ESPN Fantasy Baseball Blog

Posted by Tristan H. Cockcroft

Thursday, the Yankees reportedly began shaping their 2009 roster by acquiring a switch-hitting, power-hitting first baseman.

No, it's not Mark Teixeira. Sorry, Yankees fans, for getting your hopes up. Instead, it's Nick Swisher, acquired from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Wilson Betemit and minor league pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. The Yankees did get a Texeira in the deal, but it's minor league pitcher Kanekoa Texeira.

Now, to say Swisher will be the starting first baseman might presume quite a bit; he did play 70 games in center field for the White Sox in 2008, and the Yankees have a need there. That much is true. But Swisher's fielding percentage in center field was .972, worst of any player with at least 500 innings there, and his range factor was 2.35, better than only Reed Johnson, Skip Schumaker, Mark Kotsay and Vernon Wells among players with that many innings. The Yankees, ultimately, would be best served one of two ways: Swisher playing first base or designated hitter.

In other words, the Yankees probably just added to their glut of DH candidates, but at least they did so with a slugger with considerable power. Swisher, even in a terribly disappointing campaign, did belt 24 home runs in 153 games. Problem is, he didn't capitalize upon calling homer-friendly U.S. Cellular Field his home; 30 seemed like a slam dunk by all accounts. Swisher was an out-and-out bust in Chicago, after being tabbed by many -- myself included -- as a potential value pick for 2008.

In New York, Swisher gets another chance to get his career back on track, and he'll turn 28 in two weeks. He's still in his prime, he'll presumably play at least 130 games while hitting in the lower part of the lineup -- think sixth, seventh or eighth -- and he'll see enough baserunners to drive home to be a viable 30-homer, 100-RBI candidate. But that could have been said a year ago and he let his owners down, so be aware the risk factors.

Maybe this rules the Yankees out of the Teixeira sweepstakes, and perhaps it signals the end of either (or both) Bobby Abreu's or Jason Giambi's stay in pinstripes. Giambi is almost assuredly a goner, and essentially Swisher replaces him in terms of role and statistical expectation. Giambi, though, was actually more reliable in 2008, even at age 37, so the comparison isn't exactly a glowing endorsement of Swisher's skills.

Swisher is an on-base specialist with boom-or-bust potential with the bat, in essence a "lite" version of Adam Dunn, or more appropriately, somewhat similar to Jack Cust. There's value in that, it's just not at top-10 first baseman or top-30 outfielder value.

One thing's for certain: If Swisher's arrival signals the end of the Yankees' pursuit of Teixeira, that only strengthens their chances at paying for CC Sabathia. Fantasy owners couldn't be more excited about how much that'd help Sabathia's win potential.

Tristan H. Cockcroft is a fantasy baseball, football and hockey analyst for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.