Offense from the corners is much more financially efficient than from the middle.

Follow up on:

Yankees should move star catcher Gary Sanchez to third base in 2018. Sunday, October 15, 2017

I received a private message extolling the conventional wisdom of the Yankees having extra offense at defensive positions up the middle during the Jeter years:
C: Jorge Posada
SS: Derek Jeter
CF: Bernie Williams

Here is my reply.

If you divide the eight fielding position into middle and corners, I'm guessing that getting offense from the corners is much more financially efficient than from the middle.

If a team gets extra offense from C, 2B, SS, CF but gets less from 1B, 3B, LF, RF, then it nets out but the team pays more. I think that's generally what happened during the Jeter years. Had Jeter been moved to LF, he would have been paid about half. Then the Yanks could have gotten a slick fielding SS and probably been better off and had extra money to spend elsewhere.

Yanks had fill ins in LF and, even including Paul O'Neill in RF, not nearly enough offense in RF. Williams was a CF because Yanks had no one better. Had Brett Gardner overlapped, Bernie would have been moved to LF, been paid less and NEVER considered for the Hall of Fame.

Catchers get injured or must be rested to prevent injury. Either way, they are not in the lineup. I think that catchers now take a much more brutal beating than, let's say, Yogi took in the 1950s:

- many more 95 mph fastballs fouled back at them

- many more hard thrown Bugs Bunny pitches bouncing in front of them and hitting them all over.

The Giants should have moved catcher Buster Posey to 3B to replace Sandoval. That's a great example. What the heck offense have they been getting at 3B? And Posey's career would be extended.

Teams should not want one of their best hitters to be a catcher. Not any more.