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Yankees in Tough Spot with Bernie Williams

2007-01-29
By
Brian Cashman, the GM of the NY Yankees finds himself in a tough spot these days. His dilemna; what to do with Bernie Williams. As of today, Cashman has not indicated if he is going to bring Bernie back for another season in pinstripes. Williams has been in Bronx since 1991, and is nearing the end of his career and the Yankees organization it seems wants to treat him with the respect he deserves, but unfortunately it does not currently have any room left on their 40 man roster for #51.

Bernie has patrolled centerfield at Yankee Stadium, the same hallowed ground as the legends Mantle and DiMaggio before. He has always conducted himself with honor and class. He has played his entire career in one uniform, very similar to the two men being enshrined in Cooperstown this summer. He was never a clubhouse nuisance, or arrested or accused of illegal behaviour. There was some concern he would flee to Boston a few years back, but the speculation was Bernie never wanted to put on another uniform besides the pinstripes. Williams helped bring the World Series trophy back to New York in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. He is one of the remaining current crop that came up through their own system along with Jeter, Posada, and Rivera who have been here for the entire run.

The Yankees have a long history and tradition. I want to believe that they don’t want to unceremoniously dump Bernie. He performed very well (.281/12/61) last season in what was supposed to be a part time role, but became more when Matsui and Sheffield went down with injuries for most of the regular season. But the Yankees are trying to get younger, and faster and need to give some young kids a chance. It is a shame that the idea of Bernie trying 1st base last season, since that might have been incentive to keep him, but after the Mike Piazza 1st base fiasco a few years ago in Shea, there is no reason to believe that this would be any different.

So, it is with great sadness that barring a major injury, the Yankees are going to need to part company with Bernie Williams soon. Then Bernie needs to decide if he is going to retire, or try to catch on with another team and don another uniform. If he does retire, then the Yankees should hire him as a minor league instructor or a Latin American scout, something to keep him in the organization. He is a much better role model than Darryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden, who have spent time after their playing career in the employ of the Yankees.

However, Joe Torre is not making his bosses job any easier, by saying he wants to give Bernie a chance, here. As the Replacement Level Weblog says:

What are the odds that if Bernie gets a shot at making the team from Joe Torre, he doesn’t make it? Please Brian Cashman, hold firm.

 

He also has done some statistical analysis of the proposed Red Sox trade, which I discussed yesterday here, and says Helton is really only good for 1-1.5 more win shares. That makes me breathe a little easier if this trade actually goes through.

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  • KRS

    Jeff — If Bernie had hit .235/5/15 last year, I think I would agree with you. But in these circumstances I think you honor the commitment until the younger guys HAVE produced (not MIGHT produce) at the same level at which Bernie is still producing.

    This is the problem I see playing out this year. We dump Bernie and then Reese / Thompson hit a combined .247/6/35. But because they’re “prospects”, we say that they are “developing” and don’t hold them to as high a standard as we did Bernie. Meanwhile, we then have lost the difference in productivity between what they actually produce versus what Bernie has proven he can produce, quite possibly in game-criticial or playoff situations where he is most valuable, and in truth one of the other two guys really would have been better off staying at Columbus and “developing” down there.

    I guess I also think that if, in the middle of the year, we find that Bernie is hitting .235/5/15, we could send him down to Columbus, or give him retirement options, or trade him to another team, or whatever, and call up one or both of the other guys and we’ve lost very little. I see there being a few other choices which would be better for the team than simply not offering him a roster spot and saying “sayonara”.

  • Jeff Herz

    KRS-

    You bring up a lot of good points. Bernie has certainly been everything and more to the Yankees for a long time. My only question to you is how long does one honor that commitment before knowing it is too late. You of all people should understand since you remember Mantle on the decline, not the great Mickey Mantle of the 1950′s.

    I would rather give a kid an opportunity, rather than seeing Bernie and the Yankees decline similar to the period you refer to between 1965-1975. Even if Bernie remains productive this year, how is that going to help the team in 2008 or 2009?

    Lets say Bernie is the 5th OF this year, and hits .275/6/45 in a third of the at bats he had last year, again assuming no major OF injuries. While still respectable and perhaps better than many other OF in the league, he is essentially taking AB’s away from Cabrera Kevin Thompson and Kevin Reese. The way these younger players perform in those situation will help Cashman and Torre’s successor determine if they have the ability to replace Damon, Matsui and Abreau when their contracts expire in the coming years.

    That is unfortunately, why Bernie cannot be resigned. The problem for them as stated earlier is Williams is as classy as they get, and the Yankees are trying to respect that class, but in the process are showing little or no respect for what Bernie has brought. Sports is a brutal game, and it is often difficult to say goodbye to a player past his prime or who fits into the current plan. How many times did Michael Jordan come back, with the Bulls and then the Wizards. At least 2-3. Professional athletes never believe they are finished, or cannot perform until it is way too late. Jim Brown and Barry Sanders are the only exceptions that come to mind.

    I have no doubt Bernie can still play, and if wants to he should sign somewhere else, or wait and see if anyone gets injured in March. Sadly, I don’t think we will see him in pinstripes again.

  • KRS

    I’ve been a Yankee fan since 1964, the year they lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, whose manager, Ralph Houk, they then hired the following year. I endured the following decade while watching Mickey Mantle strike out more times than anyone thought humanly possible, and while the likes of Joe Pepitone and Hector Lopez made their appearances on the Yankee stage.

    So it is with some amount of perspective and historical reference that I now observe the current Bernie Williams saga. And after all is said and done I observie this: last year, Bernie Williams was a more than adequate backup to Johnny Damon in center field. Williams batted .281 with 12 home runs and 61 runs batted in. These are not All-Star numbers, to be sure, but they aren’t bad either. I can think of plenty of center fielders in the major leagues who didn’t hit .281. And Bernie’s numbers were certainly more than respectable for someone coming off the bench. Oh, and he’s a switch-hitter, too….not something you can say about a lot of bench players. And then there’s the issue of loyalty, which plays heavily in Bernie’s favor. All of that balanced against the idea that Bernie’s position should be given to “prospects” (namely Kevin Reese and Kevin Thompson), whose output so far has been less than adequate, and whose output in 2007 will almost certainly be less than what Bernie would have delivered in 2007.

    I suppose time marches on, but it puzzles me why the Yankees would intentionally not offer a roster spot to someone who clearly loves the Yankees, whose historical ties to the team are beyond question, whose 2006 production was more than adequate in the role to which he was assigned, and instead give those roster spots to unproven rookies who have yet to produce a thing. I don’t get it.







Right.

Man up.

Buy the book now on Amazon.com. Or listen to Ronnie tell a story at escaping-from-reality.com.

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