Last season, the Yankees opened up with Josh Phelps, Doug Mientkiewicz and Jason Giambi competing for first base. The year ended with Phelps long gone, Mientkiewicz playing well and Giambi riding the DL as usual. Now Doug is gone and players who were not on the roster for Opening Day 2007 will be getting their chances - Shelley Duncan, Wilson Betemit, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane and possibly Juan Miranda, in addition to the persistent Giambi.
How do I see this playing out? I think the Ensberg signing was great. It's the perfect example of a low-risk, potentially-high reward signing. The worst he can do is never play a game for us. The best he can do? Well, that is speculation, of course, and as you can tell so far, this site clearly doesn't involve speculation or biased analysis. That was a joke if you didn't get it after the first two seconds.
Looking at his magnificent 2005 season (.388 OBP / .557 SLG), it's easy to get one's hopes up. But he didn't completely fall off the table in 06-07. His OPS still eclipsed the solid .800 mark in 2006 (.859) and while he fell significantly in 2007 (.724 between Houston and San Diego) I think it's reasonable to assume that a better lineup surrounding him should help. If he gets say, 250 ABs and hits 12-15 HRs, posts an OBP of .330 and plays respectable defense, he'll be worth it. While batting averages do look nice, on-base usually means more because a lot of high-average guys will not take a walk - take Delmon Young, for instance. The Yanks are notorious for finding the high-OBP players, and Ensberg is just one more to add to the pool.
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