So the Yankees, the perpetual $200 million team, who last year signed CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett all in the same offseason, are claiming they are working under a budget this year. Allegedly there’s about $5 million left that they’re dangling in front of Johnny Damon and, if not him, Jermaine Dye, Xavier Nady,  Jim Edmonds (awhatnow?) and a few others to play left field.

I’m a big fan of Damon. During the last game I went to at the old Yankee Stadium, in 2008, he went 6-for-6 and won the game with a walk-off hit against the Royals. He also had the most memorable moment (well, series of moments) in the 2009 World Series, when he came up with the big hit against Brad Lidge, then swiped two bases to set up another big postseason hit for A-Rod that helped the Yanks go up 3-1 in the Series.

I thought Damon’s return in 2010 was a no-brainer.  I love Hideki Matsui, but it was clear the Yankees weren’t going to bring him back. He’s strictly a DH, and the Yanks have too many guys they need to get at-bats in the DH spot. It also seemed like every week he was getting his knees drained. Matsui went out on the highest note possible with the Yankees as a World Series MVP, and I wish him the best in Anaheim (And by best I mean an AL West title. Maybe an ALDS win, as long as it doesn’t come against the Yanks).

A Damon return, on the other hand, made perfect sense. Unlike Matsui, Damon can still play some outfield. He was also the perfect No. 2 hitter behind Derek Jeter in the lineup, and had tailored his swing to take advantage of the even shorter short porch in the new Stadium.

Then the Yankees traded for Curtis Granderson (Yes!), signed Nick Johnson (I’ve always been a huge fan. Plus he reminds me of Humpty Dumpty) and traded for Javier Vazquez (I was upset about this for about two seconds, then realized to be upset about this trade made me an idiot. Or a Melky fanboi. I am neither*), which apparently stretched their budget near its limits. It also made signing Damon (in the Yankees’ eyes) a good idea, but not a necessary one.

Damon’s agent, the loveable Scott Boras, decided to sell Damon to the Yankees and other teams by making bizarre comments about how scientists should try to get hold of some of Damon’s DNA to make super humans in the future. That’s an exaggeration.  This was his actual quote:

“If stem-cell research were around, you’d want to tap into that gene
pool,” Boras said “He’s [35], but has a 30-year-old’s body. He plays
much younger.”

Why don’t the Yankees want to tap into that gene pool?

I think they do, but they’re determined not to overpay Damon for his services. I believe their thinking is: Yankee Stadium is the perfect place for Damon to play (he’s not hitting anything close to 24 homers anywhere else), the Yankees give him the best chance to win another title, and there’s no way another team is offering him much more than the Yankees, in terms of years, dollars or opportunity, so take it or leave it.

For Damon/Boras, their thinking is: Damon just had a great season to cap off four solid years on the Yankees, he’s a perfect hitter for their park, and they’re the Yankees, who are they kidding with this budget nonsense? Also, his DNA is more precious than the dinosaur DNA in Jurassic Park.  I agree with Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports (I can’t find the link for some reason), that the Yanks and Damon should try to meet half-way.

However, in my opinion, the Yanks are clearly at the advantage here, and it’s up to Damon/Boras to take the discount or move on to an inferior team. He might make more money elsewhere, but the Yanks are his best shot for World Series title No. 3. I hope he returns.

* I love you MELKY!