6Pound8OunceBabyJoba

36 Comments

• #1 by Jake on 08/21/2009 - 12:41 pm

  

  Nick Swisher is a good pick up no doubt. But hitting .242 with 20 home runs (in an obviously home run healthy park) doesn’t make him any better. He also is seeing more time due to Nady being out, so I dont think he is better than a bench player.

• #2 by ChiSox fan on 08/21/2009 - 12:45 pm

  

  Way to be a one-sided critic. Did you forget to mention any of the $ amounts into this argument. By getting rid of Swisher, that allowed the White Sox to spend money on getting Peavy or Rios. Either way, much improved from Swisher who either hits a Home Run or Strikes Out. White Sox had no room for him in the outfield any more, and he clearly gave up on the team last year when things weren’t going his way. He’s a great guy to watch play, and it’s refreshing to see a guy out there having fun playing a game, which is the way it should be. I hope the best for him in NY, but I think this trade worked out very well for both sides, definitely not a clear winner like you have stated above.

• #3 by T on 08/21/2009 - 12:49 pm

  

  You can’t be serious. He has the baseball IQ of a donkey. Yes a better player than the people mentioned in the trade, so Yankees got a better deal, but in terms of actual player, he’s a moron.

• #4 by E on 08/21/2009 - 1:06 pm

  

  Swisher was a great player for the A’s, seems that he is energized by the club and the atmosphere rather than his overall stats. He is a good clutch player for the yanks, and he was the star on the A’s. Maybe he was dejected by the White Sox, but that ball club is pretty tough for a player.

• #5 by BigMan on 08/21/2009 - 1:07 pm

  

  Hey Jake, just so you know, all but about 3 of his homeruns have come away from Yankee Stadium, and generally more playing time is bad for a subpar player… Swisher is a bit of an adventure in the field, but has been an above average everyday player no doubt.

• #6 by Research on 08/21/2009 - 1:07 pm

  

  Jake said:

  “20 home runs (in an obviously home run healthy park)”

  Do you know how many home runs Swisher has hit in that park? Three. Three of his Twenty home runs have come at New Yankee Stadium.

• #7 by Matt on 08/21/2009 - 1:11 pm

  

  It was a solid deal for both sides but the Yankees gave up nothing and got an impact player. As for Swisher being a ‘moron’, what are you talking about? He walks a ton and has a very high OBP, plays a slightly subpar at left field and hits well with risp. Sounds your bitter about, something.

• #8 by mgwhat on 08/21/2009 - 1:16 pm

  

  this is in response to jakes comment, you do realize that over half of his home runs were hit on the road. in actuality, his power numbers at the stadium are awful

• #9 by Shwin on 08/21/2009 - 1:17 pm

  

  @Jake, it should be noted that Swish has played HORRIBLE at home, batting .203 with only 3 HR’s & 18 RBI’s, which is true for most 1st year players coming to the Yankeees…Look for him to settle in the rest of the season at home, and truly breakout next year. There is also some value for his ability to spell Teix at 1st to keep him fresh, and let’s not forget he did pitch for us this season!

• #10 by dwight on 08/21/2009 - 1:20 pm

  

  I don’t think you can accurately judge a trade based on 2/3rds of a season, especially when their are minor leaguers involved.

• #11 by Willy on 08/21/2009 - 1:24 pm

  

  Jake – Keep in mind that Swisher is not hitting his home runs in the home run happy Yankee stadium. Swisher is getting it done on the road for the Yankees where a number of players traditionally struggle (on the road). Glad to have Swisher in the lineup any day

• #12 by Ray on 08/21/2009 - 1:25 pm

  

  Ahem, naysayers: Yes, Swish will always be a DH type looking for a position. (Let’s face it, the way he plays the outfield leaves me holding my breath). But does have fun out there, and hitting in the bottom of the order, those 20 homers (17 on the road, btw, not in YS) an 840 OPS isn’t anything to sneeze at. As for the idea that getting rid of Swish gave the Sox room to buy Rios – um, there’s a reason TOR got rid of him. Underperforming malcontent who can’t hit when the pressure is on. If Kenny Williams thinks that tying up $16M per on Rios is a better investment than $7M per on Swish (who has outhit Rios every year but 1), it just shows why ChiTown will never have a real winner…

• #13 by Ralow on 08/21/2009 - 1:25 pm

  

  You forgot to mention the $$ involved in this trade. Swisher is scheduled to make $7M in 2010 and $9M in 2011. If Swish was signed to a more respectable deal, there is no way Kenny Williams gives up Swish for peanuts.

  That being said, I love Swish on the Yanks and I’m glad we got him. He’s been a bright spot for this team even if he’s a little overpaid. He hits for power and he gets on base…a lot.

  Plus, to the 1st poster, I think 16 of Swish’s 20 bombs have come on the road…so you can’t say he’s having a good year power wise just because of the home ball park.

• #14 by PB&J on 08/21/2009 - 1:28 pm

  

  @Jake. Swisher is hitting .273/.362/.593 with 17 HR on the road this year, and .206/.385/.323 at home. In actuality, it would seem that his home park is *depressing* his numbers, not aiding them.

  @ChiSox fan. If evaluating the actual players swapped in this deal, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the Yanks acquired the better talent. In addition, saying that Swisher either hits home runs or strikes out, you are leaving out an important component of Swisher’s game – taking a base on balls. His 75 walks places him 4th in the AL in BB, and 10th in all of baseball. If you would really like to compare him to Rios, although it’s not quite germane to the original post, Swisher has him beat in OPS .851 to .746 and has a more team-friendly contract with $15.75MM in guaranteed dollars still owed to him after 2009 versus the $63.2MM still owed to Rios.

• #15 by tom on 08/21/2009 - 1:42 pm

  

  pssh.. the sox would have given up swisher for a bag of balls. terrible defense, weak stats for a 1B and an abrasive clubhouse guy.

  The trade was really about freeing up money for a deal like peavy or rios so as a white sox fan I have no probs this this deal. The sox would be in the same or worse position with him this year.

• #16 by Matt on 08/21/2009 - 1:43 pm

  

  People need to do research before they post.

  @Jake: 3 of his 20 hrs have been hit at Yankee Stadium. Go find me a bench player with an OPS of .851. You can’t. Most if not all teams, would take his production coming from the 7 or 8 slot.

  @ChiSox fan: I see what you are saying about the finances. However, I doubt the $5.4m off the books from Swisher was really worth the $6.4m for Rios and $11m for Peavy. Swisher while hitting for a less average, has outperformed Rios. At worst case its a wash, costing you $1m more. I agree Swisher was not a good fit in Chi and needed to go, but isolated in this deal, the Yanks made out like bandits.

• #17 by turrdog on 08/21/2009 - 2:03 pm

  

  Tom,
  There is no way abrasive can be used to describe Swisher when Guillen is involved in the conversation. I’ll grant that those two didn’t mix and probably led to some difficult times. From what I gather this year, his personality has been a welcome addition.

  Contract wise, he’s earning his money and then some, and he didn’t last year. You’re right though. I don’t think we can look at this deal and think Cashman fleeced Williams. Cashman made a gamble to pick up a guy at a low point, didn’t give up much talent-wise, and the gamble has paid off so far.

  These are the kinds of deals which excite me though, rather than the $100 MM free agent pick-ups. The Swisher deal reminds me of when the Yanks got a somewhat underperforming O’Neill away from the Reds.

• #18 by White Sox Fan on 08/21/2009 - 2:05 pm

  

  According to Kenny Williams, he liked Swisher a lot but the Sox did not have a position for him. Plus the money freed up was really used to sign Dayan Viciedo, one of our top prospects.

  So I guess you can include that in the deal if you’re a White Sox fan like I am.

  Swisher is a good player and a good pick up for the NYY and that’s ok. Deals can work out well for both teams. Swisher wasn’t going to be a fit this year and many of the players didn’t appreciate the fact that he pouted when he was benched for playing like garbage last year.

  Personally I was sad to see him go. I’m glad the deal has worked out for both sides in terms of the players involved and the money saved on the White Sox end to put towards other players on the major league and minor league squads.

• #19 by Darren Pare on 08/21/2009 - 2:11 pm

  

  I think the Yankees are leading in this trade right now, but lets wait a couple more years to declare a winner.

  Check out my new baseball novel, 33 Summers, at http://www.amazon.com/33-Summers-Darren-Pare/dp/1608602605

  Hurry only one copy left in stock.

• #20 by Bag of Balbonies on 08/21/2009 - 2:18 pm

  

  The White Sox won the World Series in 2005. How many have the Yankees won since then?

  Swisher wouldn’t even be starting in AAA Charlotte if he were still in the White Sox organization.

• #21 by Stultus Magnus on 08/21/2009 - 2:22 pm

  

  The great majority of Swisher’s homers were slugged on the road, so crediting his power to YSII is nonsense.

  And he doesn’t “hit a homerun or strikeout”, he’s walked 75 times which is good for 10th in the majors.

  My only complaint is the fielding, sometimes it gets a little wild for him out there.

• #22 by Stultus Magnus on 08/21/2009 - 2:25 pm

  

  “Jake” is long gone…

• #23 by Stultus Magnus on 08/21/2009 - 2:32 pm

  

  “Swisher wouldn’t even be starting in AAA Charlotte if he were still in the White Sox organization.”

  Dang! White Sox are #1 in organizational depth. Didn’t know that they could afford to keep a 25 homer guy in AA.

  Striking indeed.

• #24 by eckoltz on 08/21/2009 - 2:37 pm

  

  When I first heard the Sox got Swisher from Oakland, I was very happy. He has that charisma that shows he loves playing the game. HOWEVER, I could only take so much of it. The two biggest idiots on the team last year were Toby Hall and Swisher with all their pranks. A shaving cream pie every now and than is cool, sliding on the rain soaked tarp, hot foots, and stupid gestures to the crowd, sent Ozzie’s blood pressure over the limit.

  As previous posters have suggested, Swish gave up on the team during our post season run. When we acquired Griffey, Swish was bitching non stop about playing time. I believe Ozzie said something to the affect, “Hit the goddamn ball and you won’t have to worry about playing time.”

  I know he has a high on base average, but it was almost unbearable to watch him up at the plate with 2 outs. Do you know how many called 3rd strikes we saw from this guy? I haven’t seen many Yankee games this year so I can’t comment on his play now. I think the real key to this deal, at least from the Sox side, was the acquisition of Jhonny Nunez. Some have been projecting him as our future closer.

• #25 by Rick on 08/21/2009 - 2:43 pm

  

  “20 HR in a HR hitters park” he smart guy take a look at his home and away splits…most of his HR’s have come on the road. Also for the guy who thinks swisher would be at AAA if he were still a white sox. Have you seen rios play? He doesn’t play hard and his stats are terrible. The only thing I will give rios over swisher is that he’s a better OF’er

• #26 by steve on 08/21/2009 - 2:51 pm

  

  @Bag of Balbonies
  “the sox won the world series in 2005, how many have the yankees won since then”…..um what does that have to do with this trade or swisher?

  thats like saying since the beginning of baseball “THE YANKEES HAVE WON 26 WORLD SERIES TITLES”….how many has your favorite team won?

• #27 by CHISOX23 on 08/21/2009 - 3:34 pm

  

  I agree with Dwight that you can’t accurately judge the trade until the season ends and you really get to get a good look at Nunez and Marquez next year. Nunez looks like a good arm and could be a good out of the pen. I’m glad it worked out for Swisher in NY he just wasn’t a good fit in Chicago. He cried at the end of last season because he wasn’t getting playing time and struck out a ton when the game was on the line. Swisher’s best postion is 1st base and the Sox already have a 1st baseman. This deal was more about freeing up money.

• #28 by Rick on 08/21/2009 - 4:21 pm

  

  This article is grabage. Swisher is not that good. His .242 avg brings him down. To say that he is the man and Betemit had a terrible season with the Yankees last year is ridiculous. This is typical homer article

• #29 by Conor Cashel on 08/21/2009 - 5:00 pm

  

  rick i’m going to have to disagree. swisher has never been an average hitter. his game has always been getting on base and hitting hr, and hes certainly doing that this season. his opb is .372 with a .242 average. thats pretty remarkable. and betemit was terrible…

• #30 by Rob on 08/21/2009 - 5:38 pm

  

  how sad is it when a guy hitting under .250 is considered to be playing “very very well.” Way to lower those expectations.

  Swisher is an average player. The White Sox did not need him, and shed his salary. Cashman got what he needed. Looks win-win, but playing very very well? Hardly.

• #31 by Kurt on 08/21/2009 - 7:02 pm

  

  First off Swisher is a 2.1 WAR player, a league average LF, a below average player at every position besides 1B, where he’s horrible. He’s on course for a sub 3 WAR. Let’s stop with the homer bias. 3 WAR is league average and certainly makes him worth his paycheck, but to say the Yankees won the deal is premature. Your 2.52 ERA pitcher could become a bust and the 2.40 ERA pitcher you gave up could turn into a stud. If that happens you horribly lost this deal. Someone on her talked about a 16MM a year contract for Rios? Try less money than what the Yankees are paying for Swisher this season and next. He has a combined total of 12MM left on his deal from when the White Sox picked him up through the end of 2010, after that he never makes more than 12.5MM except for his option year which is for 13.5MM. If anyone thinks that Rios won’t be back to a 5+ WAR player next year and going forward, then you are crazy.

  I especially love the part of the article where you say “Jhonny Nunez has pitched PRETTY WELL this year. He has pitched in AA and AAA this season for the White Sox. In total, he has pitched 36 games to the tune of a 2.40 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.” Then you go on to say, “Kanekoa Texeira has pitched VERY WELL for AA Trenton. He has appeared 34 times so far. His ERA is a pretty 2.52 and WHIP is a respectable 1.22.” So when did a lower ERA and lower WHIP equal lesser performance if that is what you are using to compare the two players? pretty well = ok; very well = great, you have just defined the term homer, this may be a Yankee site, but exagerating performances to toot your own horn is pretty pathetic. Nunez is also 23 and he did it at AA and AAA, with his ERA going up to 2.95 in AAA but his WHIP dropped to 0.71, also he had 18 IP, 2 BB:17 SO. Hardly a regression. His biggest flaw was homeruns where he gave up 3, but pitching down in the zone a little more and crisper breaking pitches solves that and could make him even better. It was also abnormal for him as he gave up 3 HR in 46.1 IP this year in AA, so his higher ERA in AAA is more fluke than anything. For his career he’s given up .8 HR per 9 IP, which is stellar. Texeira by comparison is all of 3 months younger, still 23 this season and has never pitched above AA. He gives up more walks, strikes out less batter, and looks more prone to homeruns the higher he goes in the system as his numers rise with each promotion. When a player has control issues and doesn’t dominate AA at 23 years old with a strikeout ratio of 1 per IP or more, than he’s most likely nothing more than a future long reliever, middle reliever, or back of the rotation starter. Basically a 12th arm on any team and good for mop up duty. From looking at the parks his HR numbers have been suppressed by where he pitched with the White Sox. All in all, you gave a very slanted view of the pitchers in this deal and as a whole, your assessment is way off. It looks very clear that Nunez is an impact arm and Texeira is a throw in with far less ceiling. By the way Texeira’s K/9 IP in previous seasons were aided by being a reliever. Even this year he’s been only doing mop-up duty in AA. IN reality, after looking at scouting reports, they have similar “stuff” except for the control, which is the difference between a major league or AAA career. Nice slant though.

• #32 by John Sandershoo on 08/22/2009 - 7:22 am

  

  The Yankees will crumble like the always do, once the playoffs are here.

• #33 by WARM MAYONNAISE on 08/22/2009 - 2:21 pm

  

  You could say the Yankees “won” over the Sox if you think the Sox should of been able to get more in return. I have no idea what other offers were there. It has been working out great for the Yankees and its good if he is helping to loosen up the team a bit.

  From the Sox’s perspective, I believe they gave up Ryan Sweeny, Gio Gonzalez, and de Los Santos to the A’s. I would guess they still have more value/potential than what the Sox got from the Yankees, but who knows for sure.

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• #35 by Ed6793 on 08/23/2009 - 7:34 pm

  

  Jake :
  Nick Swisher is a good pick up no doubt. But hitting .242 with 20 home runs (in an obviously home run healthy park) doesn’t make him any better. He also is seeing more time due to Nady being out, so I dont think he is better than a bench player.

  Yes Swisher does play in a homerun healthy ball park, but Look at his stats. Yesterday against the Red Sox he hit his 21st home run, making his total homeruns on the road at 18, and only three at yankee stadium. You do the math.

• #36 by Rick on 08/23/2009 - 10:50 pm

  

  If you think Rios is worth the money he is getting paid by the sox you might be crazy. Swisher is earning his paycheck at a much lower rate than rios and putting up better numbers. His onbase percentage is way above average and his OPS is pretty good. No he isn’t a great defensive player but that is not what they need him for.

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