Health is a Skill
Health, or rather lack of it, is a popular excuse for the current disappointment that is the 2008 New York Yankees. Fans use it, writers use it, even Hank Steinbrenner has blamed the season on the team’s health. Certain times an injury really is random, a pitcher gets hit by a comebacker, outfielder’s collide, a base runner lands the wrong way sliding into a bag. However, often times health can be predicted, not a specific injury, but some players are just healthier than others, and that health is a skill far too many of the 2008 Yankees lack.
There are certain players you know you just can’t trust to stay healthy. Carl Pavano is their president, but last year was already the last straw, and the team was not counting on a single inning from him. But there are other players who deserve zero trust going forward as well. Jason Giambi is still a beast when healthy, but he’s basically lost two out of the past four seasons to injure or poor health. He just can’t be counted on to stay healthy. With injuries that have whipped out most of his past two seasons, Phil Hughes may qualify for this classification, but he still has some time to heal up and enjoy a long career.
Baseball Prospectus‘ injury guru Will Carroll has recently written about another type of player teams should be cautious with regarding their future health, the aging iron man. Think Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada. These are players who were previously the epitome of health, but eventually the injury bug strikes. Because these players have so little experience with injuries and rehabilitation, they lack the “skill” to heal that a player who’s been injured a few times in the past have learned. They may also attempt to rush back from injury, further compounding the problem. And of course, Matsui and Posada are getting up there in years, injuries will now lag a little longer than they would on a twenty-seven year old.
Johnny Damon is a similar type player, but rather than suffering a single serious injury, he is slowly dying the death of a thousand small nicks and bumps. For the future the Yankees need to be cautious with Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera. All three of these players are used to playing full seasons, or in Rivera’s case being amongst the league leaders in relief innings, all three are on the wrong side of 40 and all three will more than likely attempt to rush back prematurely because the team depends on them.
And lastly there are the freak injuries. There is a reason the American League doesn’t require pitchers to run the bases and Chien-Ming Wang discovered why. Joba Chamberlain as a younger pitcher was more susceptible to injury than most, but the Yankees have taken proper caution with his development and use, and yet sometimes injuries just happen.
Going forward Brian Cashman needs to take health into account when building the 2009 Yankees. $200 million can buy a good team only if that team actually takes the field. He needs to let go of aging players with injury flags like Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu. Both have been healthy this year, but that is no guarantee they will be healthy next. Likewise, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui should be let go for 2010. Mike Mussina should be thanked for this season and sent on his way as well. Maybe he can pull a Jamie Moyer and throw over 200 innings for the next five seasons, but the odds are against it. It’s worth the risk to offer Andy Pettitte a one year contract, plus he’s a True Yankee®.
Thinking free agents, the Yankees need to target healthy players in their twenties. Luckily, some of the biggest stars in the market, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, fit that bill exactly. Despite his health this season, Ben Sheets is not a good consolation prize to Sabathia, nor is Oliver Perez. If Adam Dunn doesn’t resign with Arizona, he could be an interesting alternative to Teixeira as a potential convert to first base, but a position change is also a health risk. Dunn will be only 29 next year, and he’s played at least 150 games the past five years. Theoretically Pat Burrell could be signed and transitioned to first as well, but with three years on Dunn that’s probably not the best idea. Besides, Burrell just seems like a player who’s ready to miss half the season with a knee injury. Needless to say, Milton Bradley and Rocco Baldelli should be avoided like the plague.
If Brian Cashman returns as general manager, he needs to evaluate players with the understanding that health is just as important a skill to the Yankees as contact, defense or throwing power, if not more so.