Whodathunk Godzilla would be taken out, not be Mothra, King Kong, or some other mutated monstrosity, but by balky knees? Joe Girardi said today that Matsui can only pinch hit for the time-being, according to this article from the AP.
Is Matsui done?
Tough to say. He’s only 34, but has played a LOT of games. The man played over 1700 straight games, after all. There are a lot of miles on that body. Matsui missed most of 2006 because of a wrist injury, but he bounced back to play 143 games in 2007. In June of 2008, however, his knees started to bark, and he’s really never been the same since. Hideki played only 93 games that year and underwent knee surgery to fix the problem after the end of the seaseon. Knee problems are notoriously tricky and it seems like a bad sign that he’s experiencing trouble soo soon after the beginning of the season.
So the Yankees have gone from having an embarassment of riches in the OF/DH department to fielding a lineup where Melky Cabrera is suddenly a regular starter. How did this happen? There are still some decent free agent bats available, as Moshe’s article, here, details, but I suspect the Yanks will give Melky a shot at regular duty.
The Melkman is coming off of a successful Spring with +.300 average, and a game today where he smashed his first homer of the year. The Nady news is not conclusive yet, so he might even be back, and, though it seems like forever since Matsui was himself, I’m sure Girardi would love to have him back in the fold. Austin Jackson is also tearing up AAA pitching, so if worst came to worst, they could give the kid a shot. I think that Cash secretly relishes the opportunity to raise Melky’s trade value, so I don’t think he’s in any huge hurry to pick up an Edmonds or Pena type. I think Melky gets every opportunity to show that he’s got major league ability before Cash pulls the trigger on anything, though if Oakland begins panicking about their finances, Holliday could possibly look too good to resist. What do you guys think Cash should do?
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9 Responses to Matsui's Knees
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TIQ IQ
Yeah, I think this is a big issue, and I’m going to post on it over the next few days, in terms of possible replacements. Now that an everyday job may open up, might A-Jax make sense?
A-Jax needs at least a half a season in the minors to prove that he’s not simply on a hot streak. I think Melky is going to be the starter here for awhile (at least until A-Rod comes back).
Matt Holliday is a great thought but we’d better wait around until he proves that he can hit outside of Coors Field. At that point, why not just wait until we can sign him straight out and keep our guys.
If we make a move, I’d like to buy a Swisher-type move where we get a guy whose price isn’t inflated by his image. Unfortunately, Carl Crawford is in our division as he’d be an ideal trade target. I’d say our best bet trade-wise would be to give the Cardinals a call and see what Rick Ankiel is looking like.
Agreed. Ankiel definitely looks like the most attractive option, if you have to make a move. The Cards don’t want to pay him next year and they’ve got a bunch of OF guys to replace him with. He may still have some upside despite his age.
Ankiel stinks! Going after him is a terrible idea. The guy can’t hit left handed pitching at all and would make the Yankees very susceptible to left handed pitching.
Now going after Ryan Spilborghs of the Rockies would be a much better choice and he could become available with the emergence of Dexter Fowler.
I think there are several options to fill the roster spot, but I think one thing is certain: he should be put on the DL. With his kness the way they are, it’s obvious he can’t even hit, and that was the only reason he was on the 25 man to start.
I agree, at least give Girardi the option to put somebody out there besides Melky once in awhile. I’d rather have Shelley Duncan on the bench at this point so we at least have a pinch hitter against lefties and use Miranda against righties. A bench of Pena, Molina, Miranda and Shelley is fine seeing how the DH spot is now open. Let Miranda DH righties, Shelley against lefties and Melky to allow the outfielders to rest every now and then.
I would promote Austin Jackson and put Johnny damon into the DH position have you seen his defensive lately his best days as far as fielding is way behind him. This move would inject youth, great defense and begin to match the Rays kind of defense and speed. This would be bold yet would be similar it Cashman’s move when he brought up Melky and Cano
Will, we’re in the minority on that one, but I agree. I like promoting young hitters quickly and young arms slowly.
If you bring up Austin Jackson then Melky can be traded ASAP. Melky is a poor outfielder and needs to go. Just today on the ball hit into the gap that Gardner ended up dropping Melky was in the wrong position. He should have been backing up Gardner and not running at him which I believe led the Brett lunging at the last minute instead of running through to make the catch. Melky has done this twice before today which likely caused Gardner’s hesitation. Melky has to the let the center fielder lead when playing a corner but can’t seem to do that.