Quick Bits: Matsui, Lackey, Cameron, Halladay, Damon
December 15, 2009, 6:00 am by iYankees · 7 Comments
Here’s a quick rundown of yesterday’s madness (for those who may have missed it):
- Sadly, the Angels signed Hideki Matsui to a one-year deal worth $6.5M. See Keith Law’s take here.
- The Boston Red Sox strengthened their starting rotation by signing former Angels ace, John Lackey.
- The Sox also added to their defense by signing Mike Cameron for left field. See Keith Law’s take here.
- Roy Halladay was traded to the Phillies, who also sent their own ace, Cliff Lee, to the Seattle Mariners.
- With Matsui and Cameron off the board, Ken Davidoff thinks it was a good day for Johnny Damon.
What a series of events, huh? It’s important to note that all of these moves are contingent upon physicals.
Photos by the AP
A few things:
-This means Doc is out of the AL East and AL for the foreseeable future, which is nice.
-This means Lee will hit the open market next off-season, which is nice.
-This takes Boston out of the Holliday sweepstakes, which is nice.
-Boston is putting a good defender at a position where he won’t get many chances since they have a ridiculous wall 200 feet from home plate out there.
-Matsui won’t be back, not so great, although there are still plenty of cheap DH options who could maybe be had on a one year deal (Vlad, Cust, Nick Johnson, Thome)
-The Yankees still aren’t forced to meet Damon’s demands, they can just go after Holliday or turn LF over to Melky. Both of which are way more appealing than giving Damon 3 or 4 years at $13M per.
-Signing Lackey and presumably re-upping Beckett, means their “rotation of all aces” (copyright espNESN 2009) is Beckett/Lackey/Lester/Dice WHIP/Laptop for the foreseeable future.
-I read elsewhere that the Cards may have offered Holliday 8 years at $16M per, if that is his price and he wouldn’t give the Yankees any sort of Beltran-esque discount offer, I would pass.
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Agree, Doc is out of the East, but the Sox get a reprieve too.
You’re right, putting Cameron in left seems counter-productive, but they are saying Ellsbury is moving to left & Cameron is in center… makes sense.
In light of the Sox’s moves, if Holliday will sign @ 16 mil per, I think the Yanks sign him.
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You would sign Holliday to a 16 million per year deal for 8 years? That’s crazy! He would be close to 38 when the deal was done! We need pitching not to waste 128+ million on Holliday.
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Yankees take a HUGE hit yesterday…
1. Matsui, our very own WS MVP, goes to the team that gives us fits.
2. Lackey, who we could afford and needed, goes to our rival, strengthening their rotation…when Andy leaves after next year, Lackey would have taken his place nicely….plus, lackey would ahve given us the solid fourth starter we would need in the playoffs
3. Halladay, who we caould have afforded to sign would have given us the best 1-2-3 rotation for the next few years, all but guaranteeing a trip to the WS.
4. Cameron, who would have been an upgrade defensively, and thusly indirectly improving our pitching, now goes to our rival giving them that improvement.
What’s next Cashman ??…NOW, Damon has the upper hand in negotiations. The Yankees need to sign Sheets, Duchsherer, and/or Bedard to improve the rotation…OR sign Gonzalez for the bullpen, allowing Joba AND Hughes to be in the rotation…OR sign Holliday as our LF…
Cashman needs top act NOW, or what was a winning hot stove season, has suddenly turned out to be a mediocre one.
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“Matsui, our very own WS MVP”
Who has really bad knees but insists that he still wants to at least occasionally play the field, and is joining a team who just lost it’s most valuable positional player (Figgins) and most valuable pitcher (Lackey). The Angels will be lucky to win their division now that the M’s have Lee and the Rangers are closing in on them.
“Lackey, who we could afford and needed, goes to our rival, strengthening their rotation”
Lackey has been having arm problems the last couple of years. If the Angels let him walk without matching an AJ-esque deal, that’s a bad sign for his ability to stay healthy.
“Halladay, who we caould have afforded to sign”
But he wasn’t a FA and would have cost Joba or Hughes + Jesus + more! No thanks. Not for a 33 year old.
“Cameron, who would have been an upgrade defensively, and thusly indirectly improving our pitching, now goes to our rival giving them that improvement.”
He is also 37, and has already been suspended for PEDs once. Tons of fall of the cliff potential there.
“Cashman needs top act NOW”
He already did. He traded for Granderson (a player unlike anyone you listed above who is currently IN HIS PRIME) who will easily replace any lose of offense from Damon. He also re-signed Pettitte. So, by my count to have a team as good as the one that won the WS last year all they have to do is replace Matsui’s bat, and there are PLENTY of available cheap DH-types who will likely only require a one year deal (Vlad, Thome, Cust, N. Johnson). And that’s before mentioning that Joba and Hughes should be better than what they got from the #4 (high pitch count Joba, very effective Joba for a while, then Joba for on innings limits) and #5 SP last season (Horrible Wang, a few Hughes starts, more horrible Wang, then Mitre, then Gaudin).
If Damon comes to his senses, they will bring him back on a one or two year deal at a reduced salary to DH and occasionally play LF. If he can get a better deal, they will sign a cheaper option to DH. Simply as that. Damon still doesn’t have any leverage, because they Yankees could go into next season ‘as is’ if they wanted to. Cashman is not going to panic just because you are.
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NONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!! Someone kidnap Godzilla and bring him back!
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