When the Mariners signed Richie Sexson before the 2005 season, they thought they were getting a top-of-the-line first baseman they could have in the middle of their lineup for years. Instead they got an overpaid, underperforming, strikeout king.
After putting up three consecutive seasons with a OPS of over .900, Sexson began to slip in 2006 and in 2007 bottomed out to a career low OPS of .694 and he has duplicated that this year at .696.
The target of constant criticism, the Mariners finally released the tall 33-year-old.
They had every right to cut Sexson. He was costing them a lot and doing the equivalent of trying to stay dry in a pool at the plate.
With his future in jeopardy, most teams probably won't even be willing to talk to him, but the Yankees should. The Yankees might be one of the few teams that could be in desperate need of him.
Why would the Yankees need such a terrible hitter who hit an unsightly .205 last season? Because he kills lefties.
In 61 at bats this season against left handed pitching, Sexson hit .344 with a 1.045 OPS. He also cuts down on strikeouts against southpaws. Against right-handed pitching, he strikes out every 3.03 at bats, but against lefties he only strikes out every 4.69 at bats.
Those numbers would be big for the Yankees, because most of the lineup comes up short against lefties.
Take a look at how they perform against the southpaws. Johnny Damon's OPS drops .124 points, Jorge Posada's .086 points, Hideki Matsui's drops .080 points, Melky Cabrera's .117 points. Even their bench struggles against them as Wilson Betemit's OPS dips .056 points. Right handed batter Alex Rodriguez even struggles against them. His OPS plummets .130 points.
Things are so bad that when the Yankees last played the Mets they were forced to put out a pathetic lineup against Oliver Perez. That day they sat Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, and Robinson Cano.
That may have been Joe Girardi's biggest bonehead move, as they are the only Yankees who actually hit lefties. Instead, he decided to start Justin Christian, Betemit, and Jose Molina. Big difference there.
Obviously, Sexson could not platoon with all of the hitters, but consider it a bucket to save a sinking ship. Something at least to give them a chance.
Sexson would become the regular DH against left-handed pitching. He would also shore up their pathetic bench as someone who could come in late in games and keep the team from being shut down against a strong left-handed specialist. He would also serve as a strong late-inning defensive replacement for Giambi.
To put it simply, as terrible as Sexson is, he would fill a lot of holes on this team's offense. Not to mention, he would cost the Yankees nothing in prospects and would work at the pro-rated league minimum.
It was a good idea when I suggested it in the middle of May and it's a good idea today. Go get it done, Cashman.
This article originally appeared @ Hot Stove New York.
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3 months ago
Hey Rob, long time. First thanks for posting because you just knocked a sox fan out of the "hot box" with this write. and who knows,. we have cabrera and cano and molina all slumping, so why not. we should be able to pay for him, because as Hal said, no prospects are up to bale this team out with vets this year
from 3 months ago
I want Bonds on this team now. And lets face it, we couldnt have more scandals anyhow! So who carews about that stuff...we already have em on the team as does most everybody else. ours are just more famous
3 months ago
Rob,
You need to spend more time outside.
I am a Milwaukee Brewer fan. Richie is done.
from 3 months ago
I'm curious Janean, did you read the whole article? How can you argue the fact that Sexson rakes against lefties and nearly the entire Yankee lineup struggles against them?
2 months ago
I think 61 at bats against lefties is way too small of a sample size to justify going out and signing a guy who's hitting .218 overall with a strikeout a game. Sexson hit .238 last year against lefties and is a career .265 hitter against southpaws. The Yankees already have an all-or-nothing hitting first baseman. They don't need another.
2 months ago
I am going to agree with above. They aren't going to take a chance on that type of money for a guy who has been seriously slumping this year. They can push him at the DH/1B position with Giambi, but I can't see this guy being a straight steal.
For that type of money, I would rather lose prospects vying for Texiera, than trying to get Sexson.
You can't really use stats to justify Sexson on both ends; for one, he is playing with an anemic lineup and a huge ballpark, so its no surprise his stats have suffered the last two years. But as well, his stature makes him a sitting duck on lefty change-ups, and he is really prone not to lay off those pitches.
Great article, and it makes sense, but I think the Yankees may be scared of getting burned if this guy doesn't get any of his old form back once he dons the pinstripes.
2 months ago
I agree with this article 100%. And for the record, he'd be signing at a pro-rated minimum of $162,000. That's nothing, and he's well worth that risk.
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