Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Since things are moderately quiet here's a question to consider:

If Johnny Damon refuses to sign a reasonable offer, should the Yankees sign another player to replace him, and who should they sign?

If you think the Yankees should NOT sign another player, who should be moved to the number 2 spot in the lineup?

15 comments:

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

There's no one they can sign to replace Damon offensively. DeRosa is a possibility and, with a career .OBP over .340, would be okay somewhere in the line-up, but I think Swisher would be our best no. 2 hitter b/c of his tendency to hit, work counts, work walks. I don't see Granderson as a competent no. 2.

Fred Trigger said...

why not go after Jason Bay? At this rate it looks like he will have to sign for somewhere in the 4 year 60 million dollar range. That would be a pretty sick nasty outfield, with Bay, Granderson, and Swisher.

You could have Cano bat leadoff as long as his BA stays fairly high, followed by Jeter and after that it doesnt matter, because the big bats will knock whoever is on base in.

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

Oh no you don't, Fred! You're not dumping Bay on us. Cano doesn't have the discipline to be a top of the batting order guy. You might consider Bay on a very short term deal, but doesn't seem to make sense to get stuck with this guy in his third or fourth year, having to pay him $15M per, while he only has at-bats.

Fred Trigger said...

HAHA, TOO LATE! I already talked to Bronny, and he thought it was a good idea.....suckas!

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

are you sure you weren't talking to Hank?

Anonymous said...

Even if it means letting Borat rob us, Damon is a lot better deal at 3@39 than Bay for 4@60.
I think they're going to negotiate Johnny down enough to sve face on both sides and bring him home.
See where ESPN named Mo cy Young of the decade?

Joe

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

I did not see that, Joe. Thanks for the tip though. It's funny that Mo never gets serious consideration for the Cy Young award, despite how incredible he's been. I've pretty much stopped going to ESPN.com, first b/c of their uneven treatment of the A-Rod for Big Papi PED controversies, but also b/c damn near everything on that site that is worthwhile costs you money to view.

Rich Mahogany said...

I am not a Bay fan but would take him at 4/$60 in a heartbeat. The man cannot field but neither can Damon. Bay is also a much better hitter than Damon. Bay would be 34 at the end of the deal, not so bad.

The big problem with this idea: Bay will want a lot more than 4/$60. Once we start getting into bigger contract ranges he becomes a far less appealing option.

Damon, on the other hand, would jump at 3/$39. He is already 35 and does not hit outside of Yankee Stadium. His defense is not going to get better. The Yankees are not going to take him for more than two years.

As for Rivera, he was the Cy Young runner up in 2005 (1.38 ERA, 307 ERA+, 43 saves) and came in third in 1996, 1999, and 2004. He gets his due, although I would never give the Cy Young to a closer unless no starter in the league had a dominant season. Colon undeservedly won the Cy Young that year - it should have gone to Johan (2.87 ERA, 231 IP).

Anonymous said...

They need to sign Matt Holliday right now. The 3 4 5 of tex a-rod holliday would be the best of all time. Pitchers will run scared.

Rich Mahogany said...

The Cardinals reportedly offered Holliday 8/$128. The Yankees won't top that. Holliday is a great player but eight years is too many.

Fred Trigger said...

I completely agree with rich's 4th paragrapsh. Damn, it looks like I created a monster in this thread. LONG LIVE BAY!!!!

Fernando Alejandro said...

Damon for two years and definetely not for much more than what Abreu got. I think with the club option buyout, Abreu's deal works out to 2 years at $19 million. If the Yankees want to make it an even $20 million for two years, so at least Boras can say he got more for Damon than what Abreu got, then I would feel fine with that. Anything more than this would be too costly for the kind of player Damon is. Derosa's my second choice, and I think we could sign him cheap. With Derosa, Swisher becomes the number 2 in my opinion.

Jon Roberts said...

I agree that Cano doesn't walk enough to be at the top of the order, but I can't help thinking about 400 hits from those two spots.

I don't think much of Bay. I think some one is going to over pay him, but not like Holliday if the Cardinals really are that dumb. What about Damon with a vesting option? If he is healthy he's a good number two hitter.

I would hit Swisher second. Cano, Swisher, Granderson in a row could help a strike out pitcher get on a roll in a big way if they are together in the lineup.

SA Yankee fan said...

I don't think Bay is the Answer, Holliday would be terrific but sadly, I don't think the Yanks are going to beat the Cardinals offer.

I think Damon will eventually resign at around the 2@20mil mark being offered now.

If he walks, I'd be a little depressed but personally, I'd not sign anyone else this year and go internal. move Swisher up the order and bat him 2, leave Cabrera in left and see what happens in July or next off season (can anyone say Carl Crawford)

Rich Mahogany said...

2/$20 for Damon makes perfect sense. If Damon and Boras won't take it, say goodbye, sign Nick Johnson to DH, and play Melky and Gardner in left. The improvement we get in CF from Granderson and Melky/Gardner's better defense in LF will soften the blow from losing Damon.

And like SA Yankee Fan wrote, the upside to letting Damon walk is it keeps our LF options open. LF is generally an easy position to fill. That's why it's so important to avoid signing Damon for more than 2 years when he is entering his late 30s and has very little defensive value.