Dropping Damon and Matsui
November 7, 2009, 6:00 pm by iYankees · 12 Comments
In his latest, Tim Kurkjian (via MLBTR) speculates that the Yankees could let Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui walk this winter rather than bring one of the two back for 2010. To replace their production, Kurkjian believes that the Yankees will consider free agents, including Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. However, despite Kurkjian’s claim, it seems a lot easier for the Yankees to bring back Damon or Matsui—they basically know what they’re getting from either player—and then sign a free agent to flesh out the lineup. Bay and Holliday are at the top of the free agent list, although there are other alternatives out there that are a lot cheaper and still very useful.
However, if the Yankees chose to pursue either Bay or Holliday, who would you rather have?
Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
The only real reason I can see to pick up Bay instead of Holliday would be to infuriate the Sox again, and they won’t care because they’ll just sign Bay and be better off. I’d take Holliday’s defense and ability to hit for average over Bay any day of the week, but that’s me.
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Totally agree barrin. Bay is a proven offensive commodity in the AL, but Holliday is a better overall player (he’s younger too). I’d take Holliday, easy.
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I would sign Cameron to a one year deal to CF since that’s likely all it takes to get him and it makes the OF defense MUCH better by going Melky/Cameron/Swisher with Gardner as the 4th OFer. Also, Cameron is a type B FA but it’s very likely the Brewers don’t offer arbitration as they won’t want to risk him accepting and being awarded $10M or more when they just traded for a CF.
I would then resign Matsui to DH again. He would likely only start 120 games or so there to make sure his knees get proper rest, and the other 40 some games could be split among Posada/ARod/Jeter when they need half-day off at DH.
I would also find a way to keep Nady around, so when he gets healthy they have insurance in case Melky/Cameron/Gardner can’t hit enough or if Matsui’s knees completely go.
I doubt Damon would actually accept a one year deal, since Abreu just got 2 years with a vesting option, but Matsui likely would because he seems to not want to play anywhere else AND no one is going to sign him to a multiyear deal due to his knees.
I would give Austin Jackson another full season at AAA as he clearly isn’t ready to be a full-time starter in the bigs (high K rate, last year’s BA too reliant on an abnormally high BABIP, power hasn’t developed yet).
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Tedbrogen is right. Cameron would be a nice addition. Sign him and then resign Matsui. I doubt Nady will take a one-year desk as a backup tho. A team like the Giants would probably offer him a one-year deal as a starter with which he could rebuild his value. I’d probably resign Hinske and keep him as insurance for Matsui, he’s a realistic option.
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I agree with ted, as well. I’d like to see the Yankees add Holliday, but, if he’s too expensive, which is likely, then signing Cameron is a good idea. The idea of losing Damon may scare some fans, however, Cameron’s defensive ability more than makes up for any perceived lack of offense (he’s still very good with the bat, actually). If Damon wants more than a year, let him go. Unless he can be had for cheap, I say, move on (even then, I’d still consider Holliday and Cameron over Damon).
Also, in terms of A-Jax, yes, he needs to stay in Triple-A.
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I am very grateful for what Damon and Matsui have done for the Yankees but it is time to let them both go. Damon, although still a threat with the bat, is a liability in left, and Matsui, as everyone knows, is a full time DH. I would take the money saved with Damon and Matsui leaving to bring in Matt Holliday, NO QUESTION. The guy is a middle of the lineup force and would anchor our weak outfield. That is a no brainer for me. Holliday would actually cost quite a bit less than Damon and Matsui made this year. Yankees are going to take flack for their payroll no matter what they do so I wouldn’t worry about the baseball world complaining.
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I would take Holliday, definitely. But, I think the Yankees should retain Matsui, as well. His bat is too valuable to lose. He proved that during the World Series. He’ll have some issues with his knees throughout the year, that’s true, however, I think it’s beneficial to have him around. If he hurts himself in 2010, then the Yankees can try their rotating DH idea full-time.
If Matsui is willing to return at $7 million in 2010, I don’t see how the Yankees can pass up on that.
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I love Damon and Matsui but my head says let both go. Matsui clogs up DH – the need to rest Jorge, Arod and yes Jeter, lends itself more to a rotating DH. I would use the $ freed up towards a pitcher (Lackey?). Would let Nady go also – pick up Cameron for one year, then go after Carl Crawford in 2011.
If they decide to keep Matsui and Damon, then they ought to package Cano and some young arms to Seattle for Fernandez.
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Matsui absolutely does NOT “clog up the DH”. He did play in 142 games last season, but only started at DH 116 times. The other 26 games he played in, he was used as a PH.
Assuming he played in the same amount of games next season, it would leave 46 games for them to rest Posada/ARod/Jeter.
In fact, he seems like a perfect DH option, as the time he needs to rest his knees can be used to rotate players through for rest, Matsui won’t be offended by only starting 2/3rds of the games, he WANTS to stay a Yankee, he is likely available on a one year deal so if they need the DH spot open in 2011 it can be, and Matsui seems to be a pretty solid PH for the games he doesn’t start at DH.
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Agreed, ted. Matsui’s balky knees actually give the Yankees a reason to keep him out of the lineup and rest other players. In my opinion, he’s the ideal DH for 2010.
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Seconded. One of my main points in the argument for keeping him follows from yours, Ted. He sat out for multiple games at a time over the course of the season, especially during interleague. He never complained, he never stopped working, and most importantly his production did not slack at all upon returning to the lineup. Like you said, he’s a great PH as well, and in the games he sits we can put in Gardy or Guzman once he reaches base. He actually gives us more flexibility than Damon in that we’re not locked into him being in the lineup every day with the only other option being a sub-par offensive replacement (and Damon’s no Matsui offensively, either). This is an opportunity to increase production from left field both offensively and defensively. If we keep Damon, we don’t get any better, and if anything we get worse because we have to use a bench player to replace whoever’s in the rotating DH spot, thus actually decreasing the strength of our lineup. Keeping Matsui at least means we get to choose if we want to weaken the lineup for defensive and resting purposes.
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Points well taken – looking at it that way I have to agree keeping Matsui has merit.
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