At 35, Yankee Left Fielder Johnny Damon is having one of his best seasons, posting a line of .289/.370/.532 with 22 HRs and 67 RBIs. His OPS stands at .902, good for #2 among AL Left Fielders for this season, trailing only Boston’s Jason Bay. At his current pace, he should easily finish the year with 30+ HRs and 90 RBIs out of the #2 spot in the lineup, which is almost unheard of production for most teams. Johnny Damon is making a strong case for another contract, but should the Yanks sign him?
Based on his production the easy answer is yes. As long as its a short term deal, given his age. But these decisions are never that simple.
First problem is his defense, which has been just short of ATROCIOUS! this year. If you plan on making him a full or part time DH next year, that takes turns at DH away from Posada (38) Alex (35) Jeter (36) and occasionally Tex. If Jorge DHs 2-3 times a week (good idea) and A-Rod and Jeter once a week, that doesn’t leave much time for Damon to play. Girardi has often made it clear he would like to have DH open to rotate some of his aging players through, which also serves to give his younger bench players (who are often better defensively than his starters) some playing time and keeps them sharp. DHing the older guys gives them half a day off and helps keep them fresh through the long season. Signing a full time DH means that’s not happening, and we’ve seen how Alex has struggled this year when he’s not getting regular time off. So you could argue that the production you gain with Johnny at DH full time lowers production in other areas.
Payroll implications will not be an issue for the Yankee LF, whoever it is. The Yanks have 26 mil coming off the books between Damon and Matsui, so even if they were to go out and sign a Matt Holiday (unlikely) or Jason Bay for the 15+ they will likely command, they would still be lowering payroll.
The final consideration is Austin Jackson. If the Yanks believe he will be ready to be even a part time player in 2010, then you have an outfield rotation of Swisher, Melky, Gardner and A-Jax. That’s the best defensive group we’ve had in decades, but could be lacking in pop. But with the way the new stadium is playing, power is the least of our concerns. Also, Melky has shown decent power this year, certainly enough for an everyday LF on a good team and at 25 may just be entering his prime production years. I could also see them bringing back Eric Hinske, who has fit in well here and shown good power coming off the bench. But its Melky’s 2009 season that really makes Damon expendable.
I love Johnny, but I don’t think he’s a fit for 2010.
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As good as Johnny’s been this year, it will be something of a relief for me to get out from under all these aging DH types that we’ve had on the team for the past few years. Sheffield, Giambi, Matsui and Damon were all good hitters, but with our pitching we don’t need to bludgeon teams to death like we used to, and those teams all went to sleep come October. I could see having one DH type on the team, but he’d have to hit a ton to make sense.
I don’t agree that you let a guy like Johnny Damon go. I agree that his fielding is poor, but I think that his bat and his veteran leadership are key to this current Yankee teams success. I would sign him to a one year deal with an player option for ’11. You can then bring up AJAX and work him in slowly in center.
A player option? Are you serious? If you were going to sign him to aone year deal with an option it would be a team option… of course he will take a player option to stay on a team he like for 15+ Million, and what if he doesn’t do well next year and hits .260 with 20 HRs and he takes the options and gets even worse? what then?
Yeah, a player option is almost as good as a 2 year deal, unless the economy ROARS back. And you can’t find an economist anywhere who thinks we will have a strong recovery. Most see some degree of malaise for many years.
Yeah any player who would turn down a decent player option in this economy is retarded… No one thinks Manny is turning down his 20 million and Damon definitely wouldn’t turn down any option especially at the age of 37+.
I’d bring him back for a year or 2 at the most. Have him DH on most nights and play some outfield. Split time between A Jax and Swisher. Have Melky and Gardner split time. Let Matsui walk. Avoid the big name free agent market. Its not worth what the cost will be.
This. I think letting him go is a bad idea- Melky does not hit enough to be a regular in LF, and I hate the options on the FA market. Bring him back, and let him play half his gamesin LF and half as DH. I hate the idea of an open DH spot- it means that someone likePena or Cervelli is playing every single day. I really do not get how bringing Johnny back can hurt. This is the same as the idea that Matsui was not a fit on the 2009 team. I disagreed with that, and Damon is more versatile than Hideki.
Let me add that AJAX does nit seem ready, and losing the offense fromDamon and Matsui would be huge. Two good lefty bats in NYS.
YOur going to go out and sign one player at least but why would you re sign either Matsui or Damon who are both old, can’t play defense and there offense is only going to get worse.
WHich players? The free agent market is not great. i would sign Damon for one or max two years, and worst case he can DH.
You can get Chone Figgens this off season have him play LF and lead off moving Jeter back to the two hole, and you can’t tell me with him leading off and Gardner and Melky 9 we can’t steal some bases and be a different type of team.
Carl Crawford ia the man we should be aiming at, Carl Crawford. Good bat, defense, speed. Trade for him this winter or wait a year and get him In the next offseason. Damon could serve well as a stopgag, but I doubt that Scott Boras is going to settle for 1 year with him.
They won’t trade him to NY. And regarding Damon, I could see him taking a lesser deal than you expect, ala Abreu or Burrell.
What would cause the Rays to go crazy and trade Crawford not only in divison but to the team currently leading the division? Hey lets go ahead and trade Damon and Matsui for Crawford and BJ Upton, sounds goos and they probably won’t care haha.
That 10 mil option is unlikely to get picked up. In the current FA market, it’s doubtful he’d get that much, and is therefore untradeable at that price tag. He’s overpaid, so there’s no residual value to give up talent for.
So why would they trade him to the Yankees? They wouldn’t! They will keep him one more year and try to win with him and they would be criticized forever for trading him… besides I don’t want to trade Jesus Montero or Hughes/Chamberlain for him and you know that’s what it would take to trade in division.
No, they will simply let him walk after the season, and we could sign him as a FA if we chose to do so. I’m not totally sure about him, his game depends heavily on his legs and 29 year old guys don’t get any faster as they age.
I like him, but don’t love him as an option. I’d offer him a contract, but he’s the type player someone would outbid me on if I was GM.
I think they will keep him one more year to try and get a trade out of him if they aren’t winning and if they are winning they keep there core together one more year. Rays fans will not accept just going back to the basement of the AL East.
Crazy, the guy has done nothing but rake for us, he gets why defensive rotations are necessary, consistently comes up big in the clutch, and busts his ass everyday all while being a leader and a clubhouse presence everyone raves about. His swing is built for the stadium, and its possible he may trend toward being even more of a power hitter in the next two years at least, I think his fielding issues have been mostly about confidence, just an off year from the beginning rather than ability, and he has been considerably better the last month or so as far as bad plays. I hate the other lf options in comparison beyond crawford who we won’t get, this team would be nuts to just let him walk away…for some reason we have always as yankee fans taken his consistency and production for granted. PS. Moshe is a genius. That is all.
Not sure if liking Damon makes me a genius, but I’ll pocket the compliment, thanks. I totally agree- he is just such a good fit on this team and in this Stadium. Instead of letting both our DH and our LF walk, we bring back Damon, have him split between the two roles, and fill in the rest of the time with Melky/Jackson and with some vets DHing.
Let Damon and Matsui go and just sign either Holliday or Bay either of whom can play better defense and put up similar numbers while hitting in the 5 hole and protecting Alex Rodriguez (which is the one thing we are missing this year).
No, Bay cannot field better, he is just as atrocious as Damon out there, and both guys will want long term deals. I would prefer a one year deal with Damon and then go for Crawford the next year.
Bay can at least catch the ball, Damon hasn’t proved he can do that… Bay has no range but he can catch catchable balls that make Damon look bad.
I don’t see how you can say that we should not bring Damon back, but not suggest a replacement from outside the organization. You can’t let Damon go and expect the players you mentioned to make up for Damon’s offense. My first preference is Matt Holliday because he is still young and he is a very good defensive player. I would go 5 years and 80 mill for Holliday. The second option for me would be to sign Damon a 1 or 2 year contract.
With this park I actually see Holliday being the main target this off season (next off season is terrible for free agents) and if Matt doesn’t work out I think the back up plan is a slightly less expensive contract to Bay. Bay makes sense as an AJ Burnett signing, get them with us before they beat us kind of thing.
I doubt it. Cash was able to convince Hal about Tex because he said that they didn’t like the upcoming free agent market. I think they go short term on Damon, or maybe Mike Cameron.
Next years off season is even worse so they won’t sign anyone then, one move can be maid this year especially with the money we save on Damon and Matsui.
What? It HAS to be from outside the organization? Since when?
We have very little position players in our minor league system… Besides Austin Jackson we don’t have one guy who could be called up play a position we need and contribute with a bat so I would say for that reason we would need to sign an outfielder. Unless you are fine with Melky in LF Gardner in CF and Swisher in RF with Jackson being the back up to all those positions and Hinske the fill in guy. I for one don’t think that is enough production, especially if one falls into a huge drought with the bat… if Austin had any type of big league experience it would make it easier, but if he can’t hit and Melky falls off (I don’t think that will happen) and Gardner hit .260 and Swisher .240 we have really nothing in the outfield.
First, I am comfortable with that OF, which would be on par with the Rays defensively and would be fine offensively. I like adding in Hinske here and there for some added pop.
Next, Swisher’s OPS has hovered around .900 most of the season and currently sits at .846 despite his recent slump. He’s fine for an everyday RF.
You end up getting what 20 some home runs from Swisher, maybe one from Gardner and 18 or so from Melky with Austin getting maybe 4 with limited playing time. I don’t see the production coming from average either as Jackson will be learning the major league pitching game and Swisher will hit .240 while Gardner will be able to crack .270 but I don’t think he will go much above that and Melky will sit around .280 or so on good years a little higher. If Swisher or Melky gets hurt you have almost no offensive production from your outfield, and with BJ Upton more than underachieving this year… I don’t think we should be shooting for the Rays outfield production when they can’t even get out of 3rd in the division. We need an upgrade in t least one of the corner outfield spots losing Damon.
Damon’s defense is so bad this year, I think it has to be due to leg problems or some other form of injury (nagging, but no serious). Also, before signing Jason Bay, I would just bring Damon back and rotate him with Brett Gardner (Garder serves as a defensive backup). Jason Bay is almost as bad as Damon is in the OF, so there’s really no point in adding him to replace Damon (and Damon’s offense has been better this year).
But Bay protects Rodriguez in the 5 hole which we have no one doing and Jason’s offense this year isn’t the best he has ever had. Why does everyone just assume Johnny will have a once in his career year not only once but two back to back years?
I completely agree with Steve. With this ballpark we can get away with someone like melky in lf. And like he said, he is just now starting to enter his prime years. Take a look back at Bernie’s stats. He didnt hit for much power in the beginning either. In no way am I comparing the two players except that I wouldnt be surprised to see Cabrera add on some more hrs to justify him as a starting LF, especially with his defense and arm. Will we be losing a bat? Absolutely. But the more defense we can get out on the field the better. I hate having DH type guys playing everyday in the field. Defense is constantly being overlooked for HRs. I would love to see Posada play half the season as a DH and the other half behind the plate. Arod and Jeter can get days off with the DH.
Posada’s value is as a catcher. You make him a DH, he’s fine but not nearly as valuable.
If you are going to mention the park, then I say the park makes it more likely you need to keep Damon. He’s the perfect fit for this stadium. He’d be a great part time DH/part time outfielder.
I disagree with saying people only have value at certain spots. I understand the argument being made. There are not a lot of catchers that can hit the way Posada can but there are lots of 1st basemen or DHs or OFs that can. I just feel that eventually all the time he spends behind the plate will take its toll on him and he wont be able to physically catch the amount of games a full time catcher needs to play in. Not to mention his ability to throw out base runners and his ability to call a game have not been as strong as Molina and Cerevilli. I think defense is constantly getting overlooked. This isnt just a fantasy roster. Players need to hold up their end on that side of the field as well. With this ballpark and guys like Arod, Tex, Cano, Posada(even at DH), and Jeter I think we can afford to have certain positions like CF and Catcher be all about defense. Damon has been unbelievably bad in the OF this year. We cant afford to have him be the full time LF next year in my opinion and I wouldnt feel comfortable having him hold up the DH spot the whole year
By putting Posada’s bat at DH, you are replacing Damon or Matsui’s offense with Molina or Cervelli. That is a huge dropoff. You cannot just decide to give away outs by putting a weak hitter out there every day. The reason we are ahead of Boston is because the Red Sox are doing just that very thing. Championship teams get offense from traditionally defensive positions. That’s one of the things that sets them apart.
Disagree. The reason that we havent been successful in the playoffs the past 4 or 5 years is because we have had no defense and inconsistent pitching. When the bats disappear in the playoffs and its 3-2 type of games defense comes up HUGE. Guys like Matsui, Damon, Posada, Sheff, Giambi, Abreu, etc give back whatever advantage they have at the plate when they are in the field. If you have one or two bad defenders that mash the ball fine. But too many years lately there have been more than one or two positions that cant play defense. We are finally back on the right track. Lets not fall back into the trap of having too many past their prime no defense players.
Too many? We are talking about having 1, on a 1 or 2 year deal. Under this plan, the everyday lineup would frequently have Gardner, Cabrera, and Cervelli in it. That is a big drop off. And this statement:
is not true, at least about Damon. He gives some back, but not all. Betting on Melky to become a solid starting LF when we were previously crossing our fingers that he could play CF is hoping for too much.
Oh, and under your plan, who DH’s the rest of the games? Why not have Damon play 80 in LF and DH 70, Posada catch 80 and DH 60, A-Rod DH 20, and Jeter DH 10? That fit with your plan, and it lets us keep the good offense.
I’ll give you the pitching. But know this. Every single Yankees championship team has plus production from defensive positions. In the 20s and 30s, Dickey and Lazzeri. Later DiMaaggio and Gordon. Later, Mantle and Berra. Then Mantle and Elston Howard. In the 70s, Thurman Munson and Mickey Rivers. The last batch had Bernie Williams, Posada, Jeter and Knoblauch. Its a vital aspect of championship teams.
Um, Damon does play left for us now no? I dont think he will play any worse defense than he has this year…and the albatross that is his play has really dragged down this terrible Yankee team we are currently fielding. He’s not gonna hurt us, not in 1-2 years anyway.
His D will only get worse as his arm gets weaker and as his range slowly deteriorates! If he doesn’t hit 30 HRs next year (which he has never done besides this year) then his D will greatly affect us… He personally lost the game against the Marlins a few months ago dropping a ball with RISP causing runs to score and dropped another ball with two outs that allowed a run to score. His D is not worth risking that his bat will drop off.
So you prefer 5 years to Holliday or 4 to Bay at a high price? That is the cost.
For Holliday? yes, he could play a good LF for that time period and hit well in the 5 hole protecting Arod. Also you don’t have a crystal ball so you can’t say Bay wouldn’t sign for 3 years and a club option for the 4th can you?
People often forget that with this rotating DH idea, a bench player essentially becomes an everyday player (or the bench in general gets a significant increase in plate appearances). If the Yankees want to release Damon or Matsui, for example, next year so that they can rotate players through the DH slot, it’ll be dependent upon their bench. They’ll need a bench that’s as good as this year’s bench in order to do that.
You have to sign someone to take over and Holliday makes sense but he may cost to much but if you sign Jason Bay it allows you to put Jason in the 5 hole protecting Arod and you can moe Robisnon Cano to the two hole (which I think is his best hitting spot) where he can be on base to be driven in and he won’t come up with the bases loaded a lot, so you take advantage of his high batting average but don’t suffer for his lack of hitting with RISP.
Oh absolutely, but you can also argue that you’ll get more out of your bench guys by playing them regularly. If they sit on the bench for a month, don’t be shocked when they go 0-16 when somebody’s banged up.
I also think its good for a team, to keep everyone involved and everyone contributing. No guys bitching about lack of playing time, having a bad attitude. Baseball players tend to get into trouble when they feel pressure to perform, when everyone is contributing you feel like the next guy has your back. Helps players relax, and that’s always a good thing.
Girardi does a good job with his bench though, he always seems to get Hinske at bats even against lefties and he seems to find ways to have everyone involved in the game with out huge lay offs in between to affect there performance. He treats the bench a lot like the bull pen and allows everyone to feel like they are apart of the Yankee organization, in fact I think he is underrated in that area of managing.
Agreed. Reminds me a lot of Bobby V, who I always liked and thought got a LOT out of some very mediocre Mets teams.
bring him back for a year plus a 2011 club option. deal around 20-25 million. damon in right, gardner in center, jackson in left, swisher dh, melky on the bench. then decline 2011 option and sign carl crawfrod to a multi-year deal.
Damon in right? That has to be a joke. He can’t throw. Damon DH/LF, Garnder/Melky CF-and all positions, Swisher/Jackson RF
Gardner only plays CF…his LF and RF numbers are (almost) like Johnnys. He would have to play all three positions in winter and spring ball to get up to par.
He has played a little in the minors but, not much…besides, he doesn’t have a RF arm.
Go leave this blog and never come back!! Damon in right? You just forfeited your opinion!
Chone Figgins is available and can play a bunch of positions for this team while leading off and stealing bases. Also Rick Ankiel is available this off season and can play any of the 3 outfield positions and has a bat worthy of the line up, Jason Bay is only 31 compared to Johnny’s 36 and Holliday is an above average defender in left who could probably play RF for us too. Ankiel, Holliday, Figgins and Bay all add something that Damon can’t and are also better for the next 3 to 5 years on the defensive end and can add just as much offense or more over that time.
Ankiel has had a terrible year, and he is not close to the player Damon is, IMO. Figgins would be interesting, but he has not played outfield since 2006, and he never really played much LF. But that might be another interesting option, although he really hits for no power.
Power? Do you really think this team in this stadium needs power? The guy can hit .300+ and steal 45+ bases a year, can you imagine having Chone leading off stealing bases and when Gardner plays center and hits 9 stealing bases, imagine the double steal possibilities… Not to mention the fact that Chone can play 3B and SS and 2B so if someone goes down or needs rest Figgins always has a place to play. Ankile has struggled this year true, but he is still better than a lot defensively in the outfield, he can play every position in OF which really helps us out because Gardner should get some time in LF and CF Austin Jackson should get some time at all 3 positions and same with Melky. It would allow you to have 3 outfielders who could play all 3 positions at least a little and a 4th outfielder who can play 2 of the 3. Now on the offensive side Ankiel is a left handed bat who has proved to have some pop in his bat you don’t think this stadium would help him out? Ankiel, Figgins and Holliday are all good options with an upgrade in defense over Damon and Bay is younger and has more pure power than Damon does, so in some ways they are all an upgrade. Not to mention if Damon falters and doesn’t have the same offensive season he is having next year and his defense gets even a little worse is it worth it to keep a guy hitting .270 with no D and no arm? Damon allows so many singles to be doubles and allows to many runners to advance to 3rd base, he has the ability to lose a game based on his D every time out.