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Shawn Chacon signed with the Astros for $2 million. He’ll compete for a starting spot.
Bubba Crosby signed a minor-league deal with Seattle.
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on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 5:22 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings joined the The Journal News in October 2009, having spent the better part of seven years covering baseball in Scranton, PA. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and an award-winning beat reporter and features writer. E-mail me at cjennings@lohud.com
Sam Borden is an award-winning journalist who joined The Journal News
and LoHud.com in January 2008. He covered the Yankees for the New York
Daily News from 2004-06, and has also worked as a columnist for the
Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. E-mail me at sborden@lohud.com
Copyright © The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties in New York.
We should have kept Crosby, he turned into a real Griffey Jr.
Is it me or is there a grave injustice in Chacon getting $12 million?
Err, $2 million.
any grumblings from Bubba about not getting a chance in Cincy?
atleast hes not on HGH like pettitte, clemens, and giambi….
Rebecca…I assume that #2M is only if he makes it…but even still- $12M/ $2M…anything with an “M” after it is a grave injustice in regards to Chacon
I think Crosby could have been the next Clay Bellinger!
Then again, how many rings did Clay collect being a small piece of the puzzle.
Damn right kid, 2 rings
My bad, 1 ring. Subway Year
Clay was with the 1999 and 2000 WS championship teams and the 2001 AL Championship team.
Didnt Clay Bellingers son just play in the little league world series?
I just want to know where Cairo is at?
Sadly, in today’s market, $2M is not a huge price to pay for a marginal-to-bad starter. He’s been in the league awhile now and his minimum salary they could have signed him for can’t be that low.
Cairo signed a 1 year/$850,000 deal with the Mariners in January.
he’s on the 40 man but not the 25 man right now.
why sadly? Good for him, get what he can get… whatever the market will bear…
I read somewhere that Damon considered retirement after 2006. TOO BAD HE DIDN’T RETIRE. So THAT’S why he showed up to ‘07 spring training out of shape. Real cool Damon: show up to ‘07 s.t. out of shape, have a lousy ‘07, then run your mouth about retirement in ‘08 spring training so your trade value is next to nothing cuz who wants a guy who was once out of shape and not 100% into playing? His contract is third-worst behind #1 Pavano and #2 Giambi as far as current contracts go (the Yanks still owe Pavano $10M for this year, unless they paid it in one shot, then it’s Giambi #1-Damon #2 who played like #1 and #2 last year).
Please retire after this year, Johnny, that way the Yanks can clear $13M for ‘09 and give LF to a real player who shows up to spring training in shape and is 100% into playing the game, unlike you. I mean the more and more I read about this guy, the more and more I think he basically took the $52M and was satisfied with just his World Series ring with 2004 Boston. I mean what’s it to him if the 2008-09 Yankees don’t win the World Series? He got his ring. I have to say hats off to his agent for bamboozling that imbecile Cashman for 4 years $52M.
Uh Skippy, unless you missed Pete’s picture earlier, Johnny’s in shape this year.
Skippy, the story referred to last year and it was Heyman’s hearsay, not based on any fact. he was also injured that year which he is not mentioning and could not work out in the off season.
Chacon was a real help when he was traded to the Yankees along with Small. They were real lifesavers that season. I don’t begrudge him a penny Rebecca.
Bronx Born: Understood, but I’m more referring to him getting $2 million now when the rest of us mere mortals generally earn significantly less.
Rebecca: How about the tens of millions CEOs get when forced to step down? xP (best, severance pay, everrrr)
Rebecca, yeah i hear you but perhaps he still has a few pitches left in him. You have to look at the shelf-life of the average athlete. They have that window of opportunity to succeed and that is it. Believe me I wish poets got paid like that, but we don’t… what can i say?
Rebecca, that’s what’s so great about America.(Didn’t try to rhyme)
Damon isn’t retiring next year.
I love how folks turn on players so easily.
Did you even watch Johnny Damon play in his first year with the Yankees? Did he not have a great first year in NY? All, while playing on a broken foot during the last 4 1/2 months of the season.
Johnny Damon’s second half last year was one of the reasons why the Yankees made the playoffs.
He is also one of the few guys who had good AB’s in the post-season.
But, its “get rid of him”, as if he can’t play anymore.
Let’s not let the fact that he is in great shape coming into the season get in the way of the “let’s run him out of town” argument.
If he’s healthy, he is one of the best leadoff guys in the game, a clubhouse leader, and a clutch player.
But, yeah, let’s get rid of him. Its not like we need him.
Skippy…Damon makes the same as Matsui…and at least Damon is a starter.
take a breather
I have loved watching Damon play right from the beginning. He always puts his heart and soul into the game. He plays hard and hustles. Just what we need!
There isn’t one Yankee in camp that’s not in shape. Joe Girardi talked to every Yankee after he was hired as they took heed.
why all the hate for Chacon? have we forgotten what he did for the brief time that he was year (until he fell into Torre’s doghouse)? he’ll always be an ex-favorite of mine, simply because his delivery was so lazy.
Good for both of them, they both were some of my favorites. I hope they do well, for their new teams.
Honestly, I think Chacon is going to have a pretty good year and may be a pleasant surprise for the Astros. He was throwing 91 heat when he was with the Yankees if I remember… he had tweaked his mechanics while with the Pirates and is throwing 94-95 now. With his nasty offspeed stuff he should be pretty good this year in the NL if they keep him as a starter.
I didn’t say Damon was retiring after this year, I said I hope he retires, numbnu ts.
I didn’t turn on Damon – he made me turn on him by showing up to 2007 spring training out of shape and playing like it until there were rumblings of him being traded and after Cabrera took his job in CF. Only after the writing was on the wall that he was to either shape up or ship out did he get his rear in gear.
.270 BA and .351 OBP are not the marks of the “one of the best leadoff hitters in the game”. Any number of decent kids could post the BA and some could post the OBP, and whoever gives you only .325-.340 makes up for 10 points or so with better defense.
His 2007 negated his 2006.
Oh please with his second half last year. That’s the least a guy who showed up to s.t. out of shape and played like it in the first half should do for $13M.
I say get rid of him cuz there is a team stupid enough to take him, it’s just a matter of who.
He should be in “great shape” coming into this year for another $13M…and then another $13M for ‘09.
Clutch player? Since when? He isn’t clubhouse leader. Clubhouse leaders don’t show up to s.t. out of shape and intimate being cool with a trade after his playing time is reduced cuz he played like like he decided to start his season in May.
We don’t need him. Cabrera could lead off, Gardner could bat ninth and post about the same OBP as Damon and even if Damon posted his maximum .360 OBP elsewhere and Gardner posted .340 (so-so), that’s fine considering Gardner would be making the rookie minimum and provide much better defense in LF than Damon. In fact Gardner’s defense makes up for 10 or so points on his OBP. Also, the Yanks have more than enough to get a good #9-hitting OF to share LF with Gardner if it came down to it but get this: THE YANKS COULD GET THAT GUY BY TRADING DAMON.
By same OBP I mean the .351 Damon posted last year. Then again, Cabrera could do better in the leadoff spot and Gardner doesn’t have to post .351.
.340 OBP in the #9 slot and great defense in LF from Gardner for $380K or so would be just fine by me. Gardner at leadoff to see what he has OBP and SB wise would be even better.
Damon and cash -say $8M ($4M/yr. so he costs his taker only $18M across 2 years or $9M/yr.) to an N.L. postseason competitive team in need of a veteran leadoff hitter and willing to give up a decent OF prospect who could at least be a #9 hitter in M.L.B. (in a platoon with Gardner or having LF all to himself) would be perfect.
Brett Gardner can do what Johnny Damon can do?
In whose universe?
He is a fast kid with no power and is an average OF.
Will he be an all star type of player in the majors? No.
Johnny Damon’s off-year would represent a career year for Brett Gardner.
His off-year negated 2006 in your eyes because it boosts your argument.
However, Damon’s overall body of work should negate a bad first half of 2007 because his numbers in the second half were more representative of his entire career.
He has played 4 halves of baseball in NY and was excellent in 3 of them. That means he, “has to go”? That makes no sense to me.
You don’t giveaway a player for a bad first half of a season.
You are upset he didn’t come into camp in shape last year? Well, be upset with Derek Jeter too because he didn’t come into camp in shape in 2006 and, like Damon, it lingered with him all season.
Guess what? BOTH guys are in better shape this year.
Damon is a clubhouse leader. If he isn’t, then Brian Cashman, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Alex Rodriquez, and Derek Jeter must be wrong because ALL of them have called him that in the last year.
Everybody who has ever played the game has had an off-season.
You probably wanted Arod out of town after 2006.
If it was so easy for guys to come up from the minors and be all stars, it would happen more frequently.
Giving away Damon for a guy who projects as a 4th OF, at best, at the ML level makes no sense.