Link Roundup: Former Yankees in the news
ByDamon a fit in Atlanta?
Want to read 1000 words on how and why Johnny Damon would be a great fit for the Braves’ lineup? Well, then point your browsers to this David O’Brien blog post and prepare for a lengthy analysis. O’Brien says Atlanta has around $7-$8 million per season for two years to offer to Damon, and since Scott Boras has yet to field a better offer, Damon just might accept.
Now, if that salary figure sounds familiar, that’s because it is reportedly what the Yankees were willing to pay Damon for at least 2010 and maybe 2011. Would Damon then accept a lesser salary with another team than he would with his former employers? Joe tackled just that question in his closing arguments, and it’s worth noting that some people are more comfortable taking lesser money from a new team than they are with taking a paycut to stick with their old one. In the end, Damon will produce no matter the salary, but he could have a better early-season outlook in Atlanta than with the Yankees.
If the Braves opt against pursuing Damon, I’m not sure where or for how much Damon ends up. The Braves — and of course the Yankees — are simply the two best and last real remaining options for Johnny. Unless the Cardinals lose out on Matt Holliday, Damon will have few choices for a player coming off a great year. He really is this year’s Bobby Abreu.
Yanks, 14 others ask about Wang
Yesterday, we learned that Chien-Ming Wang would throw off a mound in mid-to-late Feburary. Today, we hear of interest in the rehabbing right-hander. Alan Nero, Wang’s agent, told Andrew Marchand that 15 teams have inquired into the status of the former 19-game winner and erstwhile ace. The Yankees, but not the Mets, were among those teams, and I still would not be surprised if Wang returned to the Bronx on an incentive-laden deal this year.
Matsui: I want to play the outfield
Hideki Matsui‘s insistence that he will play some games in the outfield in Anaheim continues to amuse me. Last week, the World Series MVP returned home to Japan and held a press conference at which he reiterated his belief that he will see some time in left field in 2010. “I’d like to prove I can play defense at spring training,” Matsui said during a news conference. “It will be difficult to play defense every day like in the past, but I’d like to reach the point where I’m able to play defense once every few games.”
Matsui, never a great defender, last played the field on June 15, 2008 — coincidentally the same day Chien-Ming Wang suffered his career-derailing Lisfranc injury. Since then, he has undergone at least one knee surgery and a few procedures to drain fluids from his knees, but if the Angels want to risk, so be it.
The story behind Fred McGriff and Tom Emanski
How, you may ask, does Fred McGriff end up on a link dump of news concerning former Yankees? Well, New York drafted McGriff in the ninth round of the 1981 amateur draft, and then the team traded him with Dave Collins and Mike Morgan on December 9, 1982 to the Blue Jays for Tom Dodd and Dale Murray. It wasn’t a good trade. Anyway, while McGriff made a name for himself with the bat, he is in one of the longest running baseball video commercials of all time, and today, Tyler Kepner gets the story behind the Emanski endorsement. His teams did win back to back to back A.A.U. National Championships, after all.
Randy Johnson will announce his retirement tomorrow
The Big Unit spent two productive years in pinstripes, and his Hall of Fame career appears to have ended: Bob Nightengale says RJ will announce his retirement tomorrow morning. He went 34-19 with a 4.37 ERA in pinstripes, though he really made his mark with the Diamondbacks. When Arizona signed Johnson to a four year, $53M contract in 1999, they were rewarded with four Cy Youngs and a 2.52 FIP with 1,417 strikeouts in 1030 innings. Wow.
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The Mason Williams Watch
damn. i thought randy johnson could go forever. i guess he did only throw 96 innings last year. but still. damn.
Jamie Moyer, he is not.
He’s less than a year younger than Moyer, so it’s not like he’s retiring young.
He could be 10 years younger than Moyer and it wouldn’t be like he’s retiring young.
not to mention johnson >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> moyer
Guys, I was kidding around.
::fart joke::
http://www.moviewavs.com/00854.....noises.wav (safe)
if damon doesn’t want to be on the yankees then so long johnny!
Ehh I could have done without that 2nd year of Randy. Loved the first year, especially the going 5-0 in 6 starts against Boston.
Happy retirement Randy.
Man, Randy was just unbelievable with the Diamondbacks.
+1. He was absolutely insane. My dream rotation:
1. Unit
2. Pedro
3. Koufax
4. Maddux
5. Gibson
(That’s totally off the top of my head w/o any sort of research)
You left off Swisher. Better ERA than any of the ones you listed.
Man, Randy Johnson and Sandy Koufax are gonna be pissed when they miss the postseason because the back end of their rotation was comprised of the shitty trio of Pedro Astacio, Mike Maddux, and Paul Gibson.
Dude averaged 354 strikeouts and 257 ip over those 4 years. Wowsers.
What about Rocco Baldelli for LF
What about Verlander for left field? Imagine that arm! He could throw out Jacoby Ellsbury running home from 3rd on any play!
The last time Rocco Baldelli played in 80+ games in a single calendar year, John Kerry hadn’t yet lost to George W. Bush.
so what you’re saying is there’s a chance?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA sfw
What was all that million-to-one talk?
Isnt it Back to Back TO BACK AAU National Championships??
^^^^
idiot
point and laugh
His teams did win back to back to back A.A.U. National Championships, after
Best free agent contract ever? Or does that go to Barry Bonds and the Giants?
Barry, for sure.
Bonds with the Giants:
15 seasons, .312/.477/.666 (199+), 586 HR, 1951 hits, 1555 runs scored, 1440 RBI
:: head explodes ::
BUT TEH CHEMIZTREEE!!!!!!
Did the Giants ever win the World Series with Bonds? No… Clearly, it’s because Bonds dragged the rest of the team down. Replace him with a team player like Scott Brosius and the Giants are clearly much better off.
in one third of his seasons with the Giants he had an OPS+ of over 200. Three of those were over 250. Unreal
Looking at his numbers, you just get taken back.
yeah, 2001, 2002 and 2004 really stick out
That is insane, but this is even more…
Babe Ruth with the Yankees:
15 seasons, .349/.484/.711(210+), 659 HR, 2518 hits, 1959 runs scored, 1975 RBI
StErOiDs!1!1!
Beer & cigars >>>>>>>>>>> roids
The best free agent contract ever is every contract ever given out by Theo Epstein, baseball’s only true supergenius and the man who was on the brink of discovering cold fusion before he abandonded his burgeoning career as a nuclear physicist to concentrate on making sure the Red Sox could finally win a World Series and thus, fulfill the prophecy and restore balance to the Force.
For Diamond Cutters, I’m Peter Gammons, ESPN.
The best free agent contract ever is every contract ever given out by Theo Epstein, baseball’s only true supergenius and the man who was on the brink of discovering cold fusion before he abandonded his burgeoning career as a nuclear physicist to concentrate on making sure the Red Sox could finally win a World Series and thus, fulfill the prophecy and restore balance to the Force.
For
Diamond Cutters,MLB Network, I’m Peter Gammons, ESPN.I don’t think Gammons is with ESPN anymore, is he?
The fact that I included Gammmons’s 25-year old “For Diamond Cutters” tagline should have given a hint that I was intentionally backdating the gag for extra wry wit oomph.
In a related story, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
And now you know… the rest of the story. Good day.
Sincerely,
Paul Harvey
Definitely Barry.
IMO, top 5 greatest hitters of all time:
Ruth
Gehrig
Bonds
Williams
Hornsby
Only 1 of those guys was a free agent.
Randy may possibly be among the top 5 greatest pitchers of all time, but he still only pitched 8 of 22 seasons with the DBacks.
IMO, top 5 greatest hitters of all time:
Ruth
Gehrig
Bonds
Bernie “Feared” Williams
Hornsby
Yeah, who’d you think I was referring to?
Mitch Williams
I’m going to vote Greg Maddux’s first Braves contract.
$28m/5 years (Taken instead of the Yankees offer of $35m/5 years)
Season averages:
18-7, 231 IP, 0.955 WHIP, 177 K, 31 BB
Note the 231 IP average, despite the fact that this contract included the strike shortened ’94 and ’95 seasons. All that at 80% of what he could have earned elsewhere. Hard to top that value.
As awesome as Johnson was, his deal crippled the team financially. They had to restructure it (and other members of the ’01 team) to spread the payments out over the rest of the decade, which really hurt the team going forward. I can’t overlook that aspect of the deal when evaluating it.
In a chat a couple months ago, Axisa pointed to the fact that:
Maddux made more starts for the Braves than he had unintentional walks.
363 starts, 299 unintentional bb’s. Damn.
That’s in fucking credible.
Pshhhhh… How old is Maddux, 45?
I could hit him…
What exactly was the nature of coincidence mentioned concerning Matsui and Wang?
It spells it out pretty clearly in the post, no? Matsui’s last game in the field was the same day Chien-Ming Wang injured his foot in Houston.
What’s coincidental about that? What’s the connection?
[...] week, and none of them are long enough to warrant a separate post. So in the grand style of the link roundups we post periodically at River Ave. Blues, I present a TWU link [...]