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March 20, 2008

Ensberg Rebuilt By Long

Via Ken Rosenthal:

Morgan Ensberg, trying to stick with the Yankees, could be another option for the Dodgers; he can ask for his release if the Yankees do not add him to their 40-man roster on Friday.

The Yankees, by placing Ensberg on their 40-man list, would guarantee his $1.75 million contract, increasing his chances of making the club.

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, who helped revitalize Alex Rodriguez last season, also is making a difference for Ensberg, who is batting .313 with five doubles in 32 at-bats this spring.

"It's shocking," Ensberg says. "Everything he does is so simple. He gets rid of all of your excess motions, gets you down to a good foundation.

"I used to be a guy with eight different stances and eight different hand positions. Now I'm down to one. And it took only one session, one 15-minute deal in the batting cage."

And, that, folks is why Mr. Long is getting paid close to $1 million over the next three years. Thank you Bucky Dent for bringing Long to the Yankees.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at March 20, 2008 10:59 PM

Comments

Ensberg will stick.

Posted by: Rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 21, 2008 12:10 AM

would be hilarious if they could flip a good prospect / player for him though.

I'd do Chin-Lung Hu + Hong Chih Kuo and thus secure the (almost) monopoly on Taiwanese players in the majors lol!

Posted by: Yu Hsing Chen [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 21, 2008 02:43 AM

Who do you take? Ensberg, Woodward, or Cody Ransom? All three are playing pretty well with Ransom and Woodward offering more versatility, but Ensberg with the more powerful bat.

Posted by: gphunt [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 21, 2008 08:11 AM

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, who helped revitalize Alex Rodriguez last season...
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I'm sure Rodriguez dropping his excess weight helped out a lot.

As for Ensberg, maybe he'll help, maybe he won't, but don't forget he has played a good chunk of his games in Enron Field/Miller Park. Having said that, it's a good low-risk/high-reward pickup

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 21, 2008 10:26 AM

Ensberg has seen more MLB pitchers than Woodward and Ransom, I would take him over those two. .313 is perfectly fine for this team. Ensberg can also be used to give others a day off without a loss of average or power. Being able to have a decent bench and bullpen will help us a lot. Torre's bench of the last 6 years have been...horrible. That's why we saw so many players burn out at the end of the season

Posted by: Straylightrise [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 21, 2008 10:27 AM

What others can Ensberg be used to give a day off to? He's a 3rd baseman/1st baseman/DH.

Arod misses maybe 5 games a year and when he sits Betemit should be there to take his spot.

At 1st they have Giambi, Duncan, and Betemit as well.

At DH they have a combination of players who can play there.

Unless the Yanks are planning on benching most the regulars for one game every now and then, I don't see a spot for Ensberg except as a RH pinch hitter. He has no speed so he can't be used as a pinch runner. He can't play short and second either.

Betemit can play short and second, but not very well. Thus the reason for having Woodward or Ransom on the team. They also provide reasonable offense. Ransom has hit over 20 homers at AAA the last few years, and Woodward has had some offensive success as a platoon player.

Put Ensberg on the 40 man and trade him or cut him.

Posted by: gphunt [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 21, 2008 11:13 AM