The next road trip on Bernie Williams’s schedule is not to Tampa, Fla., for Yankees spring training. He will not be packing bats and gloves. Instead, he will bring his guitar to a church in New Milford, Conn., tomorrow, for a benefit concert with Chynna Phillips.
Williams, 38, has the rest of his life to appear at such events. He is an accomplished guitarist, as anyone who has heard him strumming peacefully in his corner locker at Yankee Stadium knows. But his days as a baseball player are numbered.
The question is whether they are over, officially. Williams does not want to retire, and he does not want to leave the Yankees. But he does not want to grovel for a meaningful job with them, either.
The Yankees do not want to beg Williams to accept the standing offer they have made him. Williams has been invited to spring training as a nonroster player, but with no guarantee of a spot when camp breaks on March 31.
“Bernie right now is just focused on the Yankees,” his agent, Scott Boras, said yesterday. “He really is. I know there is interest out there from a number of other teams, but his focus is on the Yankees.”
Other teams have offered Williams guaranteed major league contracts, according to Boras. But the Yankees have no plans to make such an offer because they do not envision Williams on their 25-man roster.
The Yankees plan to carry 12 pitchers and two first basemen, not including Jason Giambi, who will become the full-time designated hitter. There is room for only one reserve outfielder, Melky Cabrera.
Last spring, the Yankees had a comparable roster crunch in the bullpen. They had space for two left-handed relievers, Mike Myers and Ron Villone, but agreed to let the veteran Al Leiter come to camp as a nonroster player.
That was a new role for Leiter, who had 19 years in the majors. The difference is that Leiter was ready to retire and mostly wanted to stay in shape for the World Baseball Classic. Williams, who hit .281 last season, wants to keep playing.
“I was 40, and Bernie’s 38,” Leiter said yesterday. “So he’s probably working out, and he feels good. It’s a tough spot, it really is, for him and the Yankees. I would say, if it’s about playing, he should find the best opportunity to play. And if he wants to play, his best opportunity is not with the Yankees.”
Williams could accept the Yankees’ invitation and hope he makes the team, either through an injury to an outfielder or a trade of Cabrera. And if the Yankees end up with no spot for him, Williams would at least have showcased himself for other teams.
In a way, though, Manager Joe Torre could be the most important factor. Torre is loyal to Williams, and he could decide to take only 11 pitchers in April, effectively postponing a decision on a player he deeply respects.
For now, Torre could probably convince Williams to come to camp with one phone call. If Torre tells Williams that he truly wants him in Tampa — even without the promise of a job in April — it seems likely that Williams would go.
There is compelling statistical data to keep the switch-hitting Williams in pinstripes. In 133 at-bats against left-handers last season, he hit .323 with seven home runs. In 127 at-bats against lefties, Giambi batted .213 with nine home runs.
Torre has always dismissed the idea of trying Williams at first base, and the Yankees seem intent on keeping Andy Phillips or Josh Phelps as a right-handed complement to Doug Mientkiewicz. But given his success against left-handers, Williams theoretically could share the D.H. spot with Giambi.
In any case, Williams is unlikely to approach his playing time of last season, when he had 420 at-bats. He has seemed uncomfortable as a pinch-hitter and is no longer ideal for pinch-running or late-inning defense.
One American League general manager, who was granted anonymity because he did not want to speak publicly about a player who was not on his team, praised Williams for his class and experience. But he also questioned Williams’s value on the field.
“There is not enough offense to consider him an offensive bench player or enough defense to consider him a defensive bench player,” the general manager said. “His skills are trending down, and at his age there is very little reason to believe he will reverse the trend at all this season.”
In spite of that, if Williams comes to spring training, there will probably be strong public pressure on Torre to keep him. Williams has the longest tenure of any Yankee, with 16 seasons in the Bronx.
It is hard to imagine Torre cutting Williams to make space for Phillips, Phelps or a 12th pitcher. Then again, it is also hard to imagine Williams risking the indignity of ending his career by being cut in spring training.
“You’re going to be dealing with baseball evaluations, but still — it’s Bernie Williams,” Leiter said. “He’s a guy who’s going to go down as one of the great Yankees in the history of the team. You have to be sensitive to it.”
