FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The famed Stadium won???t be the only member of the Yankee family the team will be saying goodbye to at the end of the season; Jason Gilbert Giambi is most likely playing his final days in a Yankee uniform. In this his contract year, Giambi has shown flashes of brilliance, burst of powers, and an on-again off-again mustache to change his fortunes at the plate. But, after all is said and done, Giambi remains no more than a .250 hitter, who perhaps will hit 30 to 35 homers, fields like a ???stachue??? at first and makes $23,428,571 this season. A member of the Yankees since 2002, Giambi has provided moments of excitement on the field and the controversy of ???artificial sweeteners??? off the field, and he remains consistently one of the popular members of the clubhouse and for visitors to first base. However, the number of World Championship rings during the Giambi era is the same as the numbers during the Horace Clarke era; that would be a big zero. The reality is that at this time in Giambi???s career he is a very expensive DH who can only be effective against right-handed pitchers (he strikes out as often against lefties as he gets hits). With Runners in Scoring Position and with RISP w/2 outs, Giambi is hitting under .200. With the bases loaded, he???s under .100. He???s still drawing walks. He???s 12th in the league in that department, but he???s so slow that he can???t get from first to third on a single to Mars. He still has an excellent eye and exhibits patience at the plate as he is seventh in the league in pitches per plate appearance, but maybe at this point in his career he needs to be more aggressive. But only a hitting coach can tell him that. His range at first is limited and his hands aren???t great. He is less of a fielding liability than let???s say David Ortiz, but he is also less of a threat than Big Papi at the plate. So what happens next for Giambi? I wouldn???t be surprised to see him return to Oakland, the site of his greatest success. Chances are that Billy Beane will give Giambi the same chance he gave Frank Thomas to resurrect his career, at, of course, one third the price (or less) that it is currently costing New York. Jason hopefully will re-invent himself as a hitter working harder to go to the opposite field and forcing teams to eliminate, or at least reduce, the defensive shift that gives Giambi fits. The question then is who fills the slot at first for the Yankees? Richie Sexson is not the answer; he???s a short-timer in pinstripes. The first alternative is tied to Jorge Posada???s shoulder. Posada may never recover fully enough from his surgery to be an effective everyday catcher, but those shoulder problems are significantly less significant as a first baseman. The questions are will the heavy legs of Posada be able to effectively maneuver in the infield and then will the stress of learning a new position adversely affect Posada at the plate? Ivan Rodriguez and a new two-year contract combined with Molina would be a nice replacement at catcher. We cannot ignore the 250,000,000 pound elephant in the room, the 28-year old Mark Teixeira, who is making $12.5 million this year and will be eligible for free agency after the season. According to the redoubtable Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Teixeira will be looking for a 10-year contract. Only two players have 10-year deals ??? Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez ??? and you know who they play for. As for what those post-World Series negotiations will be like, well, while playing for the Angels the rest of this season, Teixeira will be living in agent Scott Boras??? guesthouse. It could cost the Yankees a lot of money to land this guy and that???s money they will be certainly offering to CC Sabathia. So, what???s the alternative? The long-term answer at first base for the Yanks is obvious to me ??? The Captain. Following in the footsteps of the great Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks, Derek Jeter would make a great first baseman. In fact, with Jeter???s range diminishing at short, to the point where he is starting to be a liability, he would be a better first baseman now than he currently is a shortstop and could help the team so much more in that capacity. And if the Yankees don???t want to move A-Rod from third, there are always shortstops available on the free agent market or available by trade. Jason Giambi moving on from the Yankees is a no-brainer; Bobby Abreu, now that???s a whole other story, and a whole other column. Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com (www.Billy-Ball.com) and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, ???Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs ??? Baseball???s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,??? with a Foreword by Jon Miller, published by ACTA Sports, and available worldwide. Autographed first editions are available by contacting, Bill@billy-ball.com or order directly from Acta Sports or from your favorite bookstore.