.300/.371/.472/.843

Remember those stats?

That was the line from Scott Brosius in his first season as a New York Yankee.  It went along with 34 doubles, 19 homers, 98 RBI, an outstanding glove at third base, and a World Series MVP to cap an unbelievable 1998 season.

He was, perhaps, the last great trade from the unmatched Michael/Watson regime, attained from the Oakland A's for a player-to-be-named later who turned out to be Kenny Rogers, the man who was not only addition by subtraction but went on to torment the New York Mets, as well.

Brosius had a terrific 1998, one that Stick and company no doubt discerned could happen from the very good, two-thirds of a 1996 he had in Oakland.

But that was pretty much that.

Oh, sure, Brosius remained a useful piece of the puzzle for the rest of his Yankees career.  He won a Gold Glove in 1999, and had some key postseason hits—enough that we even forgive him that mental blip that contributed mightily to the 2001, ninth-inning Meltdown in the Desert that traumatized us all so much.

We loved us from Scotty, who Coops Cashman promptly re-signed for a relatively cheap, $15,750,000 for three years after that 1998 campaign.

Hey, he deserved it.

But after that re-signing, of course, it was then alleged that the Yankees had a "logjam" at third.

It somehow became imperative that the Yanks' can't-miss, Triple-A third baseman, Mike Lowell, who had ripped wherever he went in the minors, and looked pretty good in a cup of coffee in the Bronx, be traded.

And so it was.

Brian Cashman, in all his Hall-of-Fame wisdom, promptly death Lowell to the then-Florida Marlins for his version of the Holy Grail, "three strong young arms":  Todd Noel, Mark Johnson, and the immortal Ed Yarnall.

And then, lo and behold, Mike Lowell was diagnosed with testicular cancer in February of 1999.  'Aw, tough break, what a terrible thing,' we all said—and in deep, secret alcoves of our brain thanked our lucky stars that we had got rid of this dying man.

Well, we all know how that came out.

Between them, those three strong young arms won exactly 1 major-league game.  Mike Lowell went on to become a Silver-Slugging, Gold-Gloving, perennial all-star who helped not only the Marlins to a World Series victory—over a certain New York team—but also helped take your Boston Red Sox to a Series sweep.  In which he was the Series MVP.

Moreover, had he remained with the Yanks, the A-Rod deal, with all of its attendant trusts, probably never would have happened—whatever you might think of that.

Brosius, after 1998, hit .247, .230, and .287, his number of games played steadily diminishing.  He never approached his 1998 highs again.

(And his presence for just one more year kept the Yanks from signing A-Rod earlier, and missing out on three of his greatest years at the plate, from 2001-2003—whatever you might think of that.)

I'm saying all this because the Gammonites—and most of our fellow fans, and, horribly, maybe our general manager—have convinced ourselves that we now have "a logjam" at 3B, and that someone must go.  And all too often, the one who we're told must go is Miguel Andujar.

Sure, maybe Gio Urshela, who just pulled off a rip-roaring season at the plate at age 27 is for real as a hitter—even though he never show anything like that before in the bigs.  And sure, he's an infinitely better glove at the hot corner than El Matador, and always will be.

But is he another Brosius?  Are we really going to be so in to Gio's fielding when he's hitting .230 with 10 home runs?

And maybe El Matador hurt himself so badly in that freak accident this season that he'll never be the same.

Or, just maybe, after we've traded Andujar for "a power arm!" or even a very good CF, and he's leading the NL in hitting—all right, at first base or in left field—and driving one team after another to a World Series title, we won't be so glad we traded him after all.

Even to break up that alleged "logjam."

All I know is that from the moment he put on pinstripes, Miguel Andujar looked to me like one of the best natural hitters I've ever seen.  To get rid of him for almost anything available, will be a mistake we will rue for many years to come.