TAMPA – The Red Sox’s feel-good offseason of David Price and Craig Kimbrel and a surging belief that their young talent is ready to flourish in full on the major league level was unsettled in the last week when Pablo Sandoval opened his mouth and lifted his shirt.
Sandoval held a tone-deaf press briefing in which he failed to fully appreciate how disappointing he was in his first Boston season and what was expected in Year 2. Then a photo appeared of Sandoval throwing a ball, which caused his red T-shirt to rise and expose an, um, weighty issue Sandoval was supposed to have addressed in the offseason.
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner told WEEI he was concerned about Sandoval’s condition, which not only resonates now, but through 2019 since he signed a five-year, $95 million deal after the 2014 campaign. Boston owner John Henry did state Wednesday that Sandoval’s body fat is down considerably.
And there is this: The Red Sox have some safety nets in Brock Holt and Travis Shaw and possibly even Hanley Ramirez, another free-agent disappointment from last year who already has shuffled from short to left to first and is the heir to David Ortiz as the DH.
But what is the Yankees’ Plan B to the shaky Plan A that is Chase Headley, who shares so much in common with Sandoval? Both are switch-hitters. Both came from the NL West. Both signed the biggest free-agent deal by their teams in the 2014-15 offseason (Headley’s was four years, $52 million). And both were underwhelming last season on both sides of the ball.
Of the 21 third basemen who qualified for the batting title last year, Sandoval finished 21st in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) – which tries to quantify offense and defense in one stat. Headley was 17th. The player who finished 18th, Aramis Ramirez, retired and 19th, Brett Lawrie, was traded from the A’s to the White Sox, where he is now a second baseman.
Headley said the defensive issues bothered him most. He committed 23 errors, mainly on throws. He spoke often about footwork, but it looked at times as if he had the yips. On offense, he managed just 11 homers and a .693 OPS and continued to look as if 2012, when he hit 31 homers for the Padres and finished fifth in the NL MVP voting, was a fluke high point.
“I don’t think that is the norm,” Headley said of last season. “I feel closer to the player I was in my career, not last year.”
Yet, despite the struggles, Headley actually led the Yankees in games (156), for there was not even a Holt or Shaw in reserve. The same is true this year. The Yanks plan to take a look at Starlin Castro as the backup third baseman, which I continue to believe is a bad idea. Castro is still trying to learn second base and a new team, and heaping more on him seems folly.
On the Yankees depth chart at MLB.com, Alex Rodriguez is still listed as third at third base, and frankly Graig Nettles has as good a shot to play third for the 2016 Yanks as A-Rod does. Which is why Yankees officials were meeting Wednesday to decide if they also should be working other players out at third, such as Rob Refsnyder.
Remember, Headley is a bit of a physical time bomb. He said the herniated disk in his back had nothing to do with his issues last year, but hitting coach Alan Cockrell noted, “The thing about Chase is that he will post up every day and play through a lot of things that people don’t realize is going on with the guy.” Yep, Headley is a gamer, which is an attribute the Yankees admire.
But he should not be a 156-game third baseman. It should probably be more like 130 at full health. The Yankees did try to find a security blanket. For example, they offered Juan Uribe a minor league deal, but he got a major league offer to sign with Cleveland.
I continue to believe the Yankees’ backup third baseman, essentially their 25th man, is not yet in this camp. I suspect their scouts will be armed with a list of likely available guys who are out of options or have no real roles on their current teams — players such as Philadelphia’s Cody Asche, Milwaukee’s Hernan Perez, Cleveland’s Giovanny Urshela, Miami’s Derek Dietrich, Oakland’s Danny Valencia and Philadelphia’s Andrew Blanco. Former Yankee, Eduardo Nunez of the Twins, might even be a step up, as would Wilmer Flores if the Mets and Yankees could ever make a deal. David Freese also remains a free agent.
No one on the list wows you. But neither did Headley last year. The Yankees need him healthy and even an average player this season, because at present Plan A might be a worry, but Plan B is a disaster.