» Derek Jeter

When the season ended for the 2008 Yankees there was one glaring need: Pitching.  This was nothing new, and as the old adage went, “you can never have enough.”  But the Yankees from 2004 to 2008 never had enough starting pitching to bring a World Series, or even a Pennant, home.  The Yankee pitching staff has not been outstanding since the end of 2003 when Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens momentarily defected to the Astros.

So when the Yankees signed C.C. Sabathia to a huge deal, they hoped they got the true ace they have long coveted.  Well, in case anybody was not sure after a dominant year of 19 wins, C.C. Sabathia proved to all that he was for real tonight.  Sabathia may have labored through some long innings, and some bad breaks, but he limited the damage, and only let up 2 runs in 6.2 IP.

Those two runs were more than enough for the Yankee offense, which hammered the Twins for 7 runs.  Derek Jeter, of course, was on base all four times he came to the plate.  Hideki Matsui had an important two run home run.  And Nick Swisher had a key double.

But the biggest news of the night was the exorcism that took place at Yankee Stadium.  No I am not talking about a movie from the 70’s, but the two clutch hits, and yes I say clutch hits, for Alex Rodriguez.  There are two important parts to these hits.  First, the team, and A-Rod, will not have to deal with questions about his inability to hit in the clutch during the playoffs.  Second, the manner in which A-Rod got these hits proves he is more devoted to the Yankees.  The two clutch hits were singles that drove in one RBI.  In years past, A-Rod would have been swinging for the fences, trying for the big splash on one swing.  Perhaps he finally realized that a single with RISP in the playoffs is just as important as a homerun; something Bernie, Tino, and Paulie knew all too well.

Whatever the reasons for A-Rod’s sudden productivity in October, all this blogger knows for sure is that A-Rod exorcised some demons with a couple of big swings tonight.  And the Yankees now lead the series 1-0.

On my way home from a long day of work and class, I called a close friend of mine to talk some baseball. He is one of the few guys that I know who listens to what I have to say and challenges me about baseball.

Tonight’s topic was on Jhonny Peralta and what the best option for him would be. We both agreed that Peralta is not a short stop and that Wedge needs to work on moving him to 3rd base this spring training. What really got the conversation heated was the topic on why they didn’t do this in the second half of last season when the Indians really did not have anything to play for.

My friend gave me a lot of good points, but I see why Wedge did not make the transition last year. With Asdrubal Cabrera batting well under .250, there only option for 2nd base was Josh Barfield. Barfield was called up when Cabrera was sent down to Triple-A Buffalo with a mere .190 batting average. You have to remember, Barfieldwas batting around .250 in Triple-A, so it was not really an upgrade. It was more of a move in desperation. Within the first few weeks of Barfield’s return to the bigs, he was injured and had season ending surgery. With Cabrera still in the minors, Jamey Carroll came in and started to become the Indians every day 2nd baseball proving to the team and the fans that it was the right move. Some of you  might ask, what does 2nd base have to do with Peralta and that is a good question. When the Indians traded Casey Blake in to the Dodgers, that left open 3rd base, which could have been the prime time to start Peralta a few games at 3rd. However, Wedge wanted to see what Andy Marte was made of and Marte became our every day 3rd basemen.  Some of you are still wondering what this has to do with Peralta and here is your answer. What the Indians should have done int he 2nd half of the season is play Peralta at 3rd base, but they were out of options. In an injury free world, the Indians infield should have been Peralta at 3rd, Cabrera at SS, Jamey Carroll at 2nd and Garko at 1st in the last half of the season, but with the injury to Barfield, the poor batting by Cabrera and nobody else in the minors, Peralta was still the every day SS.

Fast forward to winter ball. Peralta was starting the majority of the games at 3rd. Every year I attend the Indians Press Tour and this year I was fortunate enough to attend the Press Tour that Eric Wedge was at. He was asked about Peralta playing 3rd this coming season and Wedge did say that Peralta was playing 3rd in Winter ball, but as of right now he is our every day SS. The fans should expect to see Peralta play a few games at 3rd and in Spring Training, you’ll see Peralta play 3rd. Do you think the signing of Mark Derosa was a foreshadow of things to come? Derosa played 2nd for the Cubs, even though he is really a utility infielder. Is it possible that we can see Derosa playing 2nd, Cabrera at SS and Peralta at 3rd half way through the season?

Another point that really got me heated in my conversation with my friend is how hard he was on Peralta.  At one point he even called him terrible. Yeah, he isn’t a Jeter or a Vizquel. But the kid has done some pretty nice things in his career to not call him terrible.  In a 146 games last season at short, Jhonny had 14 errors. He range might not be as big as Jeter’s, but Jeter played in 148 games and had 12 errors. Jhonny Peralta is not a terrible short stop. Everyone says how horrible Peralta is, but the minute that Peralta starts hitting homeruns and driving in runs, everybody jumps on the bandwagon.

So what really is the best option for Peralta? That is your own opinion. In my opinion, I do have to agree with my friend and say that Jhonny is a 3rd baseman. You don’t need a whole lot of range when playing 3rd and the guy can hit for power. I guess we’ll just have to see if Peralta at 3rd will happen this season.