Starters- The first base situation for the Yankees is pretty much on lock down for the next 8 years. As everybody knows, the Yankees signed free agent 1b Mark Teixeira to a 8 year mega-deal, worth 180 million dollars. The Yankees haven't had a regular first baseman since 2001, when Tino Martinez manned 1B. Teixeira has been consistently awesome, spending time with the Rangers, Braves, and Angels. His career stat line is .290/.378/.541, which is very impressive. His best performance came in the second half of last year, where he hit .358/.449/.632 with the Angels. His bat isn't the only facet of his game. Teixeira is a two time Gold-Glover (2005, 2006) and has constantly been regarded as one of the best defensive first basemen in the game. In my opinion, Teixeira is probably the 2nd or 3rd best 1b in the game, behind the amazing Albert Pujols. I think that the Teixeira signing was great for the Yankees because he provides them with a stellar all-around 1b, something that they haven't had in a while. He professional attitude, strong work ethic, and great talent will surely make him a fan favorite in NY.
Backups- The back up 1B for the Yankees this season will probably be the newly acquired Nick Swisher. Swish was slated as the teams first baseman when originally acquired from the White Sox, but the signing of Teixeira pushed him into the outfield. Swisher has solid power, hitting 21, 35, 22, and 24 HR in the last 4 seasons, respectively. He isn't known as an average guy, but his OPB greatly outweighs his low average. In 153 games last season, Swisher hit .221, but still managed to pull off a .332 OPB. In 2007, his OPB was .381, while only hitting .262. Swisher plays a pretty solid 1b, so if Tex goes down, he will be a very capable replacement.
Juan Miranda is another guy to consider if Teixeira goes down. Miranda had a very good season in AAA last year, hitting .287/.384/.449. His fielding isn't incredible, but it's not bad either. Another good option for 1B if Teixeira gets injured
Stuck- There were a few players who were subject to speculation in regard to taking over the 1b job at the tail end of their career. Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter, sorry, but it's not happening. Jesus Montero figured to move to 1b (size), but is now stuck at catcher as well. To be honest though, this doesn't bother me at all. Teixeira is a fantastic player and I'm extremely excited to have him in pinstripes.
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