Yankees Gamble On Sexson
Neil Becker
29sports.com
Not surprisingly the New York Yankees took what could be looked at as a gigantic gamble on Thursday when they negotiated a contract with former Seattle Mariner first baseman Richie Sexson.
While the imposing 6 foot 8 right-handed slugger has had impressive numbers in the past including seasons of 30 or more homeruns and 100 or more RBI’s six times in his career, he for whatever reason lost his stroke and confidence in Seattle.
Two years after enjoying a breakthrough season where he hit 45 homeruns and knocked in 124 runs with the Milwaukee Brewers, Sexson, who is from Portland Oregon got the opportunity to play closer to home by agreeing to a 50-million four year contract with the Seattle Mariners in December 2004.
Quickly Sexson, who originally broke into the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1997, provided a potent bat and became a fan favorite in Seattle after registering seasons of 30 plus homeruns and 100 RBI’s. After suffering a downward season by hitting only .205, the big first baseman couldn’t rebound in the first half this year as he got off to a terrible start and for the first time began to hear boo birds at Safeco Field. Compounding the situation is the fact that the Mariners came into this season with high expectations of competing and instead found themselves in last place at the break. For the season, Sexson who according to baseball scouts has developed a long swing, is hitting only .218 with 11 homeruns and 30 RBI’s.
With this pickup, the Yankees who have a habit of obtaining sluggers prior to the July 31 trading deadline will only be on the hook for a small fraction of the 14 million owing to the 33 year- old.
Besides for having two key bats (Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui) missing from their lineups, the Yankees also obtained Sexson due to him being a right- handed hitter. Currently New York is stacked with left- handed hitters such as Damon, Matsui, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano. Adding a right- handed bat obviously makes them that much more dangerous.
Heading into the second half of the season, New York is only 6 games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in American League Eastern Division and believe with Sexson’s powerful bat that they can make a serious run to making post season play.
