First Base-C-

We came into Spring Training expecting Phillips and Phelps to battle for the righthanded half of the first base plattoon. Instead what happened was Phelps hit at a ridiculous level with a .500 BA for a while and Phillips missed most of Spring Training to be with his mom who was in a car accident. Phelps won the job obviously and we came into the season expecting Mientkiewicz to hit at around an average level wuth an EQA of about .270 with good defense and Phelps to hit similarly with pretty bad defense. Mientkiewicz did play good defense, Phelps did hit decently (not as good as expected though), and Phelps was a butcher with his glove. The only problem was Mientkiewicz hit in the .100's most of the time he played. Torre continued to play Mientkiewicz even when Phelps was hot. Mientkiewicz finally began to pick it up when he was injured in a nasty collision at first base in Boston. The logical decision was to make is to make Phelps the starting first baseman right? Not in the eyes of Joe Torre. Instead, Miguel Cairo became the starting firstbaseman. He had a nice BA with good fielding and speed for a while but he never walked and had no power. Eventually he cooled down, Phelps was DFA'ed (he was picked up by the Pirates), and Phillips was called up. Before all this happened though Damon and Posada were both tried out at first. Since being called up Phillips has done a very good job. I don't think its worth it to trade for Mark Texiera or Adam Dunn. Shelley Duncan could help and Juan Miranda is raking in Trenton. Saltalamachia could also become our catcher. Then Posada could be our first baseman and maybe he won't burn out at the end of the season like most catchers. We don't need to make a trade or even sign anyone this off season. Phillip's performance might be due to the small sample size it has occured in but I think he can be a solid .270/20/90 guy. Thats pretty good for a #9 hitter.