Nomar or No More?

One of the most intriguing possibilities of this off-season has been the Yankees adding Nomar Garciaparra to the mix. That’s right, an infield of Nomar (1st Base), Derek Jeter (Shortstop), and A-Rod (3rd Base) in the same infield and it’s not even an All-Star game. The much heralded “Big 3” shortstops have seen a lot of changes the last few years, especially Nomar and Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod moved over to 3rd base to work a deal to the Yankees and Nomar’s body has steadily broken down with one injury after another.



Now comes talk that the Yankees are one of four finalists that Nomar and his agent are deciding on (the others are Houston, Cleveland, and possibly, the LA Dodgers). Times have certainly changed for Garciaparra since he mistakenly turned down a 4-year, $60 million deal from Boston. Now he can’t even get a single year deal in double digits. Nomar’s supposedly looking for a one year deal for eight-million. Much like the deal he signed with Chicago last year in hopes of getting a long term deal in this off-season. A shredded groin ended those hopes. That’s where my concerns come in.


Nomar is a great athlete, whose time may have passed. We’ve seen the best careers cut short or their quality lessened by injuries (see Don Mattingly). I am not opposed to giving Nomar a one year incentive laden deal, but I am concerned about his ability to be in the lineup on a consistent basis. Also, a combination of Nomar and Jason Giambi at first base doesn’t fill me with visions of gold gloves. For those of you thinking Nomar in centerfield, please STOP right there. I am tired of that talk. (Give me a guy out there who knows what he’s doing -- but that is a discussion that has been done.) The idea of the 1999 Nomar in the lineup is awesome, except if he were the 1999 Nomar we’d have no shot of getting him.

I’d really rather see a Travis Lee/J.T. Snow type backing up Giambi, but I do recognize that pickings are slim. Hopefully, if the Yankees land Nomar he’ll spend more time on the field and less time in ER.