted last season.198, the MLB’s second-worst hitting average, with 154 strikeouts in 555 plate appearances for a strikeout % of 27.7.

For Cashman, the traffic gridlock is a positive thing since having options gives him control.

“Ultimately, Aaron Boone is gonna make those calls,” Cashman said, according to Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media. “I think there’s just power in numbers and we have elevated our outfield class significantly by these moves.”