As free agents go this winter, Hideki Matsui could be a valuable one for a team in need of a DH. At his age, he won’t demand a long-term deal, and as we saw this year, when healthy, he can still hit. But make no mistake about it: Matsui is a DH.

In an excellent piece about Matsui’s medical history, David Waldstein talks with Scott Rodeo, the doctor behind Matsui’s knees. Although Hideki and his agent Arn Tellem say he could still play the outfield, Dr. Rodeo isn’t so sure about that.

Basically, Matsui’s knees are ticking time bombs. He has to be monitored continually and could need another procedure to remove loose cartilage from his knee. To rehab, Matsui must strengthen the surrounding leg muscles, and he will probably get microfracture surgery after he retires. According to the doctor, to do so now would cost him a full season of rehab. With this medical history in mind, Rodeo would not be too comfortable with his patient roaming the outfield:

Rodeo operated on Matsui’s arthritic knees a year ago. With careful supervision by the trainer Gene Monahan, he monitored Matsui’s progress throughout the season, helping him to be at optimal health for the postseason.

Now a free agent, Matsui is scheduled to see Rodeo again soon. A magnetic resonance imaging test will probably determine whether Matsui needs to have the procedure repeated. Either way, Rodeo said, Matsui could play some outfield next year.

“I think that he will probably be able to do it up to a point,” Rodeo said. “If he plays four or five games a week out there, it might start to bother him. There’s probably some level he can establish where he can play two or three days a week, but not four or five. My sense is that if you put him out there every single day, he might get into trouble.”

Meanwhile, last night at the Joe Torre Safe at Home gala, Matsui again reiterated his desire to stay with the Yankees. For the Bombers, it’s a nearly perfect situation. Matsui wants to stay and would probably be willing to settle for a reasonable amount of money. The team could sign Matsui to a short deal, and he wouldn’t need to play the outfield. Coming off of a 131 OPS+ season in which he only DH’d, Matsui can just hit and also rest those knees.

Even if the Yanks opt to let Matsui walk, he should still be viewed as a DH. Any team planning to place Matsui in the outfield would be incurring a significant amount of medical risk. He was the third most productive AL DH last year and could extend his career by giving up those dreams of returning to the outfield. I know the Yanks want to get younger and more versatile with their roster construction, but letting Matsui walk would be a mistake this winter.

It’s not a stretch to say that no sport has been impacted more by the power of the Internet by baseball. From the rise of cross-country sabermetrics to the proliferation of blogs and smarter analysis than that offered by local papers and sports talk radio to institutions such as MLB.com that have revolutionized online content delivery, baseball has spent the last ten years living through its own golden age of the Internet.

It was, then, only a matter of time before agents started taking their appeals for their players to the digital airwaves. Scott Boras’ player profile binders may be legendary amongst baseball executives and fans, but the truly savvy agents will tap into the Internet to generate populist pressure in support of their clients. By utilizing this still-developing medium, agents can change the tenor of the conversation over free agents.

Yesterday, we saw how Johnny Damon and Scott Boras are not quite on the same page regarding Damon’s free agency. The Yanks’ left fielder wants to stay in the Bronx while Boras wants him to get market value and a longer deal than the one Brian Cashman will offer. In all senses, the Damon/Boras conflict is a fairly traditional player/agent fight, and the Damon negotiations are going to be fairly routine.

But Arn Tellem, Hideki Matsui’s agent, seems willing to push the boundaries of this Internet Age. In what I can only assume is a first for an agent, Tellem has taken his defense of Matsui online. He published an article on the Huffington Post explaining why Hideki Matsui is a sound investment. With one bit of hyperbole and otherwise astute observations, Tellem’s piece is an excellent primer in making your case.

First, the hyperbole: Tellem calls Matsui “an ageless talent.” At age 35 and with creaky knees, Matsui certainly is showing his age, but he can still hit. If that’s Tellem’s worst exaggeration, it’s an understandable one.

In discussing Matsui, Tellem engages in some fanciful writing too. “By embracing Matsui,” he says, “New Yorkers have once again shown that though ball clubs are named for cities and states, they transcend geography. Teams may not be where we find our heroes today, but, as Matsui has demonstrated, it’s where we find heroic situations we can all dream of, argue about or simply watch together in amazement. That’s the game’s unifying force.” Hey, I buy it.

It gets better though:

As his agent, I take a different view. The ageless Matsui has shown not just that he can still hit, but that he can hit with consistency and aplomb. During the regular season, he ranked second among DHs in homers, and third in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and walks. No left-handed hitter homered more off southpaws. Matsui combines the late-inning heroics of Yankees great Tommy (Old Reliable) Henrich and the superb professionalism of Paul O’Neill. He’s a complete player who always has taken pride in contributing to all facets of the game.

Matsui’s immense popularity in Japan gives the Yanks strong financial incentive to re-sign him. He helps bring in millions of dollars annually in marketing and sponsorship revenue. In the seven years since he joined the Bronx Bombers, Matsui has played a pivotal role in establishing the Yankees as a global brand. Six major Japanese companies — including Toyota, Sony and the Daily Yomiuri newspaper — have signed on as advertisers, each reportedly adding $1 million or so a year to team coffers. Most of these firms have placed their billboards in right field, often the final resting ground of Godzilla’s monstrous clouts, to target the audience of NHK, the Japanese radio and television network. Currently, NHK airs 120 Yankee games a season.

It’s not a stretch to say Matsui is as responsible for Japanese interest in the Yankees as Yao Ming is for the NBA in China. Matsui has yet another virtue that goes beyond mere statistics. In an age when athletes mock our reverence daily, he’s exemplary in every aspect of his life. In January of 2003, his very first request upon landing in New York was to be taken to the Twin Towers memorial to pay his respects. He did this without publicity or fanfare. He did it because, he said, it was “the right thing to do.” After the tsunami hit Indonesia at the end of 2005, Matsui, out his own sense of decency, donated $500,000 to UNICEF. He’s one of those rare superstars who recognize the unique role his astonishing talent has given him and the good he can do for others.

That’s a brilliant first shot by Matsui’s agent. He makes his statistical argument, his economic argument, and his all-around good-guy argument in 350 words.

Right now, we don’t know what the immediate future holds for Matsui. Talks with the Yanks are on hold until the organization has a chance to meet, and although rumors about the Red Sox’s interest surfaced yesterday, it’s hard to believe that Theo Epstein would do anything but drive up Matsui’s price. Reportedly, the Sox would eye Matsui as a regular left fielder, but it’s hardly a secret that Matsui’s knees can’t take the pounding.

And so we wait with the words of Arn Tellem out there for anyone to see. Matsui, he says, “loves New York,” and the Yanks will have “‘a special place’ in his heart.” How ever does a GM respond to such a blatantly public and emotional appeal for support just one week after the free agent-to-be took home World Series MVP honors?