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Selected by the Yankees in the first supplemental round (41st overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft...was named by Baseball America as the Yankees ninth-best prospect on 1/16/06...attended Sacramento City College before being drafted by the Yankees in 2004 in the first supplemental round as a compensation pick from San Diego for David Wells.

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Swisher is coming off of a horrific year, looking slow and even apathetic, almost as if his patience at the plate was the result of indifference rather than a desire to work the count. He can still run into a ball if a pitcher makes a mistake, but his bat was slow and he would foul off average fastballs and miss plus heat entirely. Mike Lowell had a year like that (without the apathy) before coming to the Red Sox and rebounded completely; Andruw Jones had a year like that (with the apathy and some extra pounds) and slid further into the abyss. It's a gamble for the Yankees, but with the upside that they get an average to above-average bat at first base or in left field if it works out, and the cost in players and money (Swisher is owed $26 million through 2011) is not that great to them.

The throw-in coming to the Yanks, Kanekoa Texeira, is a classic sinker/slider reliever, with his slider being a potential out pitch, but with below-average command. Even if the command doesn't improve, he'll pitch in the big leagues, and has a chance to be a late-innings guy if it does improve because he already misses bats and keeps the ball in the park.