Trade Fair: All’s Wells for Yankees

The Yankees, by most accounts, had a tremendous off-season.

After finishing out of the money for the first time since Bill Clinton’s first summer in office, the organization went on a $423 million spending spree, which netted Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

In addition, General Manager, Brian Cashman, traded for power hitter Nick Swisher.

Despite all the fun Cashman has had playing with the Steinbrenners’ money, his job is not finished.  The Yankees still have several holes; the largest of which is in the middle of their outfield.

If Spring Training started tomorrow, Manager, Joe Girardi would be faced with the daunting task of determining that from the motley crew of Brett Gardner, Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera, of who will patrol center field.

None of the three has any business logging significant time in center for a contending team.  Gardner’s a gifted fielder who can fly, but he was overmatched in 127 big league at bats last year to the tune of .228/.283/.299.

Damon can still hit, as evidenced by his .303/.375/.461 effort in 2008, but chronic leg and ankle problems make his durability a big question mark. His popgun arm makes him a natural fit in left field.

Cabrera regressed significantly at the plate in ’08 and according to most scouts, they agree that his

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