The Yankee Clipper: Catcher and Designated Hitter

So far in our post-All-Star Break Yankee Clipper series we've covered the Yankees' infield and outfield so far in 2010. Now let's take a moment and look at their catchers and DHs. I felt like this went together since Jorge Posada has spent so much time at DH this season. Let's take a look at how these two groups have performed and see if the Yankees may need to make some changes before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline:

1. Jorge Posada. If you were to give Posada's year an overall grade, what would it be? I think it would have to be someplace in the B- range. Since Posada's 6th place MVP finish in 2007 (and subsequent contract extension), the Yankees backstop has missed quite a lot of time with injuries. He played in only 51 games in 2008, 111 games in 2009, but is on pace to play in 134 this season. Posada's value is almost solely in his bat behind the plate (his catching has regressed with age) so when he has to spend a lot of time at DH, it hurts his value somewhat. So far in 2010, Posada has played 36 games at catcher, 20 at DH and 1 at 1B. Those 20 games at DH blow past his previous high of 15 in 2008. Posada's .265/.373/.464 slash line is down from last year or 2007, but some of that could be attributed to trying to play through injuries. His power numbers have suffered as well as his pace of 27 doubles, 20 HR, and 65 RBI would be one of the poorest outputs of a full season in his entire career. According to FanGraphs, Posada is crushing fastballs and hitting sliders well, but any other pitch has been getting him. Posada's home-road splits have been quite pronounced this year as he's hitting exactly 300 OPS points higher in New Yankee Stadium (which reflects last year's numbers as well when he hit 253 points higher). He's also hitting lefties at a .914 OPS while hitting righties at only .784. Still, there is tremendous value in Posada's bat being in the lineup regardless of who is pitching or the location of the game and the bet here is that the Yankees will try to keep Posada in the lineup but well-rested through DH stints. The biggest problem with this is Posada is not a good career hitter as a DH. As a catcher, he's hit .280/.381/.489 for his career--and as a DH, he's at .220/.341/.352. Some players can't adjust to just playing half the game and a catcher such as Posada who is involved in every pitch thrown would seem to be the most affected by that. And 2010 has been no different as his OPS is 116 points lower when he DHs (which he's done 20 times, the most on the Yankees). If Posada can't find a way to make himself into an effective DH, the Yankees may have some troubles in 2010 and 2011. Best Month: April .310/.394/.638 with 5 HR and 12 RBI.
2. Francisco Cervelli. "The Cisco Kid" had a tremendous start to the season but has since fallen off. He's been pretty good behind the plate and looks like he has a good rapport with the pitchers, but his bat hasn't quite been keeping up. His .266/.338/.333 line and .305 wOBA looks pretty rough after a fast start. His 30 RBIs, however, is quite impressive. His caught stealing rate has also dipped a lot. Last year he threw out an unbelievable 43% of the runners who tried to steal. This year he's at 14%--which is worse than Posada's 19%. I'm not surprised to see Cervelli struggle with the bat, however. He never showed a great bat in the minors (except a brief stint in 2008 at AA) and there was little reason to think that he suddenly would have become a great hitter in the majors. But when Cervelli woke up on May 15th, he had a .415/.483/.528 line and 14 RBI. Since May 15th, he's hit .202/.277/.250 with 16 RBI. And the last month he's been dismal with a .167/.167/.250 line and 1 RBI. The problem really becomes with Cervelli how much Posada can catch. If Jorge can squat more in the second half, then Frankie's issues at catcher don't get shown as much because of the limited amount of PAs. But if Posada were to suffer another injury or will be spending more time at DH, the Yankees may be in trouble having Cervelli playing every day. Though, when you factor in that Jose Molina was a worse hitter, the Yankees are actually improved in 2010 at the backup backstop. Best Month: April .360/.448/.400.
3. Nick Johnson. The Yankees thought that if they could limit Johnson to just designated hitter, they could keep him healthy for an entire season. They were wrong. While Johnson was healthy, he was hardly "Nick the Stick" (.167), though his .388 OBP (thanks to walking almost 25% of the time) looked mighty fine in the #2 hole in the Yankees lineup (though striking out 32% of the time was getting a bit worrisome). Now DH has been mostly a hole since he's left. Johnson's wrist looked to be healing an an early August return seemed likely but then News came down a week ago that Johnson had suffered a setback and was headed to New York to see a hand specialist on Monday. Since then I don't think there's been any updates--which I take to mean he's going to need season-ending surgery--but this certainly was the worst-case scenario for the Yankees DH coming into this season. A shame, really, since when he got hurt in May, he was really starting to hit well. Best Month: May .286/.412/.643 in 5 games.
4. Alex Rodriguez / Marcus Thames / Juan Miranda / Nick Swisher / Mark Teixeira / Derek Jeter / Robinson Cano. Those are the names of the rest of the guys who have DH'ed so far this season for the Yankees. A-Rod's bad hip has kept him DH'ing quite frequently. Thames bad fielding has done the same. The loss of Johnson opened up a hole for Miranda to step into. Swisher has gotten a few days off in right and DH'ed. Teixeira has struggled mightily at times and Joe Girardi hoped DH'ing him would help break him out of it. And Jeter and Cano have both received "half days off" at the designated hitter position. Expect the Yankees veterans A-Rod and Jeter to get even more days at DH as the summer roles along. Overall the Yankees DHs have hit .241/.356/.412 with 11 HR and 40 RBI. Not great production from the spot.
5. Chad Moeller. The Yankees wanted a veteran presence in Triple-A and so they signed Moeller for a second stint in Pinstripes after the Orioles released him in Spring Training. Moeller came in handy when Posada went down and spent a month on the roster (although he only played in 4 games and managed 2 hits--oddly both doubles). Moeller has never been a big hitter but his veteran presence at catcher is important for the Yankees and he's back at Triple-A now working with top prospect Jesus Montero and keeping fresh in case of another Posada (or Cervelli) injury.

So who out there would look good in Yankees Pinstripes to fill either the DH spot or as a backup catcher? We've mentioned Jermaine Dye's name though I think the Yankees will continue to pass on him. Jose Bautista would be a nice addition as we've mentioned before for DH, OF and 3B but he might be too expensive for the Yankees (and guys like Jayson Werth and Corey Hart would seem to fit into the "too expensive" category as well). Xavier Nady may look good in a second stint in Pinstripes but the X man hasn't hit much in Chicago. Cody Ross or Austin Kearns may make sense as a low-cost pick-up. I do not think the Yankees will even try to touch Jose Guillen. Ty Wigginton's name again comes up here as a guy who could fill multiple roles for the Yankees.

As for catcher, Chris Snyder is always available at catcher if the Yankees were desperate but his high salary probably makes him a no-go. Ryan Doumit's salary is equally as high and although he's a good hitter, I'm not sure the Yankees have interest in him. John Buck would be a much cheaper option and if either of the Yankees' catchers were down for an extended period of time, I could see them going after Buck (though I'm wondering what the cost of acquiring Buck from the same division would be). Kelly Stoppach or Dioner Navarro should become trade bait but I don't think there's a chance the Rays would trade either one to the Yankees. Jose Molina is enjoying one of his best offensive seasons and would fit right back in if the Yankees tried to reacquire him from the Jays. Gregg Zaun is another veteran catcher who could become available if the Yankees are looking for a catcher with a good bat.

My feeling? The Yankees are fine where they are right now giving the catching to Posada/Cervelli (while keeping Moeller on call) and giving the DH spot to Thames with Posada, A-Rod and Jeter getting half days off there. If the Yankees happen to find a good outfielder or infielder and move someone to DH, so be it, but I don't think the Yankees need at DH is that great that they need to run out there and acquire someone. And I'm pretty sure that come September, the Yankees will call up Montero and give him a shot at catcher/DH in the majors to see if he's a viable option in 2011.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the Yankees need to go out and acquire anyone for designated hitter or catcher, or would you rather they stay in house? Let us know in the comments below.

Picture from NBC Sports