Yankees Should Avoid Second Helping of “Country Breakfast”

While the September pickup of Billy Butler makes sense, the New York Yankees would be best served letting “Country Breakfast” walk following the season.

There was very little harm in the New York Yankees signing recently released designated hitter Billy Butler to a major league contract Wednesday. The Oakland Athletics are still on the hook for the remainder of the three years $30 million contract he signed through 2017, so the Yankees could pick up Butler for the major league minimum.

With right fielder Aaron Judge likely out for the year with a Grade II strain in his right oblique, so the pickup of Butler theoretically makes sense to replace a little of the right-handed pop the team will lose from their lineup.

New York has been using Austin Romine as their right-handed DH against LHP, which is clearly less than ideal. If your DH has a .235/.264/.383 (69 OPS+) slash line, you’re doing baseball wrong. I can see why the front office was not thrilled about that. 

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Butler is clearly an upgrade over Romine at DH, even in a down year. He was hitting .276/.331/.403 (102 OPS+) in 242 plate appearances for Oakland before his release. The Yankees are scheduled to face three lefties in their series against the Red Sox this weekend and several more during their upcoming road trip, so they have a clear need for a lefty-killer for their playoff push.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be Butler, at least not so far this year. While he has a career .299/.381/.491 slash line against south paws, in 2016 he has had a significant reverse split, hitting just .262/.316/.369 in 114 plate appearances against left-handers. Still, I feel better about having him in the lineup than Romine.

As good as Butler was at his peak with Kansas City, under no circumstances should the Yankees consider keeping him around beyond this month. This was a desperation move for a marginal upgrade, nothing more. New York does have a clear need for a veteran bat to platoon with the injured Greg Bird and/or Brian McCann next season, but Butler is not that guy.

The Yankees recently dumped Alex Rodriguez because he was a slow, declining DH who couldn’t hit and had no defensive value. The last thing the team needs to do is add another player like that. Especially one who seems to be a terrible clubhouse presence. Butler does not seem like the kind of guy New York wants to have around their next generation of players.

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The Aroldis Chapman acquisition was tolerated by many because he was elite player. Butler has a lot less of a leash to be a jerk given his struggles on the field. That may not be morally right, but it’s just the reality.