Garko’s a Victim of Circumstance

Even though highly disappointing, the 2006 season saw a series of pleasent surprises and meteoric rises to major leagues success. One of these success stories was Ryan Garko, a highly touted prospect who lived on his reputation as a possibly impact major league hitter. As the season started to slowly fade into the sunset, Garko, although not excelling at Buffalo, got his chance to make his mark on the big league club. He definitely did make his mark, as he had a good year playing in 50 games, batting .292 and driving in 45 runs. Garko did a tremendous job in exceeding expectations and seemingly solidfying a starting role at first base for the 07 season. I was shocked to hear in early 2007, however, that Garko was not slated to start at first, with the team instead penciling in right fielder Casey Blake to man first base. Initially, I thought that this was a bad move, and I still have reservations about it, but I have come to realize there are multiple things to take into account when considering placing Garko at first base.

 Defensive abilities and impact on team defense

 A converted catcher, Garko is definitely not going to be winning any gold gloves. The common view on the decision to bench Garko is STRICTLY because of his lack of cohesive defensive skills, a view that touches on a part, but not the whole reason Garko will not be starting. Upper management believes that defense is one of the two main reasons (the other obviously being the bullpen) that the team underachieved in 06, and this is clearly a need of the team. It seems that the Tribe has enough offensive firepower already to sacrific another offensive minded player in favor of one who is defensive minded. Garko’s offensive skills cannot be overlooked however, and his OPS and power hitting skills will come into handy if the offense struggles, especially out of the gate. My main fear regarding the Indians is that upper management sees Garko as the heir apparent to Hafner, and will let Hafner go in free agency and plug gark into the DH spot.

How he fits into lineup

I frequently bitch about how the indians have too many mismatched pieces, and this is definitely something that I believe is true. Team Speed, the lack of a true leadoff hitter, and the lack of athleticism is something that scares me, and Garko does not really have what it takes to properly complement the current Indians lineup. Where would he bat? I guess a common answer would be 5 or 6, depending on where Wedge plugs in Vic, but I think with hafner, martinez, garko, peralta, etc. batting consecutively, your creating a too one-dimensional lineup. The fact that he bats right handed, however, is something that will always help him in the Indians organization, as the club craves a true right handed power hitter.

My skepticism

Even with all of these questions, if I was running this team, I think that I would start Garko at first out of spring training. This is almost as much because of Casey Blake as it is Garko, because I love Blake staying and consistenly starting in right field (signing all of these bland veteran outfielders just baffled me, and the thought of platooning both corner outfield positions makes me absolutely sick. Why in the world did we re-sign Jason Michaels?!) I would also love to see Choo have a good spring and distance himself from the old blahness behind him. The fact is, I would just rather see Garko play and develop his skills as a first basemen than watch Trot Nixon try to relive his glory days.

Conclusion

Last season showed us that the keys to a successful team are pitching and defense, so maybe not initially starting Garko at first isn’t such a bad idea. Hopefully we can build a strong defensive foundation at the beginning of the season, and can eventually integrate Garko into the lineup later in the season. Its hard to write this without starting to go off topic and bitch about how we have too many players that play the same positions, but I will leave that for a later post.