With Jesus Montero headed to the Mariners, the Yankees have spoken to Johnny Damon about the possibility of returning to New York as a DH according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (all Twitter links). He says they don't have much money left to spend on a hitter, adding that there's a "very small chance" they would consider Jorge Posada since he has yet to make his retirement official.
Damon spent four seasons in pinstripes, hitting .285/.363/.458 from 2006-2009. He hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 19 steals for the Rays last year, with 596 of his 647 plate appearances coming as the DH. The Orioles have expressed interest in him this month, though a return to Tampa is unlikely after they signed Luke Scott. Andy Martino of The New York Daily News says the Yankees have not yet fully evaluated their DH options following the Montero trade, and MLB.com's Bryan Hoch adds that they may be okay with Andruw Jones and minor league slugger Jorge Vazquez at the position to start the year (Twitter links).
While Damon might be older and not the player he once was, he is a great clubhouse guy, still has good legs and his swing is made for that stadium. I would love to see him make an appearance to give us that extra boost. If it doesn’t cost a lot, why not?
He can’t be asking for much. If not, he’s almost a perfect fit as a platoon DH for them.
…and as a Yankee fan it certainly *would* be fun to see him get to 3,000 in Yankee pinstripes.
I would like to see a platoon in the dh spot with him and jones. After that, we’re ready for the season
The Yanks might bring him back, they like those 3000 hitters. They are only looking for a part time DH who hits lefty, so Damon fits the bill. Plus Damon will cost alot less than Pena.
I like Damon and appreciate all he’s done for them, but I at this point would prefer to see Carlos Pena at the DH spot than him.
Me too. Much more upside to Pena than Damon or Posada.
Pena still wants to play the field.
Bad idea. They’re better off with Pena. Pena had a WAR a full 1.2 points higher than Damon and is four years younger.
WAR is including Pena’s defense, and the stat will penalize him severely if he becomes a full time DH. It’s a poor stat to use here for a couple of reasons.
We don’t need homers. We need guys who can hit w RISP and Pena batted .195 w a ton of Ks. He is even worse than Tex w RISP, why would we want another homer or nothing guy?
2011
Pena w/ RISP: .175/.377/.404 w/ a .780 OPS and 6 hrs.
Damon w/ RISP: .241/.320/.352 w/ a .671 OPS and 2 hrs
Neither is great and despite .175 bat avg Pena has the higher OPS and OBP.
When did I mention Damon? What about the strike outs? Productive outs or sac flays?
The Yankees play in a t-ball park. Either one is going to hit homers. Carlos Pena had an OBP of.357 and SLG of .462 while Damon had an OBP of .326 and SLG of .418. Carlos Pena strikes out a ton but also walks a ton. Pena has a K/BB ratio of 1.59 and Damon has one of 1.80 meaning that Damon doesn’t get on enough. Pena is better.
I would be worried a lot more about Pena signing with the Yanks than that scumbag Damon again.
that scumbag helped you win a championship.
There is no denying that.
I loved Damon when he was in Boston. I don’t blame Damon for leaving and I hold no grudge against him. But if there’s one thing we know about guy, take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Except for *one* thing: “I will get to 3,000 hits.” That much you make take with however big a pinch of salt you like, or you can bet the mortgage-money on it, but either way it’s gonna happen.
Why is he a scum bag? Because he left Boston for more money? Like how he left Oakland for more money?
It’s one thing to leave but don’t specifically state you’ll never play for a certain team and then go right ahead and play for them.
He went cause the Yankees were offering more money and more years. You can’t hold a grudge about that. He just did what anyone in their right mind would have done. He just has a problem that he badmouths the teams the he has left and as an inflated sense of what he is worth, but a lot of people have that problem, they just don’t have microphones in their faces.
My heart desperately wants Damon back because he’s a likable character, but I don’t see him getting any better with age. Then again, it might be good financially to have another guy get 3000 hits in your ballpark if the Yankees can hold on to him for a few years. (No comparison with the revenue Jeter brought in for obvious reasons, but it would still be a big event.)
Carlos Pena doesn’t seem likely, but my favorite option of all these is Jorge Vazquez (and I mean that ironically). Is there no one who can teach him to stop swinging at everything? In all seriousness, perhaps some time in the majors with Kevin Long might help him a little bit.
Either way, the Yankees need to find somebody. You can’t just rotate the old guys and have a guy like Eduardo Nunez or Brandon Laird playing every day. If that happens I’ll have an aneurysm, I swear.
I like vazquez, but he’s an all or nothing guy, K or HR. The best fit is to find some lefty bat to platoon with Jones. If not I have no problem with them rotating nunez and laird.
vazquez has been a very consistent power bat in the minors. Combine him with Damon, a little speed a little power, better contact guy, might prove to be a cheap, potent DH platoon.
If they bring Posada back I’ll become a Pirates fan.
Do us and all the real Yankee fans a favor and please do. Joke or not no true Yankees fan would say that
It’s obviously a joke, not need to be so sensitive about it, or start questioning whether I’m a real Yankee fan or not. I just can’t stand Posada.
I’d be beyond embarrassed if they started entertaining the notion of trying to get Jorge back. The rollercoaster of frustration and worry with him not being welcomed back and then a sigh of relief as he decides to not play somewhere else and hang it up – all of that would make us look so ridiculous if we realized ‘Oh now we have a spot for you. Come on back home.’
I’ll take Damon as long as he can accept a platoon, DH role.
The Yankees could get Soriano on the cheap from the Cubs. He is still good for 20+ home runs and would cost less than most free agents out there.
He’s a clubhouse cancer that’s lazy and doesn’t try hard at all. And YS3 is tough on right handed pull hitters and his entire value is power. DH’s with bad attitudes, atrocious contracts and OBP’s under .300 aren’t exactly the type of guys you go out and get.
Clubhouse cancer? I have never heard this about him, in fact I always hear the opposite. He wants to play everyday and has actually improved his defense over the past couple of years. But the Yankees would want him more as a DH and if the Cubs are picking up most of his contract then why not?
Are you kidding? He’s one of the laziest players in the game and doesn’t work on his game or even try half the time. He’s a terrible influence. And he wouldn’t ever play defense, which isn’t exactly his strong suit anyway. As I mentioned, even if he was free, why would you want sign a righty that would be worse than Andruw Jones, who we already have? You really want an old injury plagued lazy guy with a .289 OBP???? All of this is pointless. .289 OBP for a DH is pathetic.
outside slider…swing and a miss….another outside slider….swing and a miss…..another outside slider….STRIKE THREE SWINGING!
Soriano has even less upside than Damon and I wouldn’t take him on a trade unless they covered all of his salary over the next two years (minus like 2 millions) and asked just for a PTBNL chosen by the Yankees. And even so, his production is no better than what an Eric Chavez/Andruw Jones platoon might offer. The only value that Soriano has is that he’s a source for cheap, hollow power (something the Yankees don’t need) and can still play outfield, something that he would never do in the pinstripes, not with Gardner (far superior defender) and Jones (about equal, but with more positional flexibility) still in the roster.
Bringing back Damon would be a good idea. He is obviously a great clubhouse guy and he offers them at least some positional flexibility. Pena on the other hand, is restricted to 1B, and would only be able to give Teixeira an occasional DH day (which he doesn’t need). They would also save about $5-7 mil by going with Damon over Pena, which would give them the flexibility to make another move down the road.
Yankees Rule..
Damon would be a nice pickup depending upon what he’s asking for in terms of $$$…Pena would be a huge mistake…
Pena could spell Tex at 1st and a platoon of Andruw Jones and Carlos Pena would make one of the better hitters in the entire league. Against opposite handed pitchers both players had OBPs over .380 and slugged over 500. How on earth would that be a huges mistake? The only problem with Pena is his average and he can’t hit lefties. But his average against righties is fine and he wouldn’t be exposed to lefties. He’s the PERFECT DH for the Yankees.
He’s perfect on the paper, but this year’s Yankee DH will be taken out a lot to give A-Rod and Jeter lots of rest. And Pena’s bench value is non-existant. That makes him imperfect.
ARod and Jeter will most likely DH against lefties since their replacement will most likely be a Nunez who is also a righty, so it wouldn’t affect his playing time. And they aren’t going to be DHing all the time anyway. I’m talking about a platoon. Andruw could still be in the lineup by giving Gardner a rest in left too. And a guy with a ton of power who could give Tex a rest has no bench value? Who does? Your reasoning doesn’t make sense at all..His playing time would be as the left handed part of a DH platoon. When a righty DHs he wouldn’t be in anyway.
The only problem is that there’s no space for a fifth outfielder or a second infielder if the sign Pena…
What about trading for Chone Figgins for A.J. Burnett? Figgins can play 3B and maybe some 2B and OF (and he can’t be as bad as he was last year) and Burnett could see his performance improve in Seattle… plus, since he’s about to loose his role as starter, there’s no reason for him to avoid waiving his non-trade clause.
He doesn’t really help the yankees. They want someone who can hit, they have guys in the minors who bring just as much to the table as Figgins does.
It would be more about getting rid of Burnett than getting Figgins… and I think Chone can rebound.
Posada!!!!!! Bring him back, pretty sure he’d play for a pack of orange tic tacs and a can of snapple! He was the only one who could hit in the playoffs, offense wasn’t our issue last year so bring back Jorge and Chavez. If he struggles like he did in the beginning of last year, your not out much and you just use a platoon till the trade deadline!