Yes, you can exhale.  It was Gardner.  And apparently the decision is final.  So barring injury or poor performance on a regular basis, Melky will be relegated to fourth outfielder duty.

It was a combination of Gardner’s speed and–if I had to guess–waning trust in Melky that sealed the deal.  The two have been just about dead even offensively.  And Gardner’s arm certainly doesn’t hold a candle to Melky’s.  But never underestimate the importance of speed.  Or distrust.

Despite the letdown, Melky should stay on top of his game and be prepared to step up when the opportunity should arise.  It’ll happen; the fourth outfielder always gets some airtime.  So the best thing he can do is be ready to prove to everyone that spring training wasn’t a fluke–to offer a repeat performance.

With regard to Melky’s response, Girardi commented, “It’s hard not to be disappointed if you are a player who wants to play every day. Any player is going to be upset with that decision, that’s the competitive nature. But Melky is important to our team.”

Right.  And that’s why we were trying to trade him less than a week ago.

However, on Tuesday, Brian Cashman silenced speculation that the Melky-Cameron trade was being reconsidered, telling the New York Post, “Our center fielder is here in camp.”

Interesting.  So, if Melky’s being shopped around, and your center fielder is in camp, why are you pretending that Gardner and Melky are still in competition for the spot?

The ChiSox have expressed interest in Melky.  As it stands, Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson and DeWayne Wise are competing to be the Sox ’09 centerfielder.  And Melky’s a better prospect than all those fools.

The advantage to dealing Melky is, of course, that we currently have what you could call an embarrassment of outfielders.  Our current situation is sort of like an unfortunate assortment of scrabble tiles.  You know what I’m talking about.  You look down and discover that all you have is an array of high value letters, an “X,” maybe a “Q” but no vowels in the mix.  Consequently, you just have to sit and stare at the “X” and think about how many points you could be earning if you had enough other letters to make use of it.

Ring any bells?  Swisher, Nady, Cabrera, Gardner, Damon-and possibly, perhaps, Austin Jackson.

With the recent announcement that Nady’s going to be our regular guy in right field, getting rid of Melky potentially gives Swisher more air-time. Not a bad thing.

That said, I love Melky.  I think Melky is a player with potential. Admittedly, it is potential he has not tapped into in the last couple of years.  But he’s young; time is on his side.  I think that if he continues to work as hard as he has to prove himself this spring, he could actually be worth more to us in the long run than the speedy Gardner.  Controversial assertion, I know.

But I am the spoon that stirs the pot.