2008 Red Sox-Yankees Comparison- Centerfield

Sorry I`ve been a little slow on this lately. I`ve been busy.



Center-field



Yankees- Melky Cabrera- Melky had a disastrous call up in 2005 but got a second chance in 2006 when we were just trying to find a stop-gap for Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui. Melky came through and really showed off his arm in LF. Then, in 2007 another injury opened the door for Melky again. Jason Giambi got pantar fascitis (not fun) and Johnny Damon was banged up forcing him to move to LF. Melky took over in center. His arm was a huge plus and his range isn't bad either. However, his hitting definitely dropped off. His impressive plate discipline in 2006 completely vanished and dropped to Cano like levels. His power didn't really grow either. 2008 is a big year for Melky. Austin Jackson is breathing down his neck and for the second year in a row the Yankees seemed willing to deal him in a trade. He is still very young and could easily break out this season but he needs to be less streaky. He`s exciting and fun to watch, especially in the field, but the bottom line is he needs to improve. I`ve been a big defender of Melky noting that he was on a better pace than stars like Damon, Beltran, and others but he needs to show improvement next year.



Red Sox- Jacoby Ellsbury- Despite being the target of ridicule at It Is High, It is Far, It is.....Caught. I have to admit he is a very good player. He played excellent defense. His line of .353/.394/.509 is also outstanding. He won't repeat that but it really shows his tremendous potential. Unlike most speedy centerfielders he also actually has shown some solid power for a rookie. Coco Crisp has without a doubt lost his job for good to Ellsbury. Ellsbury could be one of the best centerfielders in the league for years. The Red Sox were smart to refuse to trade him for Santana.

Conclusion- Red Sox- Sorry for having such a shorter feature on all the Boston players. I just don't know them as well. Ellsbury is just flat out better than Melky. They have similar ceilings but Ellsbury is more likely to reach it and at the moment he`s better. I`m a Melky fan but Boston gets the edge in this one.