The 25th Spot
Recently it was revealed that the contract that Marcus Thames signed with the Yankees has an opt-out clause that he can exercise if he does not make the opening day roster. When the deal was first announced it was publicized that it was a one year minor league deal for $900k. There was no word that the contract had an opt-out until Chad Jennings made a short post on Marcus Thames on February 26th.
So what does this mean for the Yankees? As i mentioned in a previous post about the Yankees bullpen situation, the Yankees have some decisions to make about whether to carry 12 or 13 pitchers and 12 or 13 position players on their 25 man roster. If Girardi goes with his gut and sticks with 12 pitchers, that leaves 13 spots on the roster for position players. Essentially, the Yankees already have 12 of those spots set in stone with 4 outfielders (Granderson, Swisher, Gardner, Winn), 5 infielders (Tex, Cano, Jeter, Arod, and most likely Ramiro Pena), and 2 catchers (Posada and most likely Cervelli). While the roster spots are up for open competition, the favorites for the 13th positional spot are Thames and Jamie Hoffmann. With Thames having an opt-out clause in his contract and Hoffmann being a Rule 5 draft pick, one is likely to be out of the Yankees organization by the end of spring training.
The Thames vs. Hoffmann battle will be one of the few real battles taking place in Yankees camp this spring. To help size up the competition I’ll give a quick description of both players.
Jamie Hoffmann: Hoffmann is a 25 year-old outfielder than can play all positions. Hoffmann stands at 6’3″ 235 lbs and runs very well for his size. Baseball America has rated him as the Yankees best defensive outfield prospect. While Hoffmann has limited Major League experience he already knows what being successful in the bigs feels like. In Hoffman’s first career major league start he recorded his first hit which just so happened to be a 3 run HR in the 2nd inning off of Angels starter Matt Palmer. Hoffmann is a career .283/ .355/ .401 minor league hitter. Those numbers actually jump to .285/ .362/ .449 in 72 games in Triple A. Hoffmann has a lot to offer the Yankees but if it is possible for the Yankees to give him more time to develop in Triple A it could benefit him in the long run.
Marcus Thames: If there is anybody competing against Jamie Hoffmann for a roster spot that isn’t threatened by his potential it is Marcus Thames. This isn’t because Thames has a decent amount of Major League experience, but because Thames also has had a taste of early success in the majors. Thames, who broke into the show with the Yankees hit a HR in his first career at bat against so no-namer… I think his name was Randy Johnson. Thames, who will be 33 on March 6th, played just 7 games with the Yankees in 2002 before he was traded in 2003 to Texas for one of the best pinch-hitters of all time, Ruben Sierra. In 8 career MLB seasons Thames has hit 101 HRs in 1549 at bats giving him one HR every 15.34 at bats compared to Arod’s one HR every 14.24 at bats. Thames’ career MLB stat line is .243/ .306/ .491. While his batting average and OBP are much lower than Hoffmann’s career minor league stats, we cannot compare apples to oranges. Thames’ clearly has enough power to be a major contributor to the Yankees in 2010.
The only circumstance in which both Thames and Hoffmann could remain in the Yankees organization would be if the Yankees were to place Thames on the opening day roster and work out a trade with the Dodgers for Hoffman’s rights. As I said in the post about the Yankees bullpen, the deal with the Dodgers would be a win/win situation for both teams. The Yankees would receive an outfielder with potential to help restock the farm system and the Dodgers would receive a solid 5 starter. If the Yankees can pull this deal off, they would get a return on a quality arm that would otherwise be picked up on waivers with no return. They would also be able to have the luxury of having a power threat off the bench in Thames, while being able to allow Hoffmann to further develop in the minors.
Loading ...Photos courtesy of Zimbio.com
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