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November 18, 2006

Rich Aurilia

From the Cincy Post -

Whether or not [Alex} Gonzalez is the answer, the Reds will have to find a starting shortstop or second baseman to play alongside Brandon Phillips. It appears increasingly unlikely that Rich Aurilia will be the answer there. The Denver Post reported Friday that Aurilia could reach a multi-year deal with the Giants or Yankees as early as this weekend.

A multi-year deal for a 35-year old with little bat? Gee, I hope it's going to be the Giants.

Aurilia, if I recall correctly, is a nice guy. And, I think his parents are still in the NYC area (Keyport NJ?). But, a multi-year deal for him makes no sense. If it was a one-year deal to serve as a back-up infielder, fine. But, otherwise, this makes little sense for the Yankees.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at November 18, 2006 09:53 AM

Comments

Agreed, Steve. If it's between Aurilia and Hillenbrand, I'd choose neither. An in-house solution of Phillips/Guiel at first would be less sexy but probably just as effective (or inefective) - and, no doubt, cheaper.

Posted by: brockdc [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2006 01:02 PM

I would love to see Guiel get a shot, but he's shit out of luck because the Yankees are dead-set on making their new first baseman right-handed.

I can't say I know a ton about Aurilia. His offensive stats weren't horrible this year (though they were by far his best in a while). His OBP. is meh at .349, but he did hit 23 home runs. He hadn't hit nearly that many since 2001 with the Giants (which is when Barry was handing out steroids to all his teammates; if you don't believe me, look it up). So 2001 cannot be trusted. He hasn't done much of anything since till this year.

What sort of numbers do you think Aurilia would put up as a Yankee next year? Closer to '06 or '03/'05?

Posted by: baileywalk [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2006 01:29 PM

Rich Aurilia would be as bad as Craig Wilson was last year, striking out once per game if not more. If we are so dead set on a righthanded first baseman who has the potential to be a utility guy, why not go after NOMAH. He would fit in very well in our lineup and also stick it to Boston, sort of I guess, in the way that they lost Damon last year. A lot of Boston fans didnt want to trade him in '04 and want him back now.

Posted by: Chewbacca [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2006 07:13 PM

~~~What sort of numbers do you think Aurilia would put up as a Yankee next year? Closer to '06 or '03/'05?~~~

Closer to the bad years. The part in Cincy helped him, I think.

Posted by: Steve Lombardi [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2006 08:21 PM

I'd love to see the Yanks sign Nomar, but the stuff I've read indicates that he's going to re-sign with the Dodgers. Aurilia would be a mistake. I agree with Chewie that he would be Craig Wilson redux.

Outside of Nomar, though, I don't know who's out there as a righty 1B. Andy Phillips obviously isn't the guy. Hillenbrand is Mel Hall Part II, and after trading Sheffield they don't need to sign a guy who fills their a-hole quota.

Posted by: Mr. Furious [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 18, 2006 09:16 PM

Rich Aurilia? Someone needs to be smacked

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 19, 2006 10:42 AM