Yankees Going Hard After Manny?

Manny = big time free agent

Of course the Yankees have to "be interested", right?

04 I think the article is saying other teams are only offering 2/50. This move I would think require the Yankees to move one of their OFs since Nady/Damon/Matsui can't play center (well Damon can if he has a designated thrower). Anyway, its probably more a response to the red sox possibly adding a bat.

Cashman knows that Girardi and Manny are not going to get along. You will see summertime the Yankees are going to be headed into a meltdown. Sabathia is going to start slow, Burnett is going to be on the DL, Joba's arm is going to fall off and Manny is going to be acting like the Boston Manny.

ECT: "This move I would think require the Yankees to move one of their OFs since Nady/Damon/Matsui can't play center (well Damon can if he has a designated thrower)."

Hah! Well, Manny was Damon's cutoff man in Boston, so that could work out. There's some pretty hilarious video of it floating around on the net somewhere.

That was one hilarious play. Never forget Remdog commenting on it.
Canseco, getting bopped on the head and ball went for Homerun was another.

"nobody would want noodle-armed Damon"

Really???
I think someone would take his production as a leadoff hitter....
.303av .375ob 17hr and 29 steals.
as a yankee fan, i wouldn't want to get rid of him, whos going to lead off?

This is all I want for X-mas, the Yankees sign Manny (even better if they have to go to 4 years when the Angels get involved).

I'm sure Manny's act will play great with the fans in NY.

Cashman knows that Girardi and Manny are not going to get along. You will see summertime the Yankees are going to be headed into a meltdown. Sabathia is going to start slow, Burnett is going to be on the DL, Joba's arm is going to fall off and Manny is going to be acting like the Boston Manny.
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And what else does your crystal ball tell you?

Yanks should definately sign manny. screw the red sox. he would kill them

dorfmac: YOu can't look at in terms of total dollars spent. The Yanks are still almost 40 mil under last years budget. They could sign Man-NY to $25 mil per and still come in around $190 mil next year. Then they would pass on Cameron, and let HUghes, Kennedy or Aceves battle it out for the #5 spot. Trade Matsui and eat a major part of his salary for a couple of warm minor league bodies or trade a bad contract for bad contract w/ maybe 2 years left instead of Matsui's 1 year.

I guess my mid-market team mindset is shining through as I'm greatly underestimating the Yankees desire to spend money...

dorfmac: not much of a risk with only 1 yr left on his contract.

YanksFan -

My intention wasn't to compare Huff to Manny - obviously there is no comparison.

The comparison was between Huff and Damon as a DH. A previous poster suggested using Damon in the DH spot, which brought about the comparison.

its amazing, you could take this back 30+ years and replace Manny with Reggie Jackson and Hank and Hal with George. The Yankees never change.

Somehow the comparable is lost though when we get to Billy Martin and Joe Girardi.

My bad, misunderstood your post.

I think they need Texeria more than Manny. If Manny plays like he did in LA it could be a good fit. He will take all the media attention away from AROD - in turn that will also cause AROD to play better with fewer distractions. It might be a good move. Manny,Damon,Matsui all sharing the outfield & DH spots and Nady in right. They could have their young kids come on to play defense in the late innings..

If he can DH, I'm in favor of a 2 year deal at a high annual value, but that's it.

But yes, there's a logjam there.

C, 2B, SS, and 3B are set.
Assume Swisher is at 1B full-time.

You could do something like:

LF: Damon 35%, Matsui 45%, Manny 20%

CF: Gardner/Melky 45%, Damon 55%

DH: Manny 80%, Matsui 20%

RF: Nady 85%, Matsui 15%

That way Damon plays 90% of the time, Matsui 80%, Manny 100%, Nady 85%, Gardner/Melky 45%.

And of course there will be injuries, but these are ideal percentages. Swisher can fill in the OF too. Most of these guys are old, and it will help keep them fresh.

Thoughts?

some people need to really hear the words of Manny Ramirez. We really don't have any idea of what happened in Boston to make Manny act the way he did, and i personally think it was the Red Sox FO who started this mess. He said before that the FO turned the Fans against him, and they always treated their older players like dirt. Look at Pedro, and at Mo Vaughn, and look at Nomar!! All players who were mistreated by Boston. Manny LOVES the game and loves playing the game so that's why he acts like that. You say his acting is BS but we are actually talking about a guy who a couple of years ago volunteered to sit the last game of a season just so his fellow teammate can win a batting title!!!!!!!!!!! (Bill Mueller 2003)
I know this because My brother works as a cop in Fenway PArk and was close friends with most Red Sox players but the things he heard about MAnny were outrageous

Some people really dont understand how baseball salaries work and continue to talk out of their a$$es. Yes the yankees shed about 88 million from their 2008 payroll. Yes they have signed two pitchers who will make a total of 39.5 million in 2009...but that is not the only payroll increases you have to take into effect. They have also resigned Marte for 4 million and added Swisher for 6 million. Now your at 50 million total. Take into account pay increases for some players (A-Rod 5 million...yes he will make 32 million this year, and Cano 3 million.) And also abitration raises due to a few key players (Nady, Wang et al). That is another 15-20 million. So now your looking at 70 million in added payroll for 2009. Yes that does leave them with about 18 million to spend if they want to stay at 209 million in payroll, but now they can can 1 of 2 directions. They can add a CF and 4th starter (Cameron and Pettitte/Sheets) or they can add another big bat (Teixeria/Manny). Option number two would require them to move a one of their OF contracts because of the logjam, either Nady or Matsui because beleive it or not Damon is still one of the best leadoff men in the league. Personally I will go with option number 2 because Manny hitting behind A-Rod will do so much more for this team then upgrades of Cameron over Gardner and Pettitte over Hughes.

How about this? Sign Man-NY to 3/$75 mil. Then I heard a guy from the Post suggest trading Matsui to the Dodger in a bad contract for bad contract deal. However, instead of trading for Andru Jones how about:

Matsui for Juan Pierre?

Matuis is owed $13 mil for the 09 season and then becomes a FA (Probably a Type B) and Pierre is owed 3yrs/$28.5 mil. DOdgers save $15 mil overall in this deal and has said he would prefer to start vs being a bench player in LA.

For the Dodgers he's a redundant player (since Kemp is the CF and Andru is locked in for 1 more year). Matsui might be able to provide a bat off the bench and start 80 games or so in LF.

For the Yanks, they can platoon Pierre, who is a lefty but hits lefties slightly better (.303 lifetime vs .299 against righties) with either Cabrera (who should just hit righty) or Gardner who is a lefty.

Pierre, although maligned, is a consistanlty good hitter for avg, .283/.327 in 08 and .300/.346 lifetime and can give you 40+ sb (avg 50 sb last 3 years). He, along with Gardner, can give you a solid contact hitter and second leadoff hitter at the bottom of the line-up and can help play small ball. Also, Pierre could replace Damon as a leadoff guy on his off days.

Damon-LF
Jeter-SS
Arod-3B
Man-NY-DH
Posada-C
Cano-2B
Nady-RF
Swisher-1B
Pierre/Gardner-CF

or

Damon-LF .303/.375/29 sb
Pierre-CF .283/.327/40 sb
Jeter-SS .300/.363 11 sb
Arod-3B
Man-NY-DH
Posada-C
Cano-2B
Nady-RF
Swisher-1B

or

Pierre-CF (rest Damon)
Jeter-SS
Arod-3B
Man-NY-DH
Posada-C
Cano-2B
Nady-RF
Swisher-1B
Gardner-LF

Pierre is also known to be a great bunter and could work very well behind Damon in moving him into scoring position, hit and run situations, bunts for hits and has a very low strike out history (struck out more than 50x once in his career w/52 in 2002).

Excluding his stats from last year when he was platooned and only had 375 at bats he:

Played 162 games from 2003-2007

Avg'd 201 hits from 2003-2007.

Avg'd 58 sb from 2003-2007 (and 40 sb in 08 in 119 games)

Avg's .298 batavg and .344 obp from 2003-2007

Your defense won't improve but I think Pierre and Gardner will be able to track down balls in the OF and make the average plays.

Of course this is if and only if they acquire Man-NY and need to trade Matsui so he can DH.

Joe wrote:

Some people really dont understand how baseball salaries work and continue to talk out of their a$$es. Yes the yankees shed about 88 million from their 2008 payroll. Yes they have signed two pitchers who will make a total of 39.5 million in 2009...but that is not the only payroll increases you have to take into effect. They have also resigned Marte for 4 million and added Swisher for 6 million. Now your at 50 million total. Take into account pay increases for some players (A-Rod 5 million...yes he will make 32 million this year, and Cano 3 million.) And also abitration raises due to a few key players (Nady, Wang et al). That is another 15-20 million. So now your looking at 70 million in added payroll for 2009. Yes that does leave them with about 18 million to spend if they want to stay at 209 million in payroll, but now they can can 1 of 2 directions. They can add a CF and 4th starter (Cameron and Pettitte/Sheets) or they can add another big bat (Teixeria/Manny). Option number two would require them to move a one of their OF contracts because of the logjam, either Nady or Matsui because beleive it or not Damon is still one of the best leadoff men in the league. Personally I will go with option number 2 because Manny hitting behind A-Rod will do so much more for this team then upgrades of Cameron over Gardner and Pettitte over Hughes.
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That's true but people are acting as if we're ADDING the salaries of CC, AJ, etc on top of our 09 salary. And if we CAN add CC, AJ and Man-NY and come in around 215 then who cares?

The Yankees are already forfiting their 1st/2nd round picks in next years draft due to the signings of Sabathia/Burnett.

This means the Yanks won't have much in their farm in terms of top tier guys going into next years deadline outside of their current talent pool.

Toss in the competition that will be there for Holliday and I think its safe to say the Yankees aren't likely to have the prospects available to get Holliday. Remember, Billy Beane picked up Holliday full knowing he could get a kings ransom for him during the season or in the very least walk away with an extra 1st round pick and a supplemental pick for the guy.
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The Yanks are losing 1 first rnd and 1 second round in the 09 draft BUT we will still have a 1st rnd and I think a 2nd for not being able to sign Gerrit Cole and Scott Bittle last year. Those picks are protected and can't be lost from a FA signing.

Also, the Yanks have a lot of great A/AA prospects BUT I can't see them trading any of them for a 2 month rental. If the line-up can't hit w/ the addition of Man-NY then we just need to call the season a wrap...lol.

We can't afford to have Man-NY in LF and Damon in CF. That's not tolerable. The only way Man-NY plays on this team, IMO, is as a DH. I understand Pierre is a .340 obp guy but he also is a good contact hitter. Look at the totality of a player's game. His obp isn't any worse than Cameron or Cabrera.

Pierre can give you a .290 avg and 50 sb. That's worth more than $3m a year.

BUT THIS IS JUST MY OPINION/FANTASY TRADE.

Manny doesn't have to be in left at the same time Damon is in center.

Pierre being a contact hitter is close to meaningless. With his speed and low strikeout rate, he should have a ton of bunt and IF hits, and with his awful walk rate, would have to hit .330 to be valuable. But he doesn't.

A .330 OBP is a .330 OBP. It doesn't matter if he hits .290 or .220, especially when all the hits are singles. Yes, there is some value in moving runners over with his hits, but that's minimal. The speed is nice, but his success rate has never been amazing.

That's right - his OBP isn't worse than Cabrera or Cameron. Cabrera makes 1/10th the salary, plays better defense, and has some power. Cameron has good power, and is one of the best defensive CF in the game. OBP is a weakness for them, but they make up for it in other areas. Pierre does not.

Teams that pay more than $3M a year for players with empty .290 averages are the ones who finish in last place.

"Pierre can give you a .290 avg and 50 sb. That's worth more than $3m a year."

I get what you're saying. Pierre is what he is. He smacks singles, and steals bases.

But what you aren't taking into account is defense, and basically everything else.

"I understand Pierre is a .340 obp guy"

No.. he's a .330 OBP guy.

OBP's the past four seasons: .326, .330, .331, and .327.

Juan Pierre has ZERO power, doesn't take many walks, and gets just enough hits to have a .330 OBP. He has great defense, but he doesn't take great jumps in the outfield, and is notorious for having one of the worst arms in the game.

I agree that Pierre is worth $3M, because making contact with elite speed has value. But when you're poor at everything else, that makes you a pretty poor ballplayer.

.."and Jeter, who should be moved to the OF considering he is a terrible SS."

are you blind? deaf? mentally defective? all of the above??

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There's someone left in the world that thinks Jeter is a good SS? Wow, you learn something new every day...

.."and Jeter, who should be moved to the OF considering he is a terrible SS."

are you blind? deaf? mentally defective? all of the above??

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There's someone left in the world that thinks Jeter is a good SS? Wow, you learn something new every day...

Posted by: bobo | December 17, 2008 at 11:32 AM

Lugo is worse

Yanksfansince-

Trust me, I fully understand BA and OBP.

You practically completely ignored my post, explaining how his lack of plate discipline, power and defense kill his value.

Instead, you once again brought up how he bats .285 and can steal bases.

But those stolen bases aren't helpful if he only gets on base 33% of the time, while hitting only singles, AND playing poor defense.

Ya wanna know what's funny? This sounds EXACTLY like your defense for Brett Gardner. You might as well just let Gardner play if you're going to add Pierre.

yanks 09

could sign
1. M. Ramirez
2. A. Dunn

1. A. Jackson CF
2. D. Jeter SS
3. Arod 3B
4. M. Ramirez DH
5. A. Dunn RF
6. X. Nady LF
7. J. Posada C
8. R. Cano 2B
9. N. Swisher 1B

add some hitting to replace
1. B. Abreu
2. J. Giambi

z

what the yankees should do is...Sign manny
dunn
pettite
giambi
then we could have
1:damon CF
2:jeter SS
3:arod 3B
4:manny DH
5:dunn LF
6:giambi 1B
7:nady RF
8:posada C
9:cano 2B

Trade matsui and keep swisher melky and woever they normally keep on the bench

Non Yankees fan: Please stop posting youe jealous rants

We know how pathetic you look, we're seen it written out over 50 times.

I know I'm in the minority here, but as a Red Sox fan, I actually hope the Yankees sign Manny. Yes, God gave him an amazing ability to hit a baseball very far. But that is all he can do. On a team that by all accounts is trying to rebuild...Manny is the last guy you want influencing young players. He is not a role model and not a leader. "Class" and Manny are 2 words that do not go together. The yankees already have an issue with big egos conflicting i.e. see Jeter Arod. Throwing Manny in that mix would be a volatile mix that I would welcome.

I wrote about Manny on my blog this evening. My prediction: Manny will be an Angel. When it's all said and done I don't think the Yankees can stomach dealing with Manny's antics.

You know it is really funny to hear all this bullsh&^ about Manny being Manny. If people would only remember that 2001 to 2004, not only did Manny brought them to the World Series. This guy was playing and putting up an a batting average of .322(.306,.349,.325,.306), OPS avg of .420(.405,.450,.427,.397) SLG avg of .614(.609,.647,.587,.613), Hr avg of 38.5(41,33,37,43), RBI's avg of 116.5(125,107,104,130) along with an FPCT avg of .977(.1000,.959,.982,.967) and you boston fans and no brain reporters in boston where trying to trade him in 2004, 2005, 2006 till he got fed up. You Boston fans need to learn your history. Your guys have always mistreated your greatest players. Example
"1. Ted Williams (1939-1960)
Williams was among the greatest hitters of all time, and he may have been the best. But in his 19 seasons, the man nicknamed the Splendid Splinter never won the hearts or minds of the Boston media or Red Sox fans. The relationship was so strained that after Williams homered in the last career at-bat, he refused to take a curtain call or tip his cap to the fans who finally seemed to understand how great he was.
Williams finished his career with the seventh best batting average in history (.344). He's also got the best career on base percentage of any player, ever (.482). Moreover, although he missed almost five full seasons of his playing career to two wars, Williams still ranks among the all-time leaders in home runs (521) and RBI (1,839) and runs scored (1,798).
2. Carl Yastrzemski (1961-1983)
Yastrzemski was the last player to win a Triple Crown when he led the A.L. in batting (.326), home runs (44) and RBI (121) in 1967. Yaz ranks sixth all-time in hits with 3,419. He was also the first player in baseball history to top 3,000 hits and 400 home runs, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1989. Yaz was also the major offensive force on two American League pennant winners (1967 and 1975).
3. Roger Clemens (1984-1996)
Clemens was the greatest starting pitcher in Red Sox history. He won the Cy Young Award three times (1986, '87 and '91), an MVP award, and 192 games while wearing a Red Sox uniform.
Boston let him go after the 1996 season, and then-general manager Dan Duquette said that Clemens was in the "twilight of his career." Clemens went on to even greater heights since being banished from Beantown, winning 4 more Cy Young awards, two pitching Triple Crowns, two World Series titles and another 162 games.
Yet, for some reason, Red Sox fans continue to hate Clemens to this day simply for performing well after he was booted from the team.
4. Jim Rice (1974-1989)
Rice was one of the most fearsome hitters of the 1970s and '80s. He won the 1978 MVP award when he led the American League in hits, triples, home runs and RBI. His final career statistics are Hall of Fame worthy, although he has not yet been elected, a fact that many attribute to his lack of support from Boston's baseball media.
5. Manny Ramirez (2001-Present)
In 2004, Ramirez helped the Red Sox to their only World Series title in almost 100 years. During the season, Manny hit .308 with 43 home runs and 130 RBI. He then hit .385 in the ALDS, .300 in the ALCS and .412 in the World Series.
In seven seasons, Ramirez has hit .313, with an average of 36 home runs and 116 RBI per season. For every season that he has played in a Boston uniform, Ramirez has been an All Star, placed in the top 10 in MVP voting and won a Siver Slugger award. You can't ask for much more than that in terms of production.
Yet, in every offseason beginning in 2003, the Sox have either placed Manny on waivers or aggressively tried to trade him to another team because of his often contentious relationship with management.
6. Joe Cronin (1935-1948)
Joe Cronin must have been a pretty special guy. In 1933, when he was still just 26 years old, the Washington Senators named Cronin the team's player/manager, making him the youngest man to skipper a team in half a century. Two years later, Cronin accepted the same position with the Boston Red Sox and went on to become one of the best at both jobs in Boston history.
Cronin was a lifetime .301 hitter who topped 100 RBI in eight seasons. As a manger, he led the 1946 team to the A.L. pennant, taking the team to the its first World Series in 1946. Cronin was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1956.
7. Pedro Martinez (1998-2003)
In Pedro's seven seasons at Fenway Park, he was 117-28 with an ERA of 2.38. While in a Red Sox uniform, Pedro struck out 10.9 batters and walked 1.6 per nine innings, won two Cy Young awards, and he finished in the top five for that prize in six of his seven seasons in Boston.
8. Wade Boggs (1982-1992)
In 11 seasons in Boston, Boggs had seven straight years of more than 200 hits, won five batting titles, made eight all-star teams and won six Silver Slugger awards. After just one sub-par season in 1992, however, the Red Sox let Boggs go on the free agent market. Boggs signed with the Yankees, where he played four seasons, hit over .300 every season, and was a key part of the team's 1996 World Series win.
9. Babe Ruth (1914-1919)
Clearly the greatest talent to ever wear a Red Sox uniform, Ruth was primarily a pitcher for the team from 1914 through 1919. His career mark in Boston was 95-46 and he was a major part of three World Series winning teams. Owner Harry Frazee, however, sold Ruth to the New York Yankees before the 1920 season. Ruth went on to become an American legend and the best ballplayer who ever lived.
10. Dom DiMaggio (1940-1953)
Joe's little brother was perfect for Boston. A fine outfielder who played in the shadow of his more famous -- and much more accomplished -- big brother from New York City, DiMaggio made seven All Star teams and hit for a .298 career average.
So if history repeats itself like it always does, you Boston fans and great media can expect another champion in what, another 84 years from now. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES NOT MAKE.

I am a Yankee fan and the reason you wouldtrade Matsui if you could is because of his bad knees. Even if he does manage to stay in the lineup, there is no guarantee he will be the same hitter. You need your legs to drive the ball and bad knees could definately hinder that. As much as we all know, Manny is healthy and does not look like he is slowing down. Besides, Matsui is a good clutch hitter, but Manny is one of the most feared hitters in baseball, especially in the clutch. The Yankees offense was stagnant at times last year and could use a shot in the arm. By the way, add Mike Greenwell to the list of former Sox the front office treated like crap. I know it was a different regime, but their FO has a history of treating players like garbage. Also, a mojor difference between the Sox clubhouse and Yankees is Manny didnt really respect the Red Sox leaders. To him, Youkilis and Lowell are nobodys, Schilling is a windbag, Ortiz is not really a vocal leader and he and Manny are friends, and Im not really sure of his relationship with Varitek. Really no voice in there that he respected. With the Yankees, Jeter, Posada, Rivera, and Pettitte if he comes back, are in complete control of that locker room. And don't forget his former teammate Damon probably knows what makes him tick.