Why Marcus Thames Should Be The New York Yankees Designated Hitter

Craig MillerMay 18, 2010

Hello fellow Yankee fans,
Let me begin by stating that this is my first article on Bleacher Report and any compliments or criticisms would be appreciated. With that said, allow me to state my point, I believe that when Curtis Granderson returns to the Yankees' lineup, Marcus Thames should be the DH of the New York Yankees. Now I know that Juan Miranda has been called up to be the DH, but in 8 games, he is sporting a .125 batting average; in 20 games, Thames has a .365 average. While Miranda has the quality of youth on his side being 27 years of age, it still would be a good idea to use him as a bench player and have 33 year old Thames in the DH spot. Keep in mind that Thames also is known to make a living out of hitting the snot out of the ball against RHP. When Granderson returns, the lineup should look like the following:

Jeter                SS
Granderson      CF
Teixeria           1B
Rodriguez        3B
Cano               2B
Posada             C
Thames           DH
Swisher           RF
Gardner           LF

The reason why I place Thames after Posada and before Swisher is due to the fact that Swisher is known for a high OBP and Thames is known for some pop in his bat, possibly driving in Cervelli/ Posada. Nick Johnson will likely not return until July or August, however, his absence has been rarely felt, as he had a .167 BA, 2 HRs and 8 RBIs. When Johnson does return, his keen eye at the plate could be more served as a bench/ backup option, instead of the everyday DH. Juan Miranda has the potential to one day be a productive DH, 1B or bench player, but when Granderson returns for his injury, and as stated many times before, Thames should be the Designated Hitter, as this will make the feared Yankee lineup even more scary. Now while it may seem that I'm writing this in response to Thames' timely walkoff homerun off Papel"bum", what wrong could a few more walkoffs/clutch hits possibly do?

Sources:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thamema01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsni01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/miranju01.shtml