Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Overbay, When was I Underbay?


On your last legs? Don't have much punch left in your bat? Saw 30-years old a long time ago? If so, come on down to the New York Yankees training camp in lovely Tampa, FL.

The latest to respond to that "Brianslist" ad is veteran first baseman Lyle Overbay. The all glove, no-hit 36-year old was released earlier in the day Tuesday by Boston and was quickly scooped up by the short on first basemen Yankees.

With Mark Teixeira sidelined for a minimum of eight weeks, Juan Rivera was the only Major League player in camp that had a decent amount of games played at the not-so-hot corner.

Overbay produced decent numbers as a starter for Arizona, Milwaukee, and Toronto from 2004-2010. He was good for about 35 doubles (with an NL leading 53 in 2004) and 15-17 home runs during his peak years, but the last two years have been a disaster.

Overbay had just a .670 OPS in 2011 when he played with Pittsburgh and Arizona. Last year he was released in August by the Diamondbacks and then hit just .100 (2-20) in a 10 game stint with the Atlanta. The Red Sox signed him to a minor league deal in January as a precaution when Mike Napoli's injured hip nearly nixed his free agent deal. Overbay managed just nine hits in 41 at-bats (.220) this Spring.

Overbay will have just a handful of days to make the team with opening day this coming Monday.

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