Against a righty starter, I'd have no problem with Chavez/Ibanez replacing ARod/Nunez. I also have no problem, in theory, with dropping ARod in the lineup.
Having said that, please be specific when constructing the alternate lineup.
What you'll quickly discover is that the 2012 Yankees don't have too many good hitters:
"The last at-bat of the game was proof enough. Robinson Cano is by far the Yankees’ best hitter these days, and if he were hitting in the No. 3 spot, he would have come up against Jim Johnson when one swing still could have changed everything.
Instead he watched from the on-deck circle Monday night as Alex Rodriguez struck out swinging to end the game, his fifth strikeout in this series.
Enough, already. For a lot of reasons it’s time Joe Girardi makes the obvious move and puts Cano into that third spot, while moving the seemingly diminished A-Rod down in the lineup."
Showalter would have intentionally walked Cano.
"And let’s face it, Rodriguez hasn’t looked like a No. 3 hitter for quite some time, as he continues to search for his power stroke.
Yet after Monday night’s game, Joe Girardi said he had no plans to change the lineup for Wednesday’s Game 3, noting that A-Rod 'squared up two balls tonight.'
True enough, A-Rod did look a lot better than he did in Game 1, when he struck out three times. He hit line drives his first two times up, one that second baseman Robert Andino turned into a double play by making a diving grab, and another that went for a single to left.
Nevertheless, A-Rod was a .270 singles hitter down the stretch of the pennant race for the Yankees, delivering only six extra-base hits over the last month of the season.
Whether it is the result of the broken hand that put him on the disabled list for six months or simply the combination of age and multiple injuries in recent years, Rodriguez rarely hits for power.
In addition, scouts say he is more vulnerable than ever to fastballs at the belt or higher, saying pitchers attack him there when they need a big out, often getting him to swing and miss."
"Scouts," as in Every Person Who Watches the Yankees.
So he cheats against the fastball which makes him more vulnerable to breaking balls. It's pathetic. Even when he gets a hold of a fastball, it will die at the warning track.
"These days, however, you have to think it’s more about fading skills than him trying to validate his status as a Yankee."
I just think Girardi is hoping Cano gives ARod a little protection and it clicks in. I don't think it's such a crazy idea, either.
It might have finally clicked in for Teixeira, surprisingly enough (despite a few typical pop-ups).
It clicked in for Ichiro after about a month of batting ninth.
ARod's slump could turn around on a dime.
"Nobody is saying that Girardi should hit A-Rod eighth, as Joe Torre famously did in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS against the Tigers. But Rodriguez shouldn’t be hitting third with Cano in the same lineup.
It might not have mattered in this game, but you can always wonder what Cano might have done with one more at-bat. You also can wonder if that thought kept Girardi from sleeping well afterward."
I just don't see the huge difference if Cano bats third.
Instead of having a gaping hole in the #3 spot, you now have a gaping hole in the #4 spot.
Whoever you pick, it's a player who has a low batting average, strikes out too much, and is unlikely to get a hit in the clutch.
Who on this team is noticeably better than ARod? Jeter, Ichiro, and Cano. That's it.
Teixeira may be finally coming out of it, so I guess he'd bat 4th, though the notion seemed laughable a week ago. Swisher is 1-for-33 in the postseason with RISP. Nunez earned his Yankee Pinstripes by popping up with the bases loaded. Granderson has an on-base% of .319 this season.
Russell Martin? Is Russell Martin now batting 5th? Because he never grounds into double players and never strikes out?
It's not that I'm against burying ARod in the lineup. But if you go Jeter-Ichiro-Cano, then the lineup is a black hole after Cano. Six batters who swing for the fences and usually come up empty.
The problem is not where they hit, it's how they hit.
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