Unloading Abreu was a good thing as it freed up money, plus the guy doesn't play hard every day. His power disappeared and I think he's on the downside of a very nice career.
I disagree about Abreu, at least in the extent of time I've seen him in a Yankees uniform. He's been great at the plate, with an amazing OBP, and I think part of the power problems he's had were with the fact that he was pressured to produce for a lineup that lacked big swing power. I think he should get a bit of his stroke back, I'd say at least another 5-10 dingers, with that short porch in right field in Yankee Stadium this year.
And I haven't seen any of the "slacking" which characterized him in Philly...as far as I'm concerned, he's a 100% defensive improvement over Sheffield. Offensively...if A-Rod can come back strong this year, and Matsui will get back from injury, and Giambi plays well at first, Abreu's OBP should help out tremendously even without Sheff's cannon line drive homers.
I'd take him over Sheffield, no doubt, but I don't think he was ever pressured into being the power producing guy. The years his homers nosedived he was playing with Ryan Howard, so there was no big swing power lacking in Philly. He even expressed concern over this.
Also, he isn't exactly a pull hitter as he relies on hitting into the gaps and going the other way, so I don't think he'll get a lot of the cheap dingers into the short porch. He'll still hit 40 doubles and should be close to .300. His defenseused to be spectacular as he had one of the strongest, most accurate arms in baseball. He's still pretty decent although the arm is a little erratic.
One thing you hit on was the fact that his OBP is good as he garnered a lot of walks. He probably takes more pitches and runs deep counts than anyone in baseball.
He's 33 years old (although some have said he's about 37), so he should have 3-4 more productive years. He has been injury free for his career up to this week. While I can't root for the Yankees, I'd like to see him do well.
