Want To Win? Play Bellhorn Now
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Brian Cashman, one of this winter’s bigger Yankees free agents, is closing out what may be his last season with the Yankees on a roll. First he acquires Matt Lawton, which may, in its repercussions, prove to have been tantamount to solving New York’s season-long center field problem (at least for 2005). Now he has signed Mark Bellhorn, the second baseman who was dismissed from Boston in favor of Tony Graffanino. Not only were both moves exactly what was needed, not only were they accomplished at low cost, but they indicate that realpolitik has finally taken a firm grip on the battleship gray stadium in the Bronx.
For the first time in 2005 the Yankees are tooled for winning. There will be no more equivocating about how Tony Womack’s speed gives the Yankees a new dimension (the dimension of not hitting) or how Ruben Sierra’s absence is an underestimated cause of Yankees malaise. Robinson Cano won’t be allowed to work out of his long slump, a self-inflicted slide caused by his unwillingness to work the pitchers even a little bit. The most impatient player in the majors (Cano sees fewer pitches per plate appearance than the 350 other players who have come to the plate 150 or more times this season) will yield to a player who, though deeply mired in his own slump, is better than Cano even if he continues slumping.
This last is just a bit of interpretive theorizing based on the signing. It’s what the Yankees should do. What they will do is another matter entirely, particularly if Joe Torre’s fabled loyalty to players who had had more than six days under his command comes into play. This is a man who gave (or tried to give) Yankees opportunities to Cardinals flameouts Gerald Perry, Felix Jose, Tom Pagnozzi, Gerald Perry, and Donovan Osborne. If Torre has taken Cano under his expansive, not too terribly discriminating wings, Bellhorn may sit and the Yankees will be the poorer for it.
Bellhorn has had exactly two good years in his career, 2002 and 2004. In both of those seasons he used power and patience to offset his low batting average and tendency to strike out. In both seasons, he followed up with a complete collapse. In 2003, Bellhorn had the misfortune to be managed by Dusty Baker, who worked assiduously to undermine his confidence, claiming that players like Bellhorn who took a lot of walks were merely base-cloggers. Baker succeeded in ridding himself of Bellhorn (and clearing his bases of any traffic whatsoever), sending the slumping infielder to Colorado where, incredibly, he failed to hit a single home run. Bellhorn rebounded with Boston last season only to see his production break down again in 2005 when his fragile resolve was again weakened, this time by booing Boston fans who grew tired of the frequent strikeouts that are part of the Bellhorn package.
Bellhorn left Boston batting .216 BA/.328 OBA/.360 SLG. Those numbers are terrible, but they also represent an ability to reach base that is far superior to that of Robinson Cano. Cano’s current on-base percentage is .290. Even at the height of his June-July hot streak, Cano’s OBP crested at .334 on July 28. Bellhorn at his worst is better than reaching base than Cano at his best.
Therein lies the crux of the Bellhorn matter. The Yankees are in survival mode. With a tight wild card and division race, any slight shift in the standings could be decisive.
Despite being a very strong offensive team overall, the Yankees’ attack has not been optimized all season. Center field has been a black hole. Jorge Posada has not been himself. With Cano mired in a slump that may not end until he gains humility sufficient to admit that he is not such a great batsman that he can hit any old junk the pitcher offers up to him, the back end of the batting order has been providing some very weak innings. Worse, Cano’s quickie at bats ensure that a starting pitcher will stay in the game longer, depriving the Yankees of whacks against weak middle relievers. Bellhorn, who averages 4.2 pitches per plate appearance to Cano’s 3.1, will help with that if he plays.
As for Bellhorn’s strikeouts, there will be a lot of them and they will be frustrating, but it is important to remember this mantra: a strikeout is just another out. Cano makes very good contact so he hasn’t struck out much, but he has grounded into 14 rally-killing double plays. Bellhorn has grounded into 23 double plays in his entire 600-game career. That’s the common tradeoff for not having too many strikeouts, and it’s not worth it.
The Yankees can’t afford that, not if they’re going to survive the fourth inning every night. As well as pitchers like Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small have performed of late, there are going to be more days like Mike Mussina’s recent meltdowns before the season is over. Chacon isn’t Christy Mathewson. A reckoning will come, not just for him, but for all of the Yankees pitchers who have overachieved of late.
That means more runs, hopefully early, pushing into the bullpen, running up the score whenever possible so that the pitchers are deprived of a chance to give the game back to the opposition. Cano may be the second baseman of the future. At just 22, he has time yet to take the position. Bellhorn can be the second baseman of right now. If he only hits at the level he has to date, he’ll far outpace what Cano has done thus far and will bury the Cano of August, who has hit .192/.241/.221.
If he does just a little better than that, the Yankees will never look back, at least not until next year, when Cano will have the chance in spring training to show that he’s learned something about playing major league baseball.
If the Yankees want to win, they’ll play Bellhorn over Cano. For just this once, the team is right to say that the future is now and push the younger player aside.
Mr. Goldman is the author of “Forging Genius,” a biography of Casey Stengel, released this year.