The Futility Infielder

The "Where Are They Now" Files

A good friend of my girlfriend, a Yankee fan living out in Los Angeles, wrote me to suggest a "Where Are They Now" piece on the former Yankees who scattered to the four winds after last year's World Series. So it's to her, an avowed Chuck Knoblauch fan (she's used the words "love child" in connection with him), that I dedicate the following column...

The Yankees did a fair amount of housecleaning following their World Series defeat. Of the core Yanks who departed the team after last season, three of them (Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, and Luis Sojo) retired, one (David Justice) was traded, and two more (Chuck Knoblauch and Tino Martinez) left as free agents. Looking at their performances, its tough to see how any of them could have helped the team this season. Their presence may be missed, but their bats are not.

First, the retirees. Nary a peep has been heard from Scott Brosius, who went home to Oregon to spend time with his family. Paul O'Neill works part time as part of the pre- and post-game team for the Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES). The few times I've seen him, he's been solid and he seems to be getting more comfortable, especially when discussing his favorite subject, hitting. He hasn't maimed any water coolers yet, and he's avoided the temptation to practice his swing while other announcers are talking, but beyond that it's too early for me to judge his performance.

Luis Sojo was actually coaxed into one more spring training as a non-roster invitee. But he retired after a strong bid to make the club fell short. On May 16, the Yanks did some organizational shuffling, firing the manager of AAA Columbus and promoting AA Norwich manager Stump Merrill to that spot. Sojo was hired to manage the Navigators, who then stood at 14-10 and 1 game out of first place in the Eastern League's Northern Division. They're 43-38 since Looie took over, in first place atop a tight four-team Northern Division race. And Sojo looks as jovial as ever. Expect him to remain a fixture in the Yankee organization.

As for the other ex-Yankee hitters, none of them are exactly tearing the cover off the ball:

                  AVG   OBP   SLG   R  HR  BI

Chuck Knoblauch  .192  .269  .271  26   3  16

Tino Martinez    .248  .333  .404  36  12  51

David Justice    .272  .406  .409  30   6  26

Chuck Knoblauch has had a tough season in Kansas City. A slow start, a 1-for-29 slump and a wrist injury which cost him six weeks on the DL put him him well below the Mendoza Line (a paltry .167) through the All-Star Break. Since returning, he's shown some signs of improvement: 9-for-27 (.333), including a 4-hit game. And he has yet to be caught stealing, going 17-for-17. None of which justifies the Royals having given him nearly 180 plate appearances in the leadoff spot. Apparently neither Tony Muser nor Tony Pena got the memo about scoring runs.

Call me crazy, but I think Knoblauch could help a contender as a 25th man down the stretch. His speed and baserunning skills are still there, and in limited opportuntity, he's shown himself to be a very good pinch-hitter (4-for-7 with a walk over the past 3 seasons). Break it down to a single high-pressure at-bat where you need a base runner and take your chances with the Lil' Bastard's ability to work the count.

In other years, some club might trade a second-rate pitching prospect and a frozen turkey for a chance to rent his Veteran Presence for two months. But in this cost-conscious year, it's doubtful that any team would look to take on even his meager salary for the stretch run. To say nothing about whether we'll even get to HAVE a stretch run.

Tino Martinez has failed to meet even the meager nutritional levels of an expired Big Mac. Mark McGwire, despite batting .187 last season, hit 29 homers and posted an 808 OPS, a level of production the Red One found so unacceptable he hung up his spikes. Even so, Tino has been a step down, with a not-so-shiny .248 masking a meager 737 OPS and 12 HRs, though at least he's been healthy.

Much was made of Tino's clutch hitting last year, and to the extent that we can pick and choose exactly what we want that to mean, the stats bear that out. His OPS was 94 points better with Runners In Scoring Position than overall, and 135 points better in Close & Late situations (7th inning or later with the batting team either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck). He was 6-for-15 with 19 RBI and a 1056 OPS with the bases loaded. By contrast, his clutch ability seems to have gone missing (which should come as no surprise to anyone who's studied the matter). He's only about 30 OPS points better in RISP than overall, 10 points lower than overall in Close & Late, and 2-for-12 with 12 RBI and an awful 485 OPS with the bases loaded. Proving only that small sample sizes don't mean much when it comes to the elusive Clutch Hitter.

On the positive side, he is walking more often--in fact he's already equalled last year's total, and his .333 OBP is actually higher than last year. Helluva good glove man, too. And Tino always was good with those one-day-at-a-time soundbites, so no doubt his Veteran Presence has meant something to the Cards during this emotionally trying season. And postseason experience should come in handy, if we have a postseason. Soundbites and October redemption are what he's got to sell.

David Justice got off to a hot start in Oakland (.301 with 4 HR and a 908 OPS through May 7), but then his alter ego, Cranky McGroin, put a damper on things, costing him 4 weeks on the DL. Since returning, Justice has been punchless (.352 SLG and only 2 HR in 177 PA). Still, he is getting base to a .406 clip, which means he's not exactly hurting the A's offense.

Another departed Yank of a considerably lower profile, Clay Bellinger has taken his jack-of-all-trades act west to the Anaheim Angels. Or rather, to the Angels' AAA Salt Lake City affiliate, where he can show off his World Series rings to the kids. Bellinger's hitting .268 with 11 HR and 35 RBI for the Stingers, playing first base, third base, the outfield and even catching a few games. He's been up and down with Anaheim already, going hitless in his only at bat for them. Can you say "organizational fodder"?

Finally, a couple of pitchers. Mark Wohlers has done a fairly brutal job at the back of the Cleveland Indian bullpen, the nadir of which was allowing 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning to Anaheim on April 30. His ERA has only recently come down from the Boeing Jet catalog territory, and he stands at 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA. Jay Witasick, on the other hand, has been surprisingly effective for the San Francisco Giants, posting a 2.16 ERA in 50 innings of setup work in front of Robb Nen. Witasick just went on the 15-day DL with a bruised foot after being hit by a line drive. Still, he ought to win some kind of prize as the only one of this bunch to have actually improved since leaving.

The collective performance of this bunch, while not exactly impossible to foresee, stands as further testimony to the Yankee front-office smarts. None of these players are outperforming their replacements, and while they may have their spots in the hearts of Yank fans, it's definitely better for the team that they've moved on.