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Archive for Johnny Damon

Oct

Where have you gone, Johnny Damon?

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (176)

Through the first five months of the season, Johnny Damon was sitting pretty. Playing out the last year of his Yankee contract, Damon was putting up a career year, and on Sept. 2, he was hitting .293/.373/.524. He had tied his career high in home runs with 24 and seemed destined to reach the quarter century mark.

Since then, though, it’s been one long slump for Johnny Damon. He ended the regular season on a 17-for 79 slide and hit just .215/.319/.278 over his last 92 plate appearances. He struck out 17 times, knocked out just five extra-base hits and never reached 25 home runs.

This poor offensive play has continued into the playoffs. Against the Twins, Johnny Damon seemed lost at the plate. He went 1 for 12 and struck out four times against Carl Pavano and the Twins’ pen last night. By his fourth at-bat, some Yankee fans were wondering if Brett Gardner deserves a start. Of course, Damon has more power potential than Gardner, but during the regular season, Damon’s play would probably earn him a mental health day off.

Generally, I wouldn’t be too worried about a 100-plate appearance slump. Damon is in one now, and it’s probably just a matter of time before he breaks out in a big way. But two aspects to Johnny Damon — his contract status and his willingness to play through injuries — makes me wonder if we should put some more stock into this slump.

As much as it is a cliché, Johnny Damon is a gritty player. He hates to sit, and he doesn’t share injuries with everyone. He’ll play through sore legs, a sore back, sore anything. Usually, we can tell when Damon is hurt because it impacts his performance, and he plays as he has been lately. His swings are late; he flails in the field; his game just isn’t on.

Meanwhile, Damon is also playing for a contract. He turns 36 in a few weeks, and Damon has seen the market for 36-year-old outfielders. He saw Bobby Abreu settle for a deal significantly lower than he expected, and he knows that he’ll be up against Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and Abreu on the free agent market this winter. He needs to play, and he needs to perform to prove his worth.

Finally, we arrive too at the Yankees’ specific aspect of this story. Although the Yankees’ players are focused on beating the Angels to reach the World Series, the Yankees’ Front Office knows that, shortly after the World Series ends, the free agent frenzy begins. The team will have to decide whether or not to re-sign their own free agents, and the Yankee brass may be gearing up to make a choice between Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. Do they put stock into Matsui’s late-season surge and Damon’s late-season swoon? Do they look to get younger in left while retaining Matsui as a DH? Do they jettison the creaky-kneed Hideki while keeping Damon, the guy who has expressed a keen desire to stay in the Bronx?

Damon’s poor play of late isn’t making this decision any easier than it was, and it must gnaw at him to know that everyone is watching and evaluating and determining his future for him. For now, I hope last night’s Golden Sombrero is the end of his struggles. The Yankees will need his power at the plate and his speed on the bases for their ALCS match-up against the Angels.

Categories : Musings

Comments (176)

Oct

Yanks go crazy in the sixth, take season’s final game

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (160)

As mentioned before the game, there was a milestone or two at stake in this game. Both Mark Teixeira and the team were tied atop their respective home run leader boards, Teixeira tied with Carlos Pena atop the AL leaders and the team tied with the 2004 squad for most home runs by a Yankees team. While Mark had to settle for a tie, the team accomplished their milestone, and in grand fashion. It also brought along another milestone, one that was unlikely to be reached.

At the beginning, it looked like another lackadaisical game for the Yanks. They collected just three hits through the first five innings, and Derek Jeter, who knows no off switch, had two of them. It’s always tough to tell in that situation whether it’s the pitcher going well or the offense just not producing. Considering the Yankees position, it seemed like the latter. So the Yanks would go out losers of four straight. No big deal.

Apparently, they weren’t having any of that. Johnny Damon, who was 0 for 2 on the day and was slumping badly over the past few weeks, led off with a double. Mark Teixeira walked, and then A-Rod got a hold of one, sending it over the left field fence for home run No. 29 and RBI No. 96 on the season. It was a shame, I’m sure a few of you noted, that Alex would fall short of the 30/100 milestone, especially since he had such a great year. Still, 29 homers and 96 RBI in 124 games is pretty remarkable, especially considering the recovery he made from March hip surgery.

After Freddy Guzman ran for Hideki Matsui a batter later, it was clear the regulars were coming out. There was little chance A-Rod would get another at bat in the game. But then a series of strange events unfolded. After tapping one in front of the plate, Melky Cabrera ran as hard as I’ve ever seen him, just barely beating the throw to first base. Best of all, it didn’t look like he even entertained the idea of sliding. A batter later, Jose Molina tapped one in front of the plate as well, but Andy Sonnanstine couldn’t field it cleanly, allowing Guzman to score.

That’s when Damon struck again. With the bases loaded and two outs he laced one down the right field line, plating Melky and Swisher and putting runners on second and third. The Rays, not wanting to serve up Mark Teixeira’s 40th home run, intentionally walked him to get to A-Rod, which is like a pitcher walking Ortiz to get to Manny back in 2005. The bases were set up for A-Rod.

I don’t know how he did it. I don’t know why Sonnanstine left a pitch where he did, and I don’t know how A-Rod managed to get a hold of it and take it to right center. All I know is that it dropped beyond the fence, and in the span of one inning A-Rod has gotten to his 30 home runs and 100 RBI. With his three hits in the game he raised his average to .286 after being in the .260s in August. It’s been a wild ride for A-Rod, and now he’s facing his biggest challenge: producing in the playoffs.

Burnett’s tune-up wasn’t all bad. He allowed a home run to Evan Longoria in the first, a forgivable solo shot, and then another run scored on a Jose Molina passed ball. While Burnett allowed seven hits and a walk, a few too many baserunners in five innings, he also threw 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes, 65 percent. He came out after the fifth, but because the Yanks batted first in the sixth he picked up his 13th win of the season, lowering his ERA to an acceptable 4.04.

Afer that, the game was a cinch. The bullpen didn’t allow a hit or walk, and all five Yankees relievers recorded a strikeout. The story, of course, was Joba Chamberlain, who looked sharp in his frame, retiring the Rays with just nine pitches, seven of which were strikes. It wasn’t the setup man Joba were were quite used to — his fastball topped out around 95, though again that’s perfectly acceptable. He mixed that with an accurate slider to put down the Rays as fast as they came up. If this was a true audition for a postseason roster spot, he passed without question.

That’s it, folks. The regular season is over for the Yankees. Their 103 wins matches 2002’s total, which is the highest since 1998. We’ll go over the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, and the creamy middles between now and Wednesday, when the Yankees are expected to play their first playoff game since 2007. The game will start at 6:07 EDT regardless of whether it’s Wednesday or Thursday.

And with that, it’s time for an open thread. Discuss the game, A-Rod, the Tigers-Twins playoff — which will happen Tuesday — or anything else you want.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (160)

Oct

Johnny, Melky hope September slumps end in October

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (34)

The calendar has flipped from September to October, and while the playoffs aren’t quite here, everyone can feel it. These last three games won’t mean much, except maybe to CC Sabathia, who tries for his 20th win tonight. The rest is just a tune-up. But for two Yankees, it will be about setting a tone for the new month, the one that, for the Yankees and their championship-focused mentality, is all that matters.

Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera have been slumping of late. That’s fine. The Yankees had matters pretty well at hand coming into September, so to have two-thirds of their outfield struggling wasn’t the worst thing in the world. As we like to say when players slump, better now than in the playoffs. Players streak and players slump. Neither lasts forever, which is why it’s perfectly fine that both have had their struggles in September.

Of the two, Johnny’s has been worse, if only because he’s a more important piece than Melky. While he’s still getting on base — a .347 OBP on the strength of 14 walks — Damon has seemingly lost the power stroke that made him a Yankee hero earlier this season. He has only four extra base hits in 96 September plate appearances, all doubles. Even worse, he has just 19 hits, making a slash line of .235/.347/.284.

It could be that Damon, who will turn 36 in November, is breaking down in his old age. But given the amount of rest Girardi has provided him, that seems unlikely. Damon has appeared in just 22 September games, starting only 20. He’s had two two-day breaks in the past 11, so there’s no doubt he’s as well rested as he’s been at this point. In that 11 game span, by the way, Damon is hitting .083/.267/.083. From September 1 through 19, he hit .298/.385/.368, so there was only a loss of power. There doesn’t appear to be any reason to think Damon will continue this slide.

Melky’s slump is less pronounced than Damons, but that’s because Melky has a lower baseline. In September he’s hitting .287/.361/.414, which is actually pretty good. In fact, if the Yankees could get Melky to hit that way consistently, he could definitely man center field. The problem, as with Damon, is his play of late.

We last wrote about Melky on September 8. He had just gone 3 for 4 with two RBI in the second game of the Tampa Bay doubleheader, in which he went 4 for 7 with a walk overall. Since our previous criticism, on August 19th, Melky had hit .348/.392/.464. But, just like every other time we criticize Melky, he turned it around. From the 8th through the 30th, Melky’s hitting .214/.302/.321.

Some players are going to slump in October. It’s just part of the game. If Melky continues hitting poorly, well, the Yanks just have to accept that. Thankfully, they can use Brett Gardner and have his speed in the lineup. But the Yankees can ill-afford to have Damon’s woes continue into the cool October nights. Unfortunately, there’s not much Girardi can do, other than to play Damon all three games this weekend and hope he hits a rhythm. He’ll have plenty of time to rest on Monday and Tuesday.

Categories : Offense

Comments (34)

Sep

Quite a crazy series of events in the Bronx

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (43)

Ben covered this in last night’s game recap, but I think the series of events which gave the Yankees their first lead of the game is worthy of its own post. It involved an odd, for him, but good call by Joe Girardi, a bonehead play by Melky, and culminated with a doubly bizarre play. At the sequence’s end, the Yankees had a 3-2 lead on the Angels, which set them up for a 5-3 victory.

Al Aceves replaced Joba Chamberlain to start the fifth inning, and Erik Aybar opened the frame with a double down the right field line. With the .220 hitting Jeff Mathis up next, a bunt was certain. That put Aybar on third with one out. Just last week Girardi brought in the infield in a similar situation — on the Toronto turf, no less. Perhaps he learned from that, as he played the infield back and allowed Aybar to score on a slow grounder. When your team scores over five runs a game, that’s the right call.

The Yankees were down 2-1, but with five more chances to take the lead. Nick Swisher got things started right away, matching Aybar with a double of his own to lead off the bottom half. After Melky walked, Jeter bunted both runners into scoring position. Having your best hitter give away an out seems like an odd decision, but it’s one we’ve come to expect from Girardi. Still, the Yankees had two chances hit a two-run single and give themselves a lead.

What followed was a mental mistake by Melky Cabrera. Johnny Damon hit a slow grounder, and Melky was headed right toward Chone Figgins. The former didn’t allow the latter a chance to field the ball cleanly, barreling into him. The umpire correctly called Melky out and ordered Swisher back to third. Chants of bullshit emanated from the crowd even though the call was not controversial in the slightest.

Melky’s gaffe illustrated why the bunt was a questionable call with Jeter at the plate. Now the Yankees had runner on first and third with two out and had still failed to plate a run. Mark Teixeira came to the plate in a situation where a single would only tie the game, though with Johnny Damon at first a double likely would have put the Yanks ahead. Still, that’s counting on a double, a dicey proposition even from a hitter like Teixeira.

As we know, Tex came through, but it wasn’t what anyone expected. He laid into a Jeff Weaver offering, sending the ball high and deep. It bounced off the center field wall, out of Torii Hunter’s reach, rolling back towards the infield and allowing Tex to take third base. Yet it could have been even more.

It turns out that Teixeira hit Jeff Mathis’s glove on his swing. So even on a swing where the catcher impeded the power he could generate, Tex still hit one off the wall. As Girardi said, Teixeira probably “would have had a home run if he didn’t have the [catcher's] interference.” It marks the second strange long hit by Teixeira this season. He previously homered on a broken bat.

If it ended there, perhaps it wouldn’t be bizarre enough to warrant a post. As Hunter collided with the wall in a vain attempt to catch Teixeira’s fly, he lost his shoe. No, really. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal. But it was an appropriate cap to a bizarre series of events which started by handing the Angels the lead, and ended with the Yankees retaking it.

The only appropriate thing to say after all this: you can’t predict baseball. You just can’t.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (43)

Sep

Yanks avoid sweep, take sloppy game from Orioles

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (59)

Early on, this was the kind of game that made you want to pull your hair out. The Yanks squandered an opportunity in the first inning. Then CC Sabathia came back out for the next inning and surrendered the small lead. The game got further away with an inexcusable play by Damon. The Yanks offense wouldn’t lay sleeping for long, though. They came on late and put the team out in front, avoiding the sweep at the hands of the Orioles.

After a quick, nine-pitch first inning, Sabathia ran into trouble in the second. Nolan Reimold, thorn in the Yanks side all series, led things off with a dribbler to third. He’s a quick kid, and A-Rod really had no chance. CC left one up and over the plate to Ty Wigginton, and he deposited it in shallow right. A four-pitch walk to Matt Wieters loaded the bases with none out.

CC turned it around and held the Orioles to two runs in that inning, both scoring on outs. The problems resurfaced in the third. CC retired the first two hitters, but the second, Nick Markakis, sent one out to the wall at the deepest part of the park. Reimold hit it similarly, but instead of right to center he split Melky and Damon for a double off the wall. After a walk he’d finish off the side without allowing a run to score, but CC still didn’t look sharp.

Then came the fourth, an inning to forget. Justin Turner reached on a slow grounder to third, frustrating as hell because a ball hit that weakly should be an out. But it wasn’t. Chad Moeller followed that with another weak grounder to third, and if it was anyone by Chad Moeller running, it likely would have been another infield hit.

So there was a runner on second with one out. I knew that. You knew that. Eight Yankees in the field knew that. Unfortunately, Jef Fiorentino hit it to the one guy who didn’t. Johnny Damon had a bit of trouble with the fly ball in the sun, and breathed a sigh of relief when it landed in his glove. He turned around to toss it to a fan, not realizing that CC still had an out to record. That bought Turner enough time to round third and give the Orioles a 3-1 lead. It was certainly one of the most embarrassing moments of the season.

That seemingly sparked Sabathia. He got Brian Roberts to pop out on the next pitch, and didn’t allow a hit the rest of the way. He walked two, but erased one on a first-pitch double play. That left him with a line of 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 K. The game didn’t go far in improving Sabathia’s until-now disgusting K/BB ratio.

For the offense, the early game was defined by a lack of hits with runners in scoring position. A-Rod came through with a double to score Jeter in the first, but the next two batters couldn’t plate the runners on second and third. They squandered Derek Jeter’s leadoff double in the third, mustering only a walk off Jeremy Guthrie.

In the fourth that changed, as the Yanks loaded up the bases with three straight singles, capped by a fourth by Melky Cabrera, plating two runs and tying the game. But the Yanks couldn’t plate another run in that inning, even after Johnny Damon walked to load the bases. The frame ended on an Alex Rodriguez strikeout looking. The pitch was clearly outside, but Marty Foster called it a strike anyway.

That led to a curious situation. After the Yankees took the field, apparently someone had a closer look at it. Alex said something and got tossed. Then Girardi blew up and got himself tossed. I’ll leave the umpire rant for another day. Yeah, the pitch was close, but it wasn’t a strike. If the ball doesn’t catch the corner, it should not be called a strike, and I don’t care if the ump is “consistently” calling them out there.

Matsui broke the RISP woes in the sixth, singling with the bases loaded and plating two runs. That would be all the Yanks would need, but they didn’t let it end there. In the bottom of the eight they poured it on, decimating the Baltimore bullpen and continuing their tradition of putting up enormous numbers in the final three frames. Matsui picked up a three run homer, which iced the victory. The homer didn’t kill the rally, though, and the Yanks put up five more runs and loaded up the bases before the O’s bullpen finally got out of it.

Instead of the scheduled off-day tomorrow, the Yanks will host Anaheim in a makeup of a rainout from earlier this year. The Yanks had won the first two games of that series, losing the third with Sabathia on the hill. Joba Chamberlain will go, and strangely I think he was the scheduled starter for the regularly scheduled game (but I could be wrong). The Yanks magic number is now down to an A-Rodian 13. It could get down to 12, depending on the Sox-Rays game this evening.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (59)

Aug

Perrotto: Yanks want Damon back for one year

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (265)

While we still have a month left of regular season baseball and, hopefully, a few weeks of October play in the Bronx, nothing dominates the conversation quite like the Hot Stove League does. In his latest weekend roundup, John Perrotto drops in a bit about the Yankees and Johnny Damon:

The Yankees would prefer to re-sign Johnny Damon to a one-year contract for 2010 and allow outfield prospect Austin Jackson a second year to develop at Triple-A, meanwhile pursuing such big-name free-agent outfielders as Matt Holliday and Jason Bay in the offseason.

This is not, of course, the first time we’ve heard the rumblings about Damon and the Yanks. We looked at some early Damon rumors on the 18th and the potential costs of a deal on the 25th. One way or another, Damon and the Yankees will exchange ample conversations about 2010 once November rolls around.

What strikes me about Perrotto’s report are the two other pieces. The first part involves Austin Jackson. As a 22-year-old at AAA, Jackson’s numbers are far from terrible. He is hitting .294/.352/.401 and has stolen 22 out of 26 bases. That’s the good of it.

The bad of it is rather extensive. He has hit just four home runs all season; he has struck out 118; and his BABIP is an unsustainable .386. Plugging his numbers into the Minor League Equivalences tool gives us a line of .255/.301/.340. He makes Melky look like an All Star, and it is clear that Jackson needs a least part of another season at AAA.

Next up are the dueling Jason Bay/Matt Holliday rumors that Perrotto drops. For the most part this year, we’ve heard about varying degrees of interest the Yanks may have in these two players. Some sources say the Yankees will kick the tires on Bay — to force the Red Sox to pay more — and Holliday because he’d be a great fit for Yankee Stadium. Other sources say the Yankees are loath to dole out more multi-year contracts for aging outfielders and may not be in a position to do so financially after landing Mark Teixeira last winter.

Between Bay and Holliday, though, my choice would be Holliday. The current Cardinals outfielder is 21 months younger than Bay and has proven that he can hit outside of Coors Field this year. The idea of giving four or five years to either of these players though isn’t one I can readily embrace.

As the calendar marches on, we’ll hear a lot about Damon and the Yanks’ outfield plans for next year. They have a left field vacancy to consider and a center field spot that could use an upgrade. With Jackson potentially waiting in the wings but still some time away, the Yanks have some tough developmental choices to make this winter. How it plays out will be interesting indeed. It always is.

Addendum: Another reason the Yanks might be interested in retaining Damon.

Categories : Irresponsible Rumormongering

Comments (265)

Aug

How much is that OF/DH in the window?

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (159)

For the Yankees, 2010 is shaping up to be something of a sandwich. Stuck between 2011, ideally the year of the Jesus (and perhaps A-Jax), and 2009, the year of Johnny Damon’s and Hideki Matsui’s impending free agency, the Yankees will see a lot of key spots in limbo next year. They could go to the wall on a few big free agents, they could re-sign those they know or they could ride out the tide.

The first one up to consider is Johnny Damon and the left field spot. On defense, Damon has been dreadful this year. His UZR is currently -7.3 after reaching 6.7 last year. Yet his offense has been tremendous. He has an .882 OPS and should reach a career high in home runs this year. He is also in the final year of a four-year contract paying him $13 million a year.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve examined how the Yankees want to bring Damon back and how Damon wants to return. Today, Jon Heyman adds his take to the Damon mix:

The Yankees intend to try to bring back Johnny Damon, probably for about $6-8 million a year (that’ll be the first offer, anyway), and might be willing to give him a second year. Damon’s been saying in the papers all year that he wants to be back, which is quite a departure from the usual free-agent script and could mean he’s that rare player amenable to a below-market contract. Yankees management loves Damon personally, too, and that doesn’t hurt.

That figure — $6-$8 million a year for two years — is pretty much what I assumed the Yankees would offer. According to Fangraphs, Damon will probably outperform his contract value this year. With a month of the season left, Damon’s value is pegged at $11.9 million. Allowing for age-related declines, I would assume a value of $10 million next year and $8-$9 million the year after. (Value, by the way, is something of an ideal figure. It’s WAR “converted to a dollar scale based on what a player would make in free agency.” That “would” requires perfect information and agreement as to a true value between the team and the player.)

Next up is Hideki Matsui. We know that Matsui likes New York, and in the comments to Joe’s most recent post, we were debating Matsui’s potential value to the 2010 Yankees. While Joe Girardi has talked about using the DH spot as a rotating half-rest spot for his aging veterans, I am of the belief that a premiere bat at DH would better serve the team. The Yankees can ill afford to lose Hideki Matsui and his 15.8 batting runs above average to a lineup that includes Ramiro Pena or Jose Molina every day.

But how much is Hideki Matsui worth? He too is playing out the last year of a four-year $52 million contract, and while Damon has met that value, Fangraphs pegs Matsui’s value as $24.2 million over the four years. Even with a monster September, Matsui won’t be worth much more than half of what he has been paid.

As long as Matsui can stay healthy enough to DH and produce as near his current levels next year, they should be willing to offer him a one-year deal with the idea that some combination of Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira and Jesus Montero will assume the DH duties in 2011. In 2007, Frank Thomas DH’d for the Blue Jays and put up similar numbers to Matsui’s 2009 campaign. He earned $5.5 million and was worth approximately $9.9 million. If the Yankees and Matsui can agree to a one-year $8 million deal for 2010, I would approve.

The Yanks could look outside of Matsui and Damon, though. They could opt for an outfield of Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher. While the defense would be stellar, the offensive production would suffer immensely. Damon’s WAR outpaces Melky’s by 2 wins and Gardner’s by 0.7 wins, mostly due to Brett’s defense. They could, as Ken Rosenthal speculated today, be in on Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, the top two free agent outfielders.

In the end, though, I’d rather give two 36-year-olds one-to-two year deals than give Jason Bay anything. I could be convinced to look at Holliday in Yankee Stadium for the right price, but with his career resurgence in St. Louis, he will be looking for a big pay day. No matter what, this off-season will be an interesting one as the Yanks look to fill a few short-term gaps and assess their organizational philosophy going forward.

Categories : Analysis

Comments (159)

Aug

Yanks, Damon heading toward a new deal

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (112)

Once this season wraps up, there are few big-name free agents among the Major League outfielders. Matt Holliday will clearly lead the list with Jason Bay and the oft-injured Vladimir Guerrero behind him. Beyond that, a bunch of mediocre outfielders and aging stars will tempt teams.

One of those aging stars we know quite well. The Yankees’ left fielder Johnny Damon will be a free agent at the end of the season. A year ago, I would never have predicted a Damon return to the Bronx for 2010 and possibly beyond, but Damon has turned in a 2009 to remember. He is hitting .283/.364/.521 with 22 HR. He should top his career high in home runs of 24, and his OPS+ currently stands at 129, also a career high.

As the season has unfolded, Johnny Damon has continually stressed his desire to remain in the Bronx, and the Yankees have noticed both this enthusiasm and his production. According to Tyler Kepner, the Yankees and Johnny Damon may be picking each other as Damon hits free agency. The Times scribe writes:

Before the season, there was a sense that the Yankees would allow Damon to move on and turn over his left-field spot to a prospect like Austin Jackson or a younger free agent like Matt Holliday. But Yankees officials seem to understand Damon’s value on the field and in the clubhouse, and now they would like him to return. When the Yankees want to keep a player and the player wants to stay, that is usually what happens.

“I don’t know where else I would want to go to,” Damon said. “Obviously, that’s not the right thing to say when you’re about ready to approach free agency, but I’m very happy with playing in New York, and my family’s happy I play for New York. There’s no bigger place to go. If you play well here, you’re going to get paid. New York has the resources. But we also have the chance to win every year. I don’t want to attempt to go make more money elsewhere, for more years, with a chance to be out of the race by the first of June.

…Damon’s agent is Scott Boras, who is never shy about seeking the highest bidder. But Damon said that during his last free agency, he instructed Boras not to bother gathering offers from West Coast teams. He said Boras would listen to his wishes. “Scott knows,” Damon said. “Even if I did sign another two- or three-year deal to come back to New York, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll be retired after that. There could be a time where I go somewhere and pinch-hit for a year or whatever.”

Damon, according to Kepner, recognizes that he’ll have to take a pay cut. After all, no team will pay an outfielder of his age more than the $13 million a year Johnny currently makes.

Now, we’ve recently saluted Johnny Damon. Not only is having one helluva season, but his career ranks him up there. His hits, runs and stolen base totals are among the leaders of this generation of baseball players, and he has been remarkably durable — or at least willing to play through injuries — since 1996.

Yet, I’m not sure how much I would give Johnny Damon. Two years seems reasonable, but should the Yanks be depending upon a 37-year-old Damon in 2011? If he isn’t blocking any younger — and potentially better — players, then so be it. As long as the Yanks do not handicap themselves with a sentimental deal, bring back Damon, but I’m rather wary of giving 36-year-old outfielders with decreasing range too many years or too much money.

Categories : Irresponsible Rumormongering

Comments (112)

Aug

The underappreciated Johnny Damon

Posted by: Mike Axisa | Comments (52)

Every fan of every team believes there are certain players that don’t get the credit they deserve, but only a handful of players actually fall into that category. Current Yankee leftfielder Johnny Damon is one of those players. Thanks to last night’s 2-for-4 game, Johnny became the first player in more than 50 years (and the third overall) to rack up 600 or more hits with three different teams, which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

Since Johnny’s first career game on August 12th, 1995 (when he went 3-for-5 with a triple), exactly two players have more than his 2,389 hits, and they’re his teammates: Derek Jeter (2,672) and Alex Rodriguez (2,440). Damon’s also scored the third-most runs (1,459) in that time, again trailing Jetes & A-Rod. Stolen bases? He’s fourth (370) behind Juan Pierre, Kenny Lofton, and Eric Young.

Counting stats are nice, but Damon also ranks amongst the elite in wins over replacement, or WAR. With 42.2 WAR to his credit coming into the season, he has already placed above Hall of Famers Jim Rice (41.5) and Lou Brock (39.1), among others, on the Top 500 WAR list. And don’t forget that he’s still going, with more Cooperstowners like Kirby Puckett (45.0) and Ralph Kiner (45.8) within shouting distance.

Amazingly, Damon is currently enjoying the best season of his career at age 35. He’s two shy of tying his career high of 24 homers, which he set in his first year in pinstripes. His .532 SLG and .240 IsoP are far and away career highs, ditto his .894 OPS and 11.1% walk rate. Oh sure, Damon’s getting a ton of help from the New Yankee Stadium this year (.979 OPS at homer vs .803 on the road), but HitTracker says that every one of his homers would have been gone out in at least one other park, and 15 of his 22 homers would have left the yard in at least 20 big league ballparks. Even if you want to discount the 57 home games he’s played this year from his career production, it’s like taking a cup of water from the ocean.

Yet despite all of the numbers Damon’s racked up, he’s never been considered one of the elite players of the generation. He’s always been in that “very good” category, especially since he signed with the Yankees. Is he a Hall of Famer? I don’t think so, but you can make a case he should be. I do know this though: Johnny’s been one of the best and most consistently productive players in the game since the day he set foot in the big leagues. I tip my cap to him.

Photo Credit: Uli Seit, NYT

Categories : Players

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Aug

Pettitte, Yanks power past Halladay for 5-3 win

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (86)

The Yankees had a strange night against Roy Halladay. They worked him in the first, forcing him to throw 23 pitches in a two-run inning, which included an error by the man himself (though Millar got the credit, Doc kinda just dropped the ball). It was a rare early lead against Halladay, but he wasn’t about to give up much more. He rolled through the middle innings before wearing down at the end, surrendering three solo homers, which would be the difference in a 5-3 Yankees win.

After the first inning, Doc settled in, and that might be an understatement. After throwing 23 pitches in the first, Halladay finished all nine with just 103. This included seven pitches in the second, 16 in the third, 10 in the fourth, nine in the fifth, nine in the sixth, and five in the seventh. That left him with 89 pitches headed into the eighth, and for a guy who’s topped topped out at 133 this year that’s seemingly nothing.

Halladay looked strong again to start the eighth, retiring the first two hitters on five pitches. Then came Johnny Damon, who on the fifth pitch of the at bat hit one over the right field wall. Unlike his July Fourth jack, this was no cheapie, as it landed in the Yankees bullpen, extending the lead to 3-1. Mark Teixeira followed with a shot to right on the second pitch he saw, giving the Yankees a nice cushion. They’d need it.

Phil Hughes, who had come on for Pettitte with two on and two outs in the seventh, didn’t look his sharpest last night. Each of the five Jays he faced had two strikes, but three of them managed to foul a few off — ones that a few weeks ago Hughes would have blown by them. In total the Jays had seven two-strike fouls off Hughes, including four frustrating ones by Kevin Millar, who, like Adam Lind and Jose Bautista before him, struck out looking.

Yet Hughes did allow two hits in the eighth, which was enough for Girardi to call on Mo for another four-out save. That backfired, as he allowed a two-run double to Vernon Wells after going down 3-0 on him. That made it a one-run game, something you just don’t expect when staking Hughes and Mo to a three-run lead. Hideki Matsui made it a bit more comfortable with a first-pitch homer off Halladay in the ninth, but Mo made it interesting again in the ninth, putting men on first and third before closing the door.

Andy Pettitte did his job, though he seemed shaky at times. He didn’t throw a healthy number of strikes — 103 pitches, 57 strikes. It almost caught up to him in the fourth, when a single and two walks loaded the bases. That ended after a sac fly and a grounder to short, but it certainly cast some doubt on Pettitte’s ability to hold the lead. Yet he held on strong, pitching well until putting two runners on in the seventh, including a walk of Rod Barajas.

Another notable achievement for Pettitte was his six strikeouts in 6.2 IP. It marks the ninth time this season he’s struck out six or more. While his K rate isn’t quite where it was last year, it’s still at a good level for a 37-year-old who induces a lot of contact. Pettite has certainly gotten the job done lately, though, helping alleviate concerns about the back end of the rotation. Those concerns aren’t completely erased, of course, but a fairly effective Pettitte helps tremendously.

While this didn’t feel like an automatic loss before it started, the chances weren’t that great with Halladay on the mound. But the Yankees struck when they needed it most and prevailed despite a tough ending to the game. The Yanks guarantee their lead in the AL East at least one more day. That’s good news, as Sergio Mitre takes the mound tonight.

Categories : Game Stories

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