Angels in “serious discussions” with Hideki Matsui
December 14, 2009, 2:38 pm by iYankees · 24 Comments
According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Angels are in “serious discussions” with free agent and former Yankee, Hideki Matsui. If the Angels sign Matsui, he will ultimately assume the role once had by Vladimir Guerrero as the team’s designated hitter (Guerrero is currently a free agent, as well). A week ago, Mike DiGiovanni noted that Angels GM Tony Reagins expressed an interest in Matsui, although Ken Davidoff recently reported that the Yankees and Matsui were likely to reunite later this winter, which doesn’t appear to be the case anymore (if Starks’ report is accurate).
With Boston close to signing John Lackey, Godzilla to the Angels would be a double whammy for Yankee fans.
UPDATE (2:42 pm) — Buster Olney tweets that the Angels’ deal for Matsui would be about $6.5M. What, the Yankees can’t afford that? That seems like a bargain to me. Sure, Brian Cashman has stated that finding a DH is one of his last priorities, but still, they would be losing one of their best hitters and clubhouse personalities for a measly $6.5M.
UPDATE (3:16 pm) — Joel Sherman says that the Yankees told Hideki Matsui that they couldn’t do anything until they exhausted their “SP/Damon issues, but Matsui wanted a quicker resolution” (hence the Angels). Ah, so in a way, Johnny Damon and Scott Boras’ stubbornness might cost us Hideki Matsui. Nice.
DONE DEAL (6:15 pm) – Marc Carig reports that the Angels and Matsui have agreed to a deal. No word yet on the contract’s details.
Photo by Reuters
time for damon to decide.
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Time for Damon to go away and let us sign Matsui… Although, if The Yankees had any real interest in him to DH it seems like they would have offered him a deal already. What if they don’t want Matsui and can’t reach a deal with Damon (We can only hope) what happens then? Who do they go after for the DH position? Thome? Vlad? Branyan? None of these guys are more appealing than Matsui to be honest… I wouldn’t have a problem with bringing in Thome as the DH because with the power he still has he would hit over 40 HRs in Yankee stadium and he could hit 5th behind Alex and his Ks wouldn’t kill us, and he does walk.
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“…Ah, so in a way, Johnny Damon and Scott Boras’ stubbornness might cost us Hideki Matsui. Nice….”
“Ah, so” ???…was that necessary in an article about Matsui ??
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Maybe, maybe not. Since I was quoting Joel Sherman who had noted that the Yankees were unwilling to sign Matsui because their Damon situation was left unresolved, I think it was alright to say. Damon likely won’t receive anything close to what he’s seeking and if, in the end, he accepts a 2-year deal from the Yankees for $18-20M, he’ll have wasted the team’s time since he could have allowed them to pursue other options earlier.
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I really can’t see them letting the Angels take Matsui because Damon is an idiot and asking for to much money, they must really not have wanted to bring Matsui back for anything. Maybe they have other players they like better than Matsui but just not for the DH position. I really think we are making a mistake if we go into the season with the team we have right now.
Jeter, SS
Granderson, CF
Tex, 1B
Arod, 3B
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Melky, LF
Miranda, DH
Sabathia
Burnett
Pettitte
Joba
Hughes
Rivera
Marte
Robertson
Aceves
Gaudin
Dunn
Melancon
It’s an alright team but it’s also a team that has at least 1 hole in every aspect of the game, maybe that team would have competed last year but this year everyone else is improving and we need to keep up.
Right now though the only free agents I would be interested in bringing in for starting jobs are Cameron, Sheets, Holliday, Valverde Gonzlaez and Thome no one else is really worth bringing in and plugging in at LF, DH SP or SU which really shows you how bad this free agent class really is. The Yankees are really going to have to figure out how to wisely spread the funds around to fill some holes and remain under whatever number they are shooting for in payroll.
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Pisses me the hell off. I hope Damon’s ass languishes in San Francisco for $5 Mil per year for the last four years of his career for this.
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“Bad” day for the Yankees…
1. Cashman caught sleeping as Red Sox add Lackey, and now have the best/deepest rotation in baseball….
2. Halladay slips past and goes to the Phillies….
3. Matsui on verge of signing with teh Angels…and Damon now has better position in negotiations
Cashman now has to sign Sheets/Duchsherer/Marquis/Pineiro to strengthen the rotation…Now has to pay Damon 11-12 million for two years and possibly offer a third year OR sign Holliday instead.
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Well I really can’t agree with your assessment of the day!
1. Cashman didn’t want Lackey because adding another glorified number 2 starter for more than AJ is going to make is stupid and gives you no rotation flexibility at all for the next 5 years.
2. Cashman was never going to trade for Halladay because why would you trade for Halladay when they needed all those prospects to get the deal done. In the end the Jays had to do a 3 team deal to get what they wanted.
3. Matsui on the verge of signing with the Angels isn’t great but giving in to Damon would be a horrible idea! We have Melky for LF so we don’t need either Damon or Holliday and since Damon has no real power and his little power he actually has is only going to go down further to a point where even Yankee stadium won’t even give him the idea of power so he isn’t a DH. I would much rather have Jim Thome than Damon as my DH.
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I pretty much agree with …says on this one. I would probably prefer Damon as a DH over Thome, though, just because with Damon we know he can be our 2 hitter. Still, I don’t think the Yankees conceded leverage by doing nothing. If anything, the Yankees gained a ton of leverage for Matt Holliday.
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We don’t need a 2 hitter with Granderson… Especially when you consider Damon as a DH has little to no real power and it is steady dropping.
Jeter, SS
Granderson, CF
Tex, 1B
Arod, 3B
Thome, DH
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Melky, LF
Thome with the White Sox last year before being traded to the Dodgers hit .249/.372/.493/.865 with 23 HRs and 69 BBs in 345 ABs.
In 2008 his last full season as a DH Thome hit .245/.362/.503/.865 with 34 HRs and 91 BBs… He fits into the walk a lot and hit for power strategy of the Yankees and his bat in Yankee stadium will give him an extra 6 HRs easy. If he could be had on a cheap 1 year deal and DH behind Arod for 1 year I say it’s a much better deal than getting Damon for 2+ years.
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Granderson isn’t an ideal 2 hitter.
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Cano is an ideal 2 hitter but Granderson has been a leadoff hitter his whole career you really don’t think he can handle the 2 spot?
The Yankees didn’t trade for the guy to hit 8th in the lineup and at this point Granderson is a much better 2 hole hitter than Johnny Damon on a 2 year deal. The man can’t play the outfield and his bat has been diminishing over the past 3 years.
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Thome over Damon ???…we lose Matsui AND Damon, and you want to put Thome, who can’t play the field either, in this lineup ??…You talk about rotation flexibility but signing Thome gives you NO roster flexibility…who bats second behind Jeter ??…Damon’s swing is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, plus he’s a perfect #2 batter in this lineup….Getting Lackey would have given the Yankees the FOUR starters thet need in the postseason…Now, Hughes and Joba better produce as starters and not give the Yankees the same output as Hughes/Kennedy did in 2008…Yankees now need to take a flyer on Sheets, or Duchsherer or Bedard, because the Red Sox now have the best rotation in MLB.
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Granderson was always going to hit 2nd in the lineup The Yankee brass have even said so in reports at the meetings.
Do people no understand that the statement “Damon’s bat is tailor made for the stadium” isn’t a compliment it is a reason not to sign him!
Why would you want someone who can hit with no power on the road and his success as a DH is completely reliant on a stadium you play half of you games at? Damon also hit 24 HRs last year and that was a career high there is no way he reaches that number again and if he can’t hit even 24 HRs then what good is he at DH?
Damon provides as much flexibility as Thome does but at least Thome has the decency to admit what he is and realize that he can’t play the field unlike Damon who thinks he is a gold glove outfielder even though he is one of the worst in the league.
If you look at Curtis Granderson’s numbers from 2008 they are almost identical to Damon’s numbers in 2009 and Granderson was a leadoff hitter in 2008 so I think he can more than duplicate and surpass Damon’s numbers in the 2 hole while actually playing good defense in a harder position.
Getting Lackey would have given you FOUR starters but they would have also been 4 overpaid starters! Sabathia is only going to start getting pay raises now that he is past the first year of his contract and there is no reason to bring in Lackey on a deal bigger than Burnett’s just to stop the Red Sox from getting him. The Red Sox aren’t even going to do that by signing Lackey this is the last year for Beckett with the Sox so they aren’t even going to sign 2 overpaid starters for the 2 and 3 hole in their rotation either.
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Damon is a better #2 batter than Granderson..the stats prove that. Damon is a btter situational hitter with a high OBP…Granderson strikes out too much, and is better suited lower in the lineup.
“…Getting Lackey would have given you FOUR starters but they would have also been 4 overpaid starters…”
WHO CARES ??..YOU are not paying them !! Beckett will be signed by Boston, he’s not going anywhere. Right now the Sox are favorites to win it all, at least in the AL, based on depth and quality of their rotation.
Boston: Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Dice-K, Wakefield, and Buchholz is FAR better than CC, AJ, Andy, Hughes, Joba and Gaudin…The Yankees have not improved their rotation, they just got it back to where it was, but we still need that solid fourth starter. Let’s see if Hughes and/or Joba become that guy, or is it 2008 (Hughes/Kennedy) all over again.
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Beckett will be re-sign by the Sox? When did you become his agent? Everything I have heard and my won reaction to the signing of Lackey says goodbye to Beckett after this year!
No I am not paying them but it does matter! You can’t just fill a team up with long term high paying contracts and expect to compete at the end of those deals because you will have a bunch of overpaid declining players with no way to get rid of them or add new talent.
There is no way the Red Sox are going to pay Lackey 16+ million a year to be the number 3 starter and pay Beckett 17-19 million to be there number 2 pitcher it just doesn’t financially fit.
I don’t deny we need to add a starter but I have had a feeling Cashman sees Sheets as that guy all along… He comes with some risk but once they get the numbers sorted out (no way anyone guarantees him 10 million) then he would be a more than solid number 4 in the rotation.
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UPDATE ABOVE — According to Marc Carig, the deal is done. Matsui is an Angel.
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With Matsui off the market it might be smarter to try and sign a position player instead of a DH and try to get someone like Mike Cameron for LF and move Melky over to RF and Swisher moves to DH. I would much rather Swisher be my DH than Damon and if you do that you can afford to bring in Xavier Nady or someone as a 4th outfielder and someone who can split the the RF duties with Melky and Swisher and it would allow you to trade Gardner for a pitcher like Thornton.
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Damon is a far better offense player than Swisher…Granderson is not as good a #2 guy that Damon is…too many strikes out for a #2 hitter..He’s better suited in the lower third of the lineup.
BUT we are all forgetting the fact that the Red Sox have improved their rotation in quality and depth, and the Yankees have not…we better sign Sheets or Duckhsherer or Bedard to add depth, because if Hughes or Joba do not prove they are starters, then Chad Gaudin is our fifth guy. And if CC, AJ, or Andy get hurt, the Yankees will be scrambling for pitchers.
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Damon is a better offensive player than Swisher?
498 ABs .371/.498/.869 with 29 HRs, 155 H, 35 2B, 71 BBs
550 ABs .365/.489/.854 with 24 HRs, 124 H, 36 2B, 97 BBs
I would say by those numbers Swisher was a much better offensive player than Damon last year and since Swisher can actually play average to above average defense he is the overall better player as well and when you consider who is the better DH candidate it’s Swisher as well!
Here’s a hint just because someone has a higher batting average doesn’t make them the better player.
Damon is also 37 and has a declining bat with declining HRs and he gets injured at the end of every year and it slumps his production! The guy didn’t even show up in the playoffs until the very end and next year he won’t hit 24 HRs making him useless as a DH!
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I really want to hear the statistical argument for Damon being a “far better offensive player than Swisher”…!
The only category that Damon has Swisher in is strikeouts and it’s only by 28 and if you want to use that logic then Swisher walked 26 more times than Damon and Swisher had a higher OBP, SLG and OPS with more HRs and more legitimate power.
Swisher hit 21 of his HRs on the road and only 8 at home while Damon hit 17 at home and 7 on the road, had Swisher actually adjusted to the stadium earlier he would have had well over 30 HRs for the year.
Defensively, offensively there is no argument that can be made that says that the 37 year old Damon is better than the 29 year old Swisher.
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Reverse the hits in those stat lines…
Swisher- 498 ABs .371/.498/.869 with 29 HRs, 124 H, 35 2B, 71 BBs
Damon- 550 ABs .365/.489/.854 with 24 HRs, 155 H, 36 2B, 97 BBs
That is how it should read… but even so as you can tell Swisher has 1 less double and 5 more HRs in 52 less ABs… I am pretty sure Swisher would have gotten at least 1 more double in 52 more ABs and he would have been over 30 HRs and 100 walks as well with those extra 52 ABs.
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Switch those walks in both those stat lines as well…
Man, minor details are driving me crazy today!!
Swisher- 498 ABs .371/.498/.869 with 29 HRs, 124 H, 35 2B, 97 BBs
Damon- 550 ABs .365/.489/.854 with 24 HRs, 155 H, 36 2B, 71 BBs
There! Finally the correct numbers!
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