Have the Yankees Considered Jack Cust?

Reports have it that now the Yankees have traded for Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez, taking on substantial salary in both deals, they are looking to go cheap to fill the void left in left field after the departure of Hideki Matsui and the likely departure (unless his asking price comes way down) of Johnny Damon.

You always have to take the Yankees’ claims that they’ll try to save a buck on ballplayers with a grain of salt.  However, to the extent they are serious about wanting a low-cost option in left for 2010, I can’t think of a much better choice than Jack Cust.

First, he’s cheap.  After being non-tendered by the A’s and making $2.8 million in 2009, the Yankees could probably sign him for one year in the $2-to-3 million range.

Second, he’s a left-handed hitter with a lot of power, perfect for the new Yankee Stadium.

According to this article from the Hardball Times, in 2007 at least, Cust hit his homeruns more or less foul line to foul line.  This surprised me, as I had expected from what I’ve seen of him that Cust would be a dead-pull hitter.

Cust is certainly the type of player who swings mostly at strikes and tries to tee off on every swing, like fellow lefty power hitters Jim Thome and Matt Stairs.  However, while he likes to swing at strikes, he apparently also likes to drive middle-away strikes the other way toward left center.

Either way, I suspect that Cust would be well suited to the dimensions of the new Yankee stadium.  Like the House that Ruth Built, the new Yankee stadium is 314 feet down both foul lines and 408 to dead center.  However, the new park is shorter in both power allies: 360 feet to right center (as compared to 385 in the old park) and 382 feet to left center (compared to 399 in the old park).

Coming off his poor 2009 season, Cust should only be used as a platoon player starting exclusively against right-handed pitchers and pinch-hitting against right-handed relievers when a port-sider starts.  Even in that role, I could see Cust hitting 20 to 30 HRs in 2010 playing half his games at the new Yankee stadium.

As most people know, Cust is a poor defensive outfielder, but he understands hitting, and I think he would be more adept than most at learning to be a dead-pull hitter to take advantage of the new stadium’s short right field dimensions.

During the twelve seasons from 1949 through 1960 when Casey Stengel was their manager, the Yankees won ten American League pennants and seven world championships with teams that had a lot of great players but which also platooned extensively at certain positions.  Platooning in order to create a short-term solution at a position where you don’t want to shell out the bucks made sense then, and it still makes sense now.

As the right-handed third of their left-field platoon, Marcus Thames is available and also likely to come cheap. Johnny Gomes is another possibility, although he’s likely to be a little more expensive than Thames.  With slick-fielding, light-hitting Brett Gardner around as a fifth outfielder to substitute defensively (and out of a position now that the Yankees have Granderson), the Yankees could make a left field platoon made up of a couple of lead-footed power hitters work.

Finally, the great thing about being the Yankees is that if they choose to go with the low-cost platoon and it doesn’t work out, they can always add salary by trading for another slugging leftfielder after the All-Star Break and still probably save money over what it would have cost them to resign a Johnny Damon or a Hideki Matsui.

Oh, and BTW, Jack Cust is originally from New Jersey.  How perfect is that?