We don’t need Giambi but the Yanks aren’t going to pay his massive salary for him to sit in AAA or on the bench. He makes almost twice as much as Damon does, so expect Damon to sit a lot.
Phillips will be the 1st baseman and Giambi will go nowhere near 1st base.

We are a better team without him swinging for the fences.

Sacrificing, stealing, and trying to take extra bases in marginal situations is almost always a poor decision and lowers expected runs. Giambi’s lack of speed is almost immaterial. All else equal, yes, it would be better if he was faster. But speed is so overvalued in baseball today by “traditional” analysts and scouts. Look at Juan Pierre and his 74 OPS+ with a 5 year, $44 million contract. It’s a joke.

Larry,
If you don’t like him as a person, and don’t want to root for him, then fine. But there is no possible argument you can make that he is detrimental to the Yankees when he is playing. His OPS and RC/27 speak for themselves. These numbers cannot be “manipulated.”

And if I hear the phrase “clogging up the basepaths” in a pejorative sense again, I’m never going to return to this blog.

I think the anti-Giambi posters would agree with exactly what you are saying, though my reasons go beyond his play.

The team is on a roll right now and Giambi coming back will change the game from an athletic running and spraying the ball around game to a station-to-station game with him in the heart of the order. Kind of like how we were playing great last year until Sheffield came back and we did what we could to jam him back into the lineup, like a square peg into a a round hole. Turns out, it was more like throwing a wrench into the gears.

I guess what it boils down to for me is that I don’t like, support, or need to see the guy.

When it comes down to it, he has let me down and lied to his fans (mind you, I live in California near Oakland and used to adore the guy and watch him all the time) too many times for me to tolerate him anymore.

Add that to the fact that the Yankees are looking great offensively and I have a hard time convincing myself that he is a necessary addition, regardless of what he may or may not add.

How bad has the pitching been the last 3-4 years. If Jason Giambi, instead of Tino Martinez, played on the Dynasty Teams, do you think he would not have a ring? Same goes for Arod.

When you are trotting out a shot Randy Johnson, a shot Jared Wright, and reclaimation projects out for post-season starts, its a little different than Clemens-Pettitte-Cone-Key-Wells-El Duque, etc.

It would be a tragedy if Mientkiewicz got substantial playing time unless Phillips suddenly forgot how to hit or field.

This anti-Giambi stuff is mind-boggling. I’m concerned that he will come back and do nothing because he’s hurt/cooked. But what I can’t understand are the people who don’t want him to return even if he hits well!

There are no drawbacks to a player with a high OBP and who hits for power. None. It would be nice if Giambi also had speed and fielding ability, but he’s a great player with the walks and XBHs alone.

The Yankees do not suddenly forget how to play baseball when Giambi is in the lineup. They play better baseball because Giambi is around to get on base and hit home runs. With another great hitter in the lineup, they are less likely to rely on bad strategies like sac bunts or running into outs.

There’s a backlash against high OPS players like Giambi that I find bizarre. The key to a good offense is very simple: hitters who get on base and hit for power. But the anti-OPS people don’t like this simplicity, so they demand more bunting, base-stealing, and singles-hitting, even though these things will make their team lose more games.