Little did anyone realize, except maybe the New York Yankees themselves, that sooner or later there would be a case of too many quality players and too few positions. By the time the Yankees broke camp, Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira were among those on the disabled list, and that necessitated the signings of Brennan Boesch, Ben Francisco and Lyle Overbay, and the trade for Vernon Wells. On the surface, each move represented desperation for any warm body to hold the fort until the regular players return. Beneath the surface, general manager Brian Cashman was doing his homework and not necessarily throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
While Boesch is now in Triple-A and Francisco's days apparently numbered, the Yankees have received major production from those considered beyond their primes. Wells leads the team with 10 home runs, and is second in hitting (.295) and RBIs (23). Overbay's 24 RBIs are two behind Robinson Cano. Another veteran, Travis Hafner, is batting .260 with six homers and 18 RBIs as the left-handed DH.
"I've said it all along these guys have done an incredible job," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "You can talk about some of the additions that we made, the late additions that we made; I want to say Vernon played his first Spring Training game on a Tuesday, and Overbay on a Thursday - Overbay had a three-day tryout that turned into four days - but for the most part they've all played pretty well."
Sooner or later, however, Girardi will have to make some critical decisions on how to deploy his outfield. Granderson is back in action after recovering from a broken forearm and he's going to play every day. So should Wells, the team's only reliable right-handed hitting outfielder who has recaptured the form that made him a three-time All-Star with the Toronto Blue Jays. That leaves Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki. Gardner is the Yankees' best defender, so when Hafner (sore shoulder) returns to the lineup, Ichiro, a future Hall of Famer, may be the one riding the pine more often than not.
Girardi's immediate plans were to rotate players between the outfield, DH and a day off, which he's done since Granderson returned. But once Hafner is back in the fold, not everyone can play. And that leaves Ichiro, who on Thursday night snapped an 0-for-22 streak (one shy of his career-high set last year) and is batting .239.
“He got up to about .275, .280 and he’s kind of going through what some of our other guys are going through,” Girardi said. “They’re struggling a little bit. At times we’re having a hard time scoring runs right now, but he’ll come out of it. I’m not concerned about that.”
Someone will be the odd man out, and the logical choice in the present time is Ichiro. At least his place on the 25-man roster is secure. That's more than what can be said about Francisco. Plucked off waivers during spring training, Francisco has five hits in 40 at-bats with one homer and an RBI. Chris Stewart's groin injury leaves the Yankees depleted at catcher and necessitates a move to add Bobby Wilson (.174, two homers, 13 RBIs) from Triple-A Scranton to the 40-man roster. That leaves Francisco, already on borrowed time, as the one most likely to receive his walking papers.
How would you manage the Yankees' outfield glut? It's certainly one of those nice problems to have.
Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC
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