Batting 9th In The Bronx

[Wolf Hopper]

Just thought of this last night.

Yankees OF is Godzilla, Williams, and Mondesi.
Their INF is Ventura, Jeter, Soriano, Giambi and Posada.
The DH will be a bunch of people like Bubba Trammell, Nick Johnson, and Zeile, etc.

Who bats 9th in this lineup if you were Joe Torre?

It's not going to be Soriano, Jeter, Giambi, Williams, Godzilla, or Posada - - that's for sure.

That leaves Mondesi, Ventura, or the DH.

Think Mondesi will like seeing his name 9th in the line-up card?
Ventura should not hit 9th.
Will the DH bat 9th? Has any team had their DH bat 9th on a regular basis?

Now, as a MGR, this might seem like a nice problem to have - - but, is it really a problem - - meaning it will cause someone to have bad feelings?

[Craig S.]

My guess is that neither Ventura or Mondesi would be too high on batting 9th in the order. I think Trammell or Johnson would be much more accepting of the lower position in the order. Did Johnson bat 8th or 9th last season? I know he was often near the bottom of the order.

If Torre decides that Ventura or Mondesi should be in that spot, I'd hope that they're mature enough to live with his decision. They don't have to like it, but all they have to do is look at the lineup for an understanding of where they are.

Another Yankees "problem" that most teams would kill to have.

[TimmyB]

Trammel/Johnson seem like the only answer to this (ahem) problem in NY. While neither Ventura nor Mondesi would like it, no one else passes the "he should hit behind me" test.

This is where Torre seems to excel as a manager, though. He keeps everybody in a professional mind-set (well... almost everyone... at least, that is, when they're not having books ghost-written). ;)

Such a headache that NY is...

[KCBOOMER]

Why are we creating a problem where none exists? Surely, the lack of a "natural" number nine hitter isn't cause for alarm in the "Big Apple".

[TimmyB]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
Why are we creating a problem where none exists? Surely, the lack of a "natural" number nine hitter isn't cause for alarm in the "Big Apple".

Boomer, they've been two years without a World Series championship in NY. Everything is cause for alarm.

[gyb13]

Nick Johnson DH'ed and batted 9th for a big chunk of last season.

[Wolf Hopper]

Boomer - it's just a question - - not a problem.

Yes, Johnson did bat 9th - much of last year - and, having the DH bat 9th makes sense, for NY, this year.

The issue - to me - would be - - if it is Bubba or Zeile - - or even Johnson - - if they reach, will they clog up the bases for Soriano and Jeter? I think having an anchor on base in front of them blocks their ability to advance bases.

[gyb13]

i know that's what you're getting at, but it's the same issue they had last year. hopefully it'll be a bigger issue this year (as it'll mean that johnson is getting on base more often).

what would you propose? batting mondesi, who has some speed, 9th?

[SmedIndy]

Whoever it is needs to suck it up and bat ninth, whether it be Ventura, Mondesi, or whoever.

I'd put Mondesi 9th because of his speed. I still like the "second leadoff" idea for a 9th place hitter.

[Wolf Hopper]

Originally posted by gyb13
what would you propose?

In a perfect world? I would have dumped Mondesi, moved Williams to LF, played Godzilla in RF, and picked up a defensive wiz FA (Glanville? Singleton?), over the winter, to play CF and batted him 9th. :D

[gyb13]

yes, but the world of George is far from perfect

[JamesI]

I'll trade. I'd love to worry about which former all star to hit ninth. Instead I get Gary Mathews, David segui and Jeff Conine. These are the middle of the order guys.

[Rajah]

I think many AL teams have the problem of some slow clog in the system batting ninth. Since, for most teams, the catcher is the worst hitter, and the slowest, I think the natural inclination is to bat him ninth. All NL teams have that problem.
Lets say you do bat Mondesi ninth, well then one of the turtles will still be batting before him, same problem, different order. Well, maybe not exactly, Mondesi is an out machine. Perhaps he can sac fly Johnson or Ventura over to 2nd, and then Soriano can hit his double and move the sludge to third.

And for as bad as Mondesi is, he's still better than Glanville.

[LeGrandOrange]

Originally posted by Wolf Hopper
In a perfect world? I would have dumped Mondesi, moved Williams to LF, played Godzilla in RF, and picked up a defensive wiz FA (Glanville? Singleton?), over the winter, to play CF and batted him 9th. :D

You call starting a guy who is better at EverQuest than at the plate part of a "perfect" world? Yankee fans would run him out in two months, if not sooner.

[JamesI]

Originally posted by LeGrandOrange
You call starting a guy who is better at EverQuest than at the plate part of a "perfect" world? Yankee fans would run him out in two months, if not sooner.

I disagree. Steve's idea is a good one. Williams is losing range in cf, from what I saw I think he's below average there now. If Matsui can't cover center, then bringing in someone who isn't a good hitter but can conver center well is a good thing. The Yankee offense can get away with a poor hitter.

[Wolf Hopper]

Originally posted by JamesI
I disagree. Steve's idea is a good one. Williams is losing range in cf, from what I saw I think he's below average there now. If Matsui can't cover center, then bringing in someone who isn't a good hitter but can conver center well is a good thing. The Yankee offense can get away with a poor hitter.

That's what I was thinking - - 8 bats should be enough - - - and, you could always PH for the 9th guy, when needed.

It will be interesting to see Williams in CF this year - - - in fact, the Yankees better out-score everyone they play - - because this is probably the worst Yankee defensive team in the last 10 years or so.............but, that's a topic for another thread...........