Buster Olney of ESPN and Joel Sherman of the New York Post find a Johnny Damon-Yankees reunion unlikely.
Both writers say Damon would have to greatly reduce his salary demands. According to Sherman, the Yankees are telling agents they have only $2MM to spend. Both writers also agree that Brian Cashman would have to lobby Hal Steinbrenner to expand the budget to accomodate Damon. Sherman says a July trade for Mike Cameron was scrapped because Hal would not approve a $5.5MM increase.
In the likely event the Yanks move on from Damon, Sherman ranks the team's targets: Xavier Nady, Reed Johnson, Rocco Baldelli, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Marcus Thames.
The Bankees are just posturing. Damon doesn’t fit anywhere else. He’ll be in pinstripes come spring…at the team’s price but more than $2M.
What you are reading is a classic example of using the media to send messages to Boras. The Yankees are getting better at it, and don’t absolutely have to have Damon.
No team that plays in a normal sized yard is going to sign Damon to play the outfield. In NY he can play left at home and DH a lot on the road in bigger parks. He’ll only play 120 games anyway.
Damon’s a Yank until proven otherwise: the only consolation for us Yankee haters is watching the beat-down Boras is taking.
Left field at Yankee stadium is actually fairly big, and not super easy to play. It’s right field that’s very small.
Yep, it has been regarded as the most difficult left field in all of baseball because the sun and wind always trick OF’s, there are a fair share of difficult left fields like at Fenway because of the Green Monster, but even Manny, a not so good outfielder, tamed the monster :p.
I agree that Damon is a yankee for the rest of time, and that $2 mil budget is nonsense. I’ve said it on other boards: the Yanks should pass on Damon and pick up Hairston Jr. and Reed Johnson for Damon’s price tag. Unless JD wants to come back for a year and $6 or $7 mil, I say forget him.
I would like Hal Steinbrenner to please explain why he is compelled to be cheap now with Damon. Clearly he is the best option available for the Yankees LF situation. I was totally on board with not giving Damon a 3-year deal, but why not give him 1 year at $7 mil like Matsui with the Angels, with a team option for 2011? The Yankees will regret not resigning Damon come midseason, then have to overpay at the tradeline in prospects.
I thought the Yankees offer Damon a 1 year $ 7 million dollars contract
The Yankees offered Damon a contract like that but he balked.
The Yankees offered Damon a contract like that but he balked.
Damon needs to play in the NL.. I think he fits perfect for the Braves. ATL could really use him now that they have to deal with “Drama City” Troy Glaus. “I cant hit the ball cuz I cant see.. my eyes keep watering.. Can I barrow your sunglasses”
wow, bitter much?
Yeah.. when you get a guy and pay him millions of dollars to make up excuses rather then admit he just can hit anymore and needs work on his batting you start to get frustrated. Trust me.. when he is not performing make sure you listen closely to his post game interview excuses. There are spectacular.
I hope Damon goes to the Braves. I’d also die a little inside to see Rocco in pinstripes. He grew up in RI after all!
he won’t, the Braves are done making big moves.
Damon to the Braves just isn’t going to happen. Diaz augmented by Melky in LF is better defensively, cheaper, healthier, with about the same speed, OBP and power.
Diaz and Melky > Damon
…at this point in their careers.
diaz + damon > melky
Melky + Damon > Diaz
E=MC2
this seems like a bluff, there’s no way any of those aforementioned players will be getting regular at bats for the yankees next year.
I’m absolutely satisfied with what the Yanks have invested in their team of late. $200 mil is a ton of money and the team doesn’t have any major, glaring holes nor should they with their payroll. However, if they feel that Gardner isn’t adequate in LF (not putting words in their mouths) and Damon can be had for 1/$7 mil then they really shouldn’t let $5 mil get in the way of bringing him back if he’s willing to accept that kind of deal. Again, not saying they NEED him, but if his soffensive contributions out weigh his defensive liabilities and he can be had for 1/$7 mil then Cash needs to go beg for a few million more. If not, then go ahead and sign Hairston and/or Randy Winn and call it a day.
Man, I would love to see Damon on the ChiSox with the short porches. Just rotate the DH and corner OF.
pierre LF/RF
damon LF/DH
quentin RF/DH
konerko 1B
pierzinski C
beckham 2B
ramirez SS
rios CF
teahan 3B
Ain’t going to happen though.
I wish there were a dislike button for this one. SOX aren’t gonna pay an aging veteren with terrible defense to join a team with too many outfielders as it is. Dumb!
Congrats dude for reading the “Ain’t going to happen though.” to end the post. I forgot that it’s “Dumb!” to have an opinion…
It’s not dumb to have an opinion, it’s dumb to have a bad opinion! =) As a sox fan, I would think you’d want Thome back for DH rather than bringing in another overpaid, fading veteren with no defense. Didn’t you guys get rid of a player like that named Jermaine Dye?
Although Thome still has great power and a good OBP, he’s slow and has cronic back problems. Damon is still very fast, consistantly healthy and a good hitter, while allow the sox flexibility in doing Ozzie’s rotating DH. Dye is RH and we need a good lefty. If the sox didn’t have Kotsay and Jones, damon would definitely be in play for the sox and would fit in great, a two year deal would be fine with me. But with Scotty Boras and his contract demands.. no thanks
allowing**
If he is up to a Abreu deal, I don’t see how the Braves can hide away from 5 mil. Likewise, I don’t see how the Yankees shy away from a 6 mil. deal to get his type of production in their field. Either way, I see the Giants signing him. His HR’s Away and Home are a bit scarey.
The giants arent going to sign damon. He a liability on field he a aging veteran with no arm.The yankees will sign him .
So, are there any possible suitors out there other than Balt. and Braves?
Yankees only have 2 Million to spend…..Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight and I’m a tibetan monk!
I think its more like they don’t want to go over $200 million payroll
What would be the reason for this? Is there some sort of second luxury for going over 200M that no one knows about? It just seems like typical yankee posturing.
I believe the luxury tax is calculated on a team’s payroll based on the average annual value of their total payroll. What I mean is, Curtis Granderson will cost more in his upcoming years on his deal than he will in 2010, however, his effect on the luxury tax will remain the same because they basically take his total contract value and divide it by the number of seasons he is under contract and that number is his average annual value.
The team’s payroll for 2010 is like somewhere around $206MM plus change, BEFORE LUXURY TAX. So when you factor in the luxury tax, as the Yankees ALWAYS do within their internal budgeting, their payroll is much higher. So it isn’t a matter of a special “200 million” addition to the luxury tax — the team already pays the maximum amount possible on their payroll because of how many years they have been over the luxury tax in previous seasons. It’s a matter of that $206MM plus whatever the luxury tax comes to being the maximum dollar figure that ownership is willing to spend, regardless if ownership’s reason is increased profits, breaking even, or just losing less money.
How is the Monk business these days?
6M for the Yanks is actually 8.4M bcus of the luxury tax.
As a Red Sox fan, I hope the Yankees DO decide to get Rocco – the man has a WAR of -1, averaged over the last three years. In other words, they are likely to win one less game over the season with Rocco there than with a “AAAA” player.
So the Yankees will only win 102 games is what your saying?
I wonder if Damon ends up signing for less than Nick Johnson
Damon could also go to Baltimore.. they didnt get Holliday so on to the next right?
Didn’t Damon say during the year that the Yankees know how to treat its star players and how the organization treated those players better than the Red Sox and that’s why he likes where he’s at. The Yankees would never treat him or Pedro or Nomar like they were run out of Boston. (I know I paraphrased, but someone help me out)
Kind of ironic and I wonder if he would stand by those comments now…
since when is Damon a star player?
The Yankees treated guys like Jeter, Posada, and Mo pretty well financially. Is it any surprise that Damon isn’t considered to be in the same boat as those other 3?
I think Damon might be in for a rude awakening. While he’s still capable he’s not the player he used to be and if he thinks that for one second that teams want to break the bank for him both he and Mr. Boras need a reality check.
You would figure he would get the message by now. Dude is 36 and has horrible defense and arm, he got overpaid for 4 years with the Yankees at 13 million per season.
Boston was paying him about 8 million per year on average. So he made about 5 million plus per year over 4 years as a Yankee.
He sure got high on the hog, no wonder he fancies himself as being worth more than Vlad or Matsui. Damon is in for a reality check, he will be lucky to get 5 million ala Abreu last season. The same Abreu that was earning 16 million a season with the Yankees.
I for one am glad the Yankees showed no interest in playing Damon and Boras game and moved on from that arrogant prick Boras, about come with a multi year deal at the same salary or don’t bother.
Actually he earn his money very well during his 4 year contract
It isn’t posturing at all. The NYY have a hard budget. I’ll repeat that for the fans of other teams who just seem to repeat the same lines over and over: The NYY have a hard budget.
Damon was offered a fair contract. He rejected it. The money then went to Nick Johnson and Javier Vasquez. Damon’s bat was already replaced with a better hitter, Curtis Granderson.
The players available this offseason are not great. They are mostly players who give teams no incentive to offer long, expensive contracts. The NYY are not going to allow themselves into a situation where they need to choose Randy Johnson over Carlos Beltran instead of signing both. The team now focuses its dollars on elite talent and uses it’s farm system aggressively to supply bullpen arms, develop elite talent, and as trade chips for difference-making major league players without affecting the major league roster.
The NYY are going to sign Reed Johnson or Jerry Hairston, or maybe Xavier Nady, and then they are going into the season with the clear-cut best team on paper. Games aren’t played on paper, so who knows how the season will turn out, but strictly on paper, the NYY are the best team in baseball.
I would love for them to give Nady another chance. Hammering in the Bronx would be great to regain his confidence. That sounds like a book “Hammering in the Bronx”.
The risk with Nady is he is coming off his second Tommy John surgery. After he injured his arm last year and then rehabbed it, he made it like a week into the season before his elbow just blew up. The success rate of players returning from a second TJ surgery is around 30%. Even if he stayed healthy, he’s probably going to throw like Damon.
Nady doesn’t really get on base much, so his value is tied up in his SLG. If this elbow injury effects his ability to get around on a fastball, then he probably isn’t worth it.
I think Damon can be the “Bobby Abreu” of 2010.
Some team is going to sign him for a 1 yr/5-7 million deal & get a good return.
Sure he throws like a girl but the guy can still hit & would look great at the top of someone’s lineup .
1B: A. Huff
2B: F. Sanchez
SS: E. Renteria
3B: P. Sandoval
C: B. Posey
LF: J. Damon
CF: A. Rowand
RF: M. DeRosa
Not too shabby. Damon should sign a 1/$8MM deal with SF.
not the best line up… but i still think is enough to take the giants into the playoffs.
“Xavier Nady, Reed Johnson, Rocco Baldelli, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Marcus Thames”Any of those guys except Marcus Thames and Baldelli. Derek Jeter – SS – R – 2nd most hits in the majors, 4th highest batting averageNick Johnson – DH – L – 3rd highest OBP , 7th most Walks in only 457 ABMark Teixeira – 1B – S – 6th most HR, 4th most RBIAlex Rodriguez – 3B – R – 30 HR, 100 RBI, despite missing 38 GamesCurtis Granderson – CF – L – below career AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS last season yet had 30 HR and 71 RBI with most of his games as a leadoff batterJorge Posada – C – S – 22 HR, 81 RBI in only 111 gamesRobinson Cano – 2B – L – 3rd most hits, 3rd most doubles, .320 AVGNick Swisher – RF – S – 8th most walks, 29 HR, 82 RBI and is the #8 hitterBrett Gardner – LF – L – 26 stolen bases in 108 games, while being a part time player and then getting hurt. If he can get on base he can run all day from the #9 hole, to turn over the lineup back to Jeter and Nick Johnson. For stated reasons above, along with Gardner’s defense makes me say so long Johnny, enjoy your next town. The Yankees aren’t starving for offense as above shows. They can strengthen defensively with Gardner and Granderson covering left, left center, center and right center next season.
The Yankees had Damon, Swisher, Melky, Gardner, Hairston (Nady DL) and Matsui in their outfield/DH positions. That is six players, 2010 Swisher, Granderson, Gardner…..hopefully Damon AND Nady. Trade Johnson.
Trade Johnson? It makes no sense what you are suggesting.
I never liked Johnson, they’ll be looking for a new DH by July.
The Yankees have Nick Johnson as their #2 hitter becauseHe hit #2 last season in Washington in front of Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn and had a .408 OBPHe hit #2 last season in Florida in front of Hanley Ramirez and had a .477 OBPHe had a .426 OBP – 3rd best in the majorsHe had 99 walks in only 454 at bats – 7th best in the majorsHe walks more than he strikes outHe saw 4.38 pitchers per at bat – 3rd most in the majorsand you are suggesting the Yankees trade Johnson and sign Damon and Nady, Wow. The role that the Yankees have for Johnson as a DH is not to be a power source but an OBP machine behind Derek Jeter and in front of Teixiera and ARod, their two sluggers. Nick Johnson is one of the most disciplined hitters in the game and has an excellent eye and patience at the plate, he doesn’t get jittery whether the count is 3-0 or 0-2 As a #2 Hitter last season in 369 at bats Johnson had a .298 AVG, 7 HR, 52 RBI’s, .433 OBP, .425 Slugging, .858 OPS, 22 2B, 81 BB, 64 K, 110 HitsLead Off An Inning – .392 AVG, .505 OBP, .554 SLG, 1.059 OPSNone On – .282 AVG, .414 OBP, .386 SLG, .800 OPSRunners On – .301 AVG, .439 OBP, .426 SLG, .865 OPSScoring Position – .313 AVG, .488 OBP, .482 SLG, .970 OPSBases Loaded – .364 AVG, .429 OBP, .364 SLG, .793 OPSScoring Position and 2 Outs – .362 AVG, .545 OBP, .532 SLG, 1.077 OPS
No, they should NOT trade Nick Johnson. He was the third best player in baseball in 2009 at not making outs, behind Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer. Not making outs = the single most important part of hitting.
Johnson has similar strikeout numbers to Damon. Johnson, unlike Matsui, does not have a degenerative condition in both knees. He is moving from a pitcher’s park to a hitter’s park with a RF short porch conducive to left-handed pull power.
Nick Johnson will be a very good player for the New York Yankees in 2010.
Has Nick Johnson ever been an All-Star? Why did the Yankees trade him in the first place? He never did anything in the old stadium, what makes you think he’ll be special now? He’s a fat, slow softball player. I hope you’re right.
Nick Johnson was a part time player when the Yankees traded him for Vazquez. He wasn’t even established as a full time player yet when the Yankees dealt him and Juan Rivera for Vazquez.
To give you an idea
Johnny Damon in 550 at bats was on base 228 times (155 Hits + 71 BB + 2 HBP)
Nick Johnson in 457 at bats was on base 244 times (133 Hits + 99 BB + 12 HBP)
In other words Nick Johnson in 103 less at bats was on base 16 more times than Damon.
I will take a guy like Nick Johnson getting on base over 40% of the time next season in front of Tex and Arod. Yeah they may hit into more double plays but there will be quite a few two and 3 run homeruns as well from Tex and Arod with guys on base that often.
Just bcus you don’t like him, it means he is not good. And just bcus he was trade doensn’t mean he wasn’t good either. They are many reasons why players are traded.
Who cares if he was an All-Star?
The All-Star designation is given to players after 82 games have been played in a 162-game season. Every team gets represented. And here’s the kicker.. most of the roster is made up of guys who were VOTED IN BY FANS.
It is an irrelevant award.
id love to see the white sox swoop in and sign him 2 years to play RF. and move teahen to 3b and Quentin to DH to keep him healthy. Id love Juan Pierre and him to leadoff and bat second.
Good God, man.
I am a serious Yankee fan who has watched Damon play extensively over his years in New York as well as much less extensively when he played in Boston. He cannot throw a runner out.
He cannot stop someone going first to third. He cannot throw you out at home from anywhere in the OF. He cannot do it. To put him in RF would be embarrassing for Johnny Damon.
I doubt Damon could throw HIMSELF out from the OF. It frequently seems like he’s better off running the ball in to the infield than rearing back and hurling a huge looping toss that bounces twice to the SS.
If you put Damon in RF, oh boy are your pitchers going to hate you. Just imagine the days when he’s in RF and Juan Pierre’s in LF. Between the two of them, they ALMOST have 1 average arm.
-JM
LOL, now I liked Johnny as an offensive player but you want to put the guy in RF defensively wow, can you say 1st to 3rd, barerunners would pick on his arm all day and the White Sox pitchers would go crazy seeing a merry go round on balls to right and right center field.
Teams in baseball are now emphasizing pitching and defense as the steroid era wanes. They want players that are young and athletic in the field. Unless you have a truly dominant offensive team Damon just doesn’t help enough on offense to tolerate his defensive shortcomings day in and day out in the field, much less you want him in right field, if you are a future GM, as your username states, that doesn’t bode well for the team you might run one day. 🙂
at this point, Damon’s offense outweighs the defense of anyone else they could sign. I mean who’s left? Dye? Whose defense is WORSE than Damon. other than that, not many offensive threats left in the OF, that cover that much more range than Damon.
I think a lot of yankee fans are wishfully thinking, even if Damon and the whole Yankee organization guaranteed not to sign Damon this year, yankee fans would find a way to say that somehow he would end up a Yankee this year. LOL
Why would that be the case, everyone that has commented about Damon will admit he is a good offensive player, but an awful defensive player in the outfield and being 36 that is not just going to get better.
If anyone can comment about his defense it is Yankee fans who saw him play everyday in the outfield.
The difference is that unlike most teams in the majors that play in pitcher parks and are built on pitching, be it the Mariners, Braves, Giants that Damon has been linked to the Yankees do not rely on defense as much.
The Yankees play in a hitters park, have a hitters lineup, strikeout pitchers in Sabathia, Burnett, Vazquez and therefore might be less focused on defensive aspects of the game.
Teams like San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle are teams who rely on pitching and defense as their strength. Damon’s offensive addition is not significant enough to offset his defensive weaknesses in those places.
As I mentioned in another post if you are going to add a weak defensive player he better hit 35+ HR, 115+ RBI in the heart of your order to make it worthwhile. Otherwise you aren’t making a net gain by adding a good offensive player with weak defense, you need to add a very good to great offensive player that makes a difference.
Don’t you think that the signings of Mark Teixeira and trading for Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson, as well as regularly playing Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner indicate that the Yankees do in fact value defense?
Don’t you think that the signings of Mark Teixeira and trading for Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson, as well as regularly playing Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner indicate that the Yankees do in fact value defense?
Oh no of course every team cares about D, but its just that the Yankees aren’t built around it at the expense of other factors.
What the Yankees want is guys that will just catch the ball, nothing flashy or exceptional in the field. Their offense more than compensates for any defensive issues, i.e. they could afford Damon’s defense in the outfield with little detriment to the pitchers results.
I think it’s more of a “they had Damon under contract and he was less bad than Matsui in the field, so he got to play LF.” The fact that they seem to be perfectly content with the Gardner/Hoffman platoon in LF, which has almost all of its value in defense, is a testament to how the Yankees are revaluing defense.
Then again, it COULD be posturing by the team to lower Damon’s value. Not going to pretend his bat wouldn’t be an asset, because it would be, but I’m ok with a league-average 9th hitter who plays plus defense. Thus, I don’t see Damon as more than a luxury.
-JM
Oh no of course every team cares about D, but its just that the Yankees aren’t built around it at the expense of other factors.
What the Yankees want is guys that will just catch the ball, nothing flashy or exceptional in the field. Their offense more than compensates for any defensive issues, i.e. they could afford Damon’s defense in the outfield with little detriment to the pitchers results.
Why would that be the case, everyone that has commented about Damon will admit he is a good offensive player, but an awful defensive player in the outfield and being 36 that is not just going to get better.
If anyone can comment about his defense it is Yankee fans who saw him play everyday in the outfield.
The difference is that unlike most teams in the majors that play in pitcher parks and are built on pitching, be it the Mariners, Braves, Giants that Damon has been linked to the Yankees do not rely on defense as much.
The Yankees play in a hitters park, have a hitters lineup, strikeout pitchers in Sabathia, Burnett, Vazquez and therefore might be less focused on defensive aspects of the game.
Teams like San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle are teams who rely on pitching and defense as their strength. Damon’s offensive addition is not significant enough to offset his defensive weaknesses in those places.
As I mentioned in another post if you are going to add a weak defensive player he better hit 35+ HR, 115+ RBI in the heart of your order to make it worthwhile. Otherwise you aren’t making a net gain by adding a good offensive player with weak defense, you need to add a very good to great offensive player that makes a difference.
No… actually I think it’s more like fans of other, lesser teams keep repeating the refrain of “the Bankees are just posturing” and fans of the NYY don’t really give a damn.
A .345 OBP, plus defense in LF, and 25+ stolen bases from the 9th spot in the batting order.. for the league minimum? Sounds great to me.
Also, haters… the NYY committed payroll for 2011 is right now around $144MM. Hmm.. I wonder what Cashman will do with that $60MM?
No… actually I think it’s more like fans of other, lesser teams keep repeating the refrain of “the Bankees are just posturing” and fans of the NYY don’t really give a damn.
A .345 OBP, plus defense in LF, and 25+ stolen bases from the 9th spot in the batting order.. for the league minimum? Sounds great to me.
Also, haters… the NYY committed payroll for 2011 is right now around $144MM. Hmm.. I wonder what Cashman will do with that $60MM?
Did anyone go into the offseason saying “I hope the Yankees sign Nick Johnson”? My gut instinct is that this is an injury riddled short stint i.e. waste of time. I hope you are right, I’d sign up for his 2006 season.
Thus the reason they signed him as a DH, they nursed Hideki Matsui last season as a strict DH and nothing else. I have no issues with the Johnson addition, the guy knows the strike zone, he will walk more than he strikes out and he gets on base 40% of the time. Tex and ARod will see lots of pitches from the on deck circle with Johnson working the count. Jeter with a .406 OBPJohnson with a .426 OBPTex with a .383 OBPArod with a .402 OBPthat 1-4 in the order combine for the highest OBP of any team in the majors. OBP means baserunners and RBI opportunities. Nick Johnson swung at 14% of balls out of the strike zone, 14. Most guys are in the 20% range including Damon who played for us last season. What that tells you is Johnson knows the strike zone and doesn’t chase pitches, he makes the pitcher come into the strike zone with pitches before he swings. Hitting behind Jeter and in front of Tex and Arod he will get a lot of good ptiches to hit with that kind of discipline at the plate, because the last thing pitchers will want is to have Teixiera coming up with a man at 1st and second and Arod on deck.
Thus the reason they signed him as a DH, they nursed Hideki Matsui last season as a strict DH and nothing else. I have no issues with the Johnson addition, the guy knows the strike zone, he will walk more than he strikes out and he gets on base 40% of the time. Tex and ARod will see lots of pitches from the on deck circle with Johnson working the count. Jeter with a .406 OBPJohnson with a .426 OBPTex with a .383 OBPArod with a .402 OBPthat 1-4 in the order combine for the highest OBP of any team in the majors. OBP means baserunners and RBI opportunities. Nick Johnson swung at 14% of balls out of the strike zone, 14. Most guys are in the 20% range including Damon who played for us last season. What that tells you is Johnson knows the strike zone and doesn’t chase pitches, he makes the pitcher come into the strike zone with pitches before he swings. Hitting behind Jeter and in front of Tex and Arod he will get a lot of good ptiches to hit with that kind of discipline at the plate, because the last thing pitchers will want is to have Teixiera coming up with a man at 1st and second and Arod on deck.
I sure did.
The best targets, I felt, for the DH spot in 2010 were Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Nick Johnson. Abreu never ended up hitting the market. Matsui had to have his knees drained like 4 times in 2009 and he didn’t take the field defensively once. Damon wanted to be paid like a starting CF when he was a 36 year old DH with eyebrow raising home/away splits. Nick Johnson had an OBP of .426.
So.. replace one of Damon/Matsui with Granderson. Granderson was hitting 30 bombs in Detroit.. what kind of damage is he going to do with that short porch? So now you’re left with just replacing one of Damon/Matsui with Johnson. Johnson has about 50 points of OBP on both of them, and he also hit 9 home runs while playing in two parks that suppress home runs. Add two home runs to Johnson’s 2009 total and his SLG jumps from .405 to .422.
I sure did.
The best targets, I felt, for the DH spot in 2010 were Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, and Nick Johnson. Abreu never ended up hitting the market. Matsui had to have his knees drained like 4 times in 2009 and he didn’t take the field defensively once. Damon wanted to be paid like a starting CF when he was a 36 year old DH with eyebrow raising home/away splits. Nick Johnson had an OBP of .426.
So.. replace one of Damon/Matsui with Granderson. Granderson was hitting 30 bombs in Detroit.. what kind of damage is he going to do with that short porch? So now you’re left with just replacing one of Damon/Matsui with Johnson. Johnson has about 50 points of OBP on both of them, and he also hit 9 home runs while playing in two parks that suppress home runs. Add two home runs to Johnson’s 2009 total and his SLG jumps from .405 to .422.
Did anyone go into the offseason saying “I hope the Yankees sign Nick Johnson”? My gut instinct is that this is an injury riddled short stint i.e. waste of time. I hope you are right, I’d sign up for his 2006 season.
The Yankees don’t really need Damon. I can see Damon lowering his price if he REALLY WANTS TO come back. Look @ Andy. He took a low contract last year. Andy needs to talk to Damon and take a low contract if he really wants to come here. If he doesn’t forget him. I’d go after Nady. He can be just as productive if healthy
The Yankees don’t really need Damon. I can see Damon lowering his price if he REALLY WANTS TO come back. Look @ Andy. He took a low contract last year. Andy needs to talk to Damon and take a low contract if he really wants to come here. If he doesn’t forget him. I’d go after Nady. He can be just as productive if healthy
Alright, alright, I’m in. I guess he’s just not very ‘exciting’, but I’m signed up! Maybe they’ll sign Artie Lange too, no offense Artie. Is that why he stabbed himself? Are you guys sure one of you isn’t Nick Johnson? You should be on the HOF committee five years after NJ retires!
Alright, alright, I’m in. I guess he’s just not very ‘exciting’, but I’m signed up! Maybe they’ll sign Artie Lange too, no offense Artie. Is that why he stabbed himself? Are you guys sure one of you isn’t Nick Johnson? You should be on the HOF committee five years after NJ retires!
OK, we still need an outfielder, can we get Damon or Nady? I’d like Wang back too, imagine that rotation if he regained his old form, 19-8???
Imagine if he replicated his 2009 performance. I believe he started off May by needing over 10 consecutive shutouts to reduce his ERA below 4. Not exactly a star pitcher.
I could care less how many wins the pitcher gets, I care about the team winning his starts. At this point, Wang doesn’t help the Yankees do either. If he can show he’s back to being marginally effective, I could see a minor-league deal to let him rebuild value, but certainly nothing guaranteed and nothing over $1MM guaranteed money (give him a boatload of incentives, sure, but I’m not prepared to make Wang the next coming of Carl Pavano).
-JM
OK, we still need an outfielder, can we get Damon or Nady? I’d like Wang back too, imagine that rotation if he regained his old form, 19-8???
The reason why the Yankees aren’t spending money this offseason is because of the fact that these players dont suit their needs. So the Yankees are pulling the budget card so that next year they can bring in Carl Crawford, maybe Carlos Pena if he would be ok with the DH spot. Then they will make their pitching decisions with Beckett, Vazquez, Lee, Pettitte, Webb or even Harden or Blanton. The Yankees will shell out big cash next offseason. With Pettitte (11.75) coming off the books and maybe retiring, Vazquez (12) is most likely gone even if he has a good season. All signs point to the Yanks spending big money.