Hot Stove! Pay no attention to that outfielder under the knife...

...I'm sure HAL has suckered Lloyd's of London into a huge policy guaranteeing the money.

(Just what goes on at Lloyd's anyway?  Your New York Yankees must account for half of their losses on an average year.  What's the annual meeting of the board like?

"And once again, I am sorry to report, our American sports division has left us deeply in the red.  I would like to call now on our division representative, Mr. Lloyd George Steinbrenner, to report on it. Mr. Steinbrenner?")

Anyway, let's do this in proper ORDER, as Mr. Bercow would holler, speaking of the English.

Today we're talking about first base, where our contenders for 2020 are:

Greg Bird (believe it or not)
Luke Voit
Mike Ford
EE
Various

Well, as Casey Stengel once said, when you got five first basemen, you got no first baseman (No, really, he actually did say that!  Spring training, 1949.)

Believe it or not, some Yankee bloggers are actually excited about Bird, the man who has not hit so as .200 since 2015, maybe coming back.  They picture him regaining his game in the winter leagues, and coming back to be the crucial, left-handed batter in the Yanks' lineup that ALL-CAPS and I always dreamed he would be.

But we all know better.  Sadly, Bird is much more likely to become the first man ever to be infected with malaria, yellow fever, and dengue hemorrhagic fever from the same, single mosquito.

We can only hope that The Parrot Man is gone, too, after this postseason.  And Various?  Well, since he can't play the outfield, it might be an idea to give Giancarlo a first baseman's glove.  But...no doubt, he would pull a hamstring, wrench his knee, and tear his Achilles tendon the first time he was required to touch the bag with his foot.

Andujar might be a prospect for the first sack, too, depending on how he mends from his own throwing arm injury.  But we'll get to him when we hit third base.

Which leaves the lefty/righty versions of exactly the same player, Luke Voit/Mike Ford.

Voit, the righty, had 21 homers, 62 ribbies, and a .263/.378/.464/.842 slash in 118 games last year.
Ford, the lefty, had 12 home runs, 25 ribbies, and a .259/.350/.559/.909 slash in 50 games.

Ford is 27, Voit 28.  Ford walked 17 times and struck out 28; Voit, walked 71 times, and struck out 142.

What I would do:  All undue influence from the soon-to-be-independent nation of Scotland aside, I think Ford is an easy call.

The man has been an on-base machine his whole career, and seems to be growing into his power.  Plus he and Voit are not QUITE the same player.  Ford strikes out much, much less often than the (slightly) older Voit.

I like Luke Voit, a gamer who has done a lot for us.  But ultimately, I would go with Ford and see what Voit might bring on the market, which is likely to not be nothing, particularly if he recovers well and looks good in spring training.

WWCCD:  Voit going under the knife might, just might convince Cashman to take a real look at Ford next spring.  But don't count on it.

Even though there is a long and admirable tradition of Ivy Leaguers in the majors—Lou Gehrig, Eddie Collins, Ron Darling, Gene Larkin, etc.—and even though Mike Ford looks more like a truck driver than a scholar—baseball men inevitably feel uneasy around people who have more book l'arnin' than they do.  They always assume that smart college boys "think too much," and aren't tough enough.

There's a reason why Coops would not even take a real look at Ford until he was absolutely forced to this summer.  Look for him to deal Ford for next to nothing, while hanging on to Voit..."core muscle" problems or not.

And look for Ford to pop up soon thereafter on the World Series roster of a truly smart organization such as the Cards or—heaven forfend—the Boston Red Sox.