Brendan Ryan? A Keeper?

The defensive wizard Brendan Ryan might have found a home in the Bronx. As my colleague Justin, has pointed out Ryan is a very viable option for the Yankees at Shortstop for the 2014 season. His offensive numbers are less than sub-par. A career .238 batting average and a .300 on base percentage, Ryan's numbers don't translate into what Yankees fans are used to see out of the shortstop position. Justin believes that Ryan can be helped by Kevin Long. I on the other hand do not think so. The highest he's ever hit was .292 in 2009 with the cardinals, that was in 129 games. I think Ryan could help out this team but as a backup shortstop/super utility man. I also think that there are other more proven viable options in the free agent market i.e. Jhonny Peralta and Stephen Drew.

Drew finally stayed healthy this year hitting .245 with 12 home runs and 62 RBI's. Peralta on the other hand has been suspended by MLB as a part of the Biogenesis scandal, which makes him an interesting fit. He had 11 home runs and was hitting .305 before being suspended in 104 games. Peralta can also play third as opposed to Drew who is primarily a Shortstop. Plus, last year the Yankees offered Drew a contract and he declined because he wanted a guaranteed starting spot. The same will be true this year and the Yankees cannot give him a guarantee, they don't know how Derek Jeter will come back. He could be the Derek Jeter of 2012 again, or maybe a something even remotely close to that. Peralta, since he is coming off a suspension will be looking for a one year deal to prove that he can play well when he is, "clean." Drew will probably look for a multi year deal and might get one.

I think that both of them are more viable options than Ryan is at this point. Only because of the question marks surrounding the Yankees next year. Is Texieria going to be Texieria? Or is he going to continue to regress as he ages. Is A-Rod even going to be playing next year? And who the hell is going to be the starting Catcher? As all of you know, no one wants it to be Chris Stewart again. I can't be wasting my time with a project like Ryan, when there are more viable and consistent options out there. If Ryan could hit .265 I could entertain the idea of him playing Shortstop and batting 9th but thats too many question marks for my book.

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