Results tagged ‘ Johnny Damon ’
A reply to the reply about what to do about Johnny
It would be unwise of me to ignore comments from people who were kind enough to read this blog, so a reply to Mr. EZ_Mac71: I don’t mind the Yankees’ recent (alleged) turn to fiscal restraint (well, for them) when they’re not targeting the marquee free agents. When the Yankees decided that they and no one else was going to get CC Sabathia last season, they went completely overboard with their contract offer as a way, it seemed, to completely erase any doubt in Sabathia’s mind about coming to play in New York. It was obvious that Sabathia preferred playing somewhere near California, but the Yanks blew him away with the combo of playing for a World Series contender every year and the offer of far more money than anyone else was willing (or capable) of offering. And they got him.
In Damon’s case, while he’s coming off a great season and a solid four years for the Bronx Bombers, the Yankees can go with a lesser player in left field and still have the best lineup in Major League Baseball (they did just add Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson). Damon, on the other hand, isn’t going to find a better fit than NY. He might find more money, but he’s not going to find a stronger lineup or a stadium better suited for his swing.
I’m sure the Yanks can stretch the budget a little, but I think this tightening of the purse straps is a sign that, while they still have no issues blowing away the marquee free agents with their contract offers (Which we’ll see with Joe Mauer next year if the Twins are unable to sign him to an extension before the season’s over), for other veterans who, like Damon, are good players but not perrenial All-Stars, the opportunity to hit in their lineup and play for a perrenial World Series contender means you might have to sacrifice a few million dollars.
What to do about Johnny?
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!
Your new Heavyweight Champion: Johnny Damon!
I did not see today’s game, I work a bizarre schedule, so I rarely see early games on Sunday’s, however one thing I do want to see is a picture of one of the Yankees wearing the replica WWE championship belt they’ve been passing around to the latest walk-off winner.
To see how important this belt has become in the clubhouse, here’s a comment from A-Rod in George Willis’ column in the NY Post today when he was told David Wells’ statements about him and Roger Clemens (Wells doesn’t like steroids users, he likes 12 oz. curls):
“After the game when told of Wells’ comments, Rodriguez, who homered
in the win, said he was more concerned about regaining the WWE belt he
had earned for his walk-off homer against the Twins Saturday.
“I hope I can get it back this week sometime,” he said.”
(Disclaimer: Yes, I’m aware this was also A-Rod’s way of not replying to Wells’ comments)
Since I didn’t see the game I don’t have any comments, although the highlights were great. Hopefully the winning-streak continues with Andy Pettitte on the hill today (although they don’t have to continue being this dramatic. Actually, why the hell not? As Willis points out in his column, after all the usual crap surrounding the Yankees due to the money they spend and, this year, A-Rod’s steroid admission and the empty seats at the new Stadium, it’s great seeing the team have this much fun)
With the Yanks hot, I return to the BLOG
Well, after a hot start, this blog certainly slowed down these past few weeks. So, in honor of Joba Chamberlain’s quality start yesterday, the Joba Joba Joba blog returns.
Another quality start from the namesake, and another win blown by the bullpen. I’m pretty sure that’s three blown wins for Joba this year (His first start in KC, the first game against the Red Sox, and yesterday) however, unlike those other two games, the Yanks bounced back to win this one. And I’m sure Joba is fine with that. It was good to see him get past the first inning struggles he’s had this year, and he continues to make progress as a starter. Now, about that bullpen…
…I know I said in a previous post that the bullpen struggles were being a bit overstated by fans/the media, but yesterday, until Mariano Rivera got in the game, that was an all too familiar, and frusturating, outing from the relievers this season. The home run Phil Coke gave up to Justin Morneau, that’s fine, he’s one of the best hitters in the league and he ended up hitting three home runs over two games, so it’s obvious he’s swinging a hot bat. But to then walk (with two outs!) Michael Cuddyer and give up a double Brian Buscher? Give me a break. I actually like Coke, overall, but that was a bad outing. And Jose Veras, I mean, there’s a guy with great stuff who can’t get the ball over the plate (usually) and Edwar Ramirez is a guy who I’m never confident in. Yes, he gets the job done occassionally, but he drives me nuts.
Now, Friday night, a game I attended, the bullpen was tremendous. But the starting rotation finally looks to be rounding into shape, so the bullpen has to start locking down these leads before Mo gets the call. Thankfully, Brian Bruney should return this week.
As I said, the rotation is starting to look like what was expected coming into the season. Joba keeps improving with every start, CC’s looked like an ace is past two starts, so hopefully he’ll get on a roll, Pettitte has been what I expected, when he avoids the one “INNING OF DOOM” he’s managed to give the team innings and wins, and A.J. Burnett, who started out hot, has struggled a bit. Burnett’s been a bit of an odd scenario. He obviously has great stuff, but has run into a string of not-so-great starts. Hopefully he rights that today against the Twins.
Phil Hughes is still a work-in-progress. He was great against Detroit, so-so against Boston (not that the ump helped), awful in Baltimore, than gave them a solid, if not quality, start on Friday. He does look much more confident than last year, and seems to have bulked up a bit, so hopefully he can keep them in games until Chien-Ming Wang is ready to return from Triple-A Scranton.
And I think that about covers my thoughts on the Yankees these past few weeks…
What?
Oh yeah, the return of “THE A-BOMB…FROMMMM A-ROD!”
Again, it does not surprise me that this team has won six of the eight games since his return. Yes, the pitching has been better but, contrary to some opinions out there, this team is in no way, shape or form better without A-Rod in the lineup. His presence in the lineup, even with him hitting .154, is uncomparable. Mark Teixeira has obviously seemed to relax a bit since his return, and Rodriguez has already provided two of the most memorable moments of the 2009 season, his first at-bat in Baltimore and his walk-off bomb yesterday. I understand people being disappointed/angry with A-Rod because of his steroid use, and I know he comes off as a bit of a flake/phony, but when he’s in the lineup this team is so, so much better than without him.
Finally, special shouts of praise for Johnny Damon, who’s been carrying this team over the first month and a half, Derek Jeter, who not only continues to hit, but has shown this year that he’s not the defensive liability people make him out to be (outside of the occasional hiccup), and Brett Gardner, for hitting the first inside-the-park homer I’ve ever seen in person. I’ve been to five games at the new Stadium so far, two ending in walk-offs, but Friday was easily the best game I’ve seen in the short history of the Yanks’ new home.
Joba Joba Joba
The return of the Bronx Bombers? 2009 Lineup preview
Yes, I am putting out two posts in one day. Not only one day, but within hours of one another. Don’t act like you’re not impressed.
1. Derek Jeter:
When I first heard that Joe Girardi was batting Jeter leadoff, it struck me as odd, and slightly unnecessary, especially with Johnny Damon on the team. Then I thought about it some more, and, especially when I remembered how many double plays Jeter hit into last year, I didn’t mind it so much. I don’t think there’s a huge difference between having Jeter and Damon in this spot. I might still prefer Damon, as he has better speed and generally sees a decent amount pitches most at-bats due to his ability to foul off a ton of pitches, but I’m interested to see how this works out. I just hope Girardi gives this at least a few weeks to see how it works out. If the Yankees open the season 0-3 while scoring only two runs a game, I don’t want to see him flipping them immediately, then this move will look pointless. For Jeter, I expect another season with an average somewhere near .300, 20-something doubles, and about 10 homers. Fielding issues aside, Jeter still knows how to hit.
2. Damon:
Damon’s numbers will likely look close to Jeter’s…as long as he stays healthy. Damon is one of three hitters in this lineup who you don’t worry about production wise, as long as he’s in the lineup he’ll hit.
3. Mark Teixeira:
How freakin’ huge is the Tex signing, not only keeping him out of Boston for seven years, but also, for ’09, with A-Rod having to miss the first month and a half because of his hip surgery? Without Tex, where is the power bat in this lineup during the A-Rod absence? I will stop thinking about that now. Talk about his tendency to start slow out the gate with his hitting aside, Tex should put up his usual big power/batting average numbers during his first season in pinstripes. And if the right-field porch looks as short to him all season as it did on Saturday, maybe Tex will celebrate his first year as Yankees first baseman with an AL MVP.
4. Matsui:
Matsui is in the Damon camp. If they can keep his legs fresh as the everyday DH, then Matsui will hit for a decent average with decent pop. I’m hoping for a big year out of Godzilla, especially since it might be his last with the Yanks.
5. Jorge Posada:
The final of the three “Should hit as long as he’s healthy” crew. Outside of that brief setback in the beginning of Spring Training, Hip Hip Jorge seems to be recovering nicely from his shoulder surgery. His bat and leadership was missed big time last year.
6. Robinson Cano:
Will this be the bounce back year for Cano? I’m actually shocked he hit .271 last year after somehow following what I thought was the slowest start ever in 2007 with an even slower start last season. If he can get that early-season struggles monkey off his back, I can see him getting back near his ’06 form. If not, I will continue calling him Canofer.
7. Xavier Nady:
The X-Man! I am extremely glad he won the right-field job over Swisher (no disrespect to Swish). Nady seems to go from overrated to underrated and back more than any other player, and he’ll probably hear his name in trade rumors all season. However, he’s in a contract year and is a solid power right-handed bat. I’m a big fan of the X-Man.
8. Cody Ransom:
I’m not going to pretend that I know enought about Cody Ransom to make a prediction for his season. He’s spent the vast majority of his career in the Minors and is keeping third base warm for the return of A-Rod. He’s also got nothing to lose and everything to gain from his (at least) month-long stint as the Yankees third baseman, so maybe he’ll surprise some people.
9. Brett Gardner:
Gardner went out and earned the starting center field job during Spring Training, and got his first taste of the Major Leagues last season, so hopefully he does his job of getting on base and causing havoc with his speed.
These aren’t the Bronx Bombers, but I like the balance, especially once A-Rod gets back. This team doesn’t need to score 900-plus runs (And almost certainly will not), but, again, this team is built on pitching. If the starters produce like they’re expected to, this offense should score more than enough runs to win.
Yanks/White Sox April 22, 2008
Nice win for the Yankees in the opener against the White Sox in Chicago. One thing that impressed me was that Chien-Ming Wang, coming off a rough start against Boston his last time out, once again didn’t have his best stuff, but battled to get his fourth win of the season. I thought this was a big win for Wang. There have been many times over the past two seasons — two seasons where he’s compiled the most wins in the Majors — when he’s either been completely dominant and got the win, or struggled and took the loss. It’s easy for Wang to win when his sinker is on and the opposing offenses can’t get anything out of the infield. But when he doesn’t have his sinker, like the end of last season and, especially, in his two awful starts against the Indians in the ALDS, he ended up getting rocked. Today he battled, gave up a few hard hit balls, but managed to keep the Yankees in the game and ended up with the win after Bobby Abreu’s grand slam put the Yankees ahead.
On the offensive side, it was good to see Abreu continue his strong start at the plate, and, even better, it was good to see a productive day at the plate from both Damon and Giambi. Damon had himself a three-hit day, with his second homer in as many games, and Giambi’s solo shot to left-center was a good sign that he’s finding his power stroke. Giambi, even when he’s struggled in the past, has always been able to pull the inside fastball over the right-field fence. A shot to left-center was a good sign for a guy who’s mostly a dead pull hitter.
Joba Chamberlain — after yesterday’s controversy — came up huge out of the bullpen, even with the bases loaded walk. As David Cone pointed out while doing commentary on YES, with a three-run lead against Joe Crede — who already has two grand slams this season — it was good to see Joba not give in and just throw a fastball down the middle of the plate in the full count situation. A pitch down the middle, you might strike Crede out, but you also might give up a grand slam or a three-run double. A walk, you give up one run, then attack the free swinging Juan Uribe and get out of the inning. Overall, a solid win for the Yanks and hopefully Mike Mussina can bounce back after two rough starts against the Red Sox. The White Sox have been impressive early, and have some pop in their line up with Nick Swisher, Crede, Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, and others (actually, that’s a pretty solid offense top to bottom) but hopefully Moose can get the job done.
briancougar
Damon had a great
season last year and I don’t understand why the Yankees are suddenly
big fans of fiscal restraint. Everyone knows that the Yankees are
targeting Crawford for next off-season so why not keep Johnny D for one
more year? No offense to your Yankees but I would love for Damon to
sign somewhere else and somehow be the reason the Yankees miss the
playoffs…maybe he signs with Toronto (for some ungodly reason) and
goes 10 for 14 in the Yankees’ second last series of the season so the
Jays sweep and knock New York out of playoff contention. I know…NOT
LIKELY.