MLB Trade Rumors: Would Kyle Schwarber Be A Good Fit With the New York Yankees?
Schwarber to the Yankees has been mentioned as a possible transaction for quite some time now
The New York Yankees currently boast of one of the most impressive lineups in all of the Majors.
Right fielder Aaron Judge can be a one-man wrecking crew when he is locked in, while left fielder Brett Gardner is the prototypical, pesky hitter who managers love to have at the top of the lineup. Even probable center fielder Aaron Hicks is coming off a solid year at the plate.
In the infield, Starlin Castro, Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird are capable of being above-average producers when healthy, while catcher Gary Sanchez can absolutely crush the baseball.
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That leaves two spots in the lineup that are lagging behind the rest, with those being third base and designated hitter.
Currently, Chase Headley is lined up to be the opening day starter at third, but if he fails to produce, the Yankees could call up prized prospect Gleyber Torres and have him take over.
Who they will pencil in as their designated hitter on most days is not quite as clear, however.
The Yankees' designated hitters famously struggled during their most recent playoff run, and it would seem that the team can benefit greatly from installing a better hitter into that spot.
Candidates for that spot include outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Clint Frazier, though the former lacks the kind of power the team would probably want in a designated hitter, while the Yankees would likely be better served to see what the latter can do in the field first before taking away his glove.
The Yankees' lack of an obvious designated hitter is part of the reason for why John Harper of the New York Daily News put forth the name of current Chicago Cub Kyle Schwarber as a candidate to fill that lineup hole in a recent article.
In making the case for the Yankees to acquire Schwarber, Harper noted that his left-handed power can play really well in Yankee Stadium and that he is still young enough that he may still improve. Harper also speculates that Schwarber's lackluster 2017 numbers were likely related to injury, and that is certainly possible.
Still, even given Schwarber's youth, affordable contract status, power and bounce-back potential, he remains far from a no-brainer addition for the Yankees to pursue. While his struggles last year could be chalked up to his injury issues, it wasn not like he was an MVP candidate before then.
As seen in Baseball Reference, Schwarber's numbers in 2015 were solid to be sure, but they were far from superstar-caliber as well.
Schwarber's homeruns are sights to behold, but they should not obscure the stats indicating that he is a fairly unremarkable player when taking into account his overall production.
Add on top of that the possibility that the Yankees may have to give up a good prospect to acquire him, and the idea of dealing for Schwarber does not seem as attractive.
The Yankees definitely need to find a way to address their lack of a good designated hitter, but the way to go about doing so may not be by acquiring Schwarber.
