Damon: “Why wouldn’t I want to come back?”
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- November
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Two of the first Yankees to finish the trip through the Canyon of Heroes and make their way into City Hall this morning were the team’s corner outfielders, Nick Swisher and Johnny Damon. One got there in his first year with the Yankees, the other in potentially his last year.
“First year guy coming over here and to become a part of this tradition and seeing exactly how it is, words can’t describe it,” Swisher said. “I still don’t have any words. Still speechless.”
Damon, of course, couldn’t let the speechless comment go.
“No he’s not,” Damon said. “Swish got to do it in his first year here. It took me my fourth and possibly final year. I am so overjoyed because you don’t know how many times you’re going to get to do this. To be in a ticker-tape parade in New York City, it’s amazing.”
Damon more or less said the ball is in the Yankees court this winter. He acknowledged that he’ll have options and said it comes down to “what kind of option the Yankees want to give me or not give me.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to come back?” Damon said. “We have the best owners in baseball. We have the most revenue. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of the Yankees tradition. I would like to continue mine and I feel like I can come back and do a great job.”
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on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 9:00 pm by Chad Jennings.
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Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
I’d certainly like to see him back.
I hope they can work something out with damon. Honestly I would preferhim at a decent price over bay or holliday at ridiculous contracts
yes, damon will be back. the difficult question on free agency is matsui.
Boras must be cringing.
This is not how he begins his adversarial negotiations (an olive branch).
cd,
boras cringing? don’t think so. it’s good cop, bad cop. he’s lovin’ it.
I’d have to pick Matsui over Damon to return. If Matsui goes, we have to replace 25+ HRs and 100+ RBIs, not to mention his clutch-ness. That’s a tall order.
I think I finally found the elusive Matsui holding baby Pedro pic that the players were talking about….
http://tinyurl.com/yagfu39
It is truly incredible when you think of MILLIONS of fans witnessing this event.
I heard from one of the shows today, I forget which as I watched a number of them (being home with this wonderful flu), the talk was that originally the Yankees were looking at possibly moving on, but seeing the results of play of both Damon and Matsui, they are re-thinking things.
I think the Yankees will consider a bridging to younger farm talent coming up, as well as looking into what players on other teams might be released.
Players who perform in NY are a lot less risky than untested prospects.
A lot will come down to how many years and how much is being asked for. The years are the biggest part of the equation for the Yankees.
I’m watching some of the parade now from MLB network (before it blacked out on me)…..lol, Alex’ fedora is pretty cool; he looks like an old-time gangster. I love seeing the guys film the scene and take photos – I saw AJ snapping away. What a moment……..
Man, Johnny – I don’t want him to go. If I had my way personally, everyone that I ever rooted for would remain Yankees forever…………the business side, unfortunately, intervenes. It’s amazing how much of a Yankee Johnny has become, only a few short years removed from being one of the members of the hated Red Sox.
How many fans were at the parade today?
I happen to agree with Johnny.
Give him 2 years, $18 million at the most. Maybe a team option to sweeten it a bit.
If that’s not enough for him, wish him well.
Yankee Stadium short porch loves him.
The trick is to let people go the year before they decline. That aside – Damon keeps himself in great shape and as long as you can live with his under average arm, he is known entity at 2 years with a team option in year 3.
Biggest reason to keep Damon is that there is no better option for as good as the potential price.
Holliday will cost more money and more years than he has proven he is worth in the AL. If the Yankees are going to bog themselves down with another huge contract, should it really be Matt Holliday? Pass.
Carl Crawford? Yes. But he’s not avail and who knows if he’ll even make it to the market after 2010.
Same goes for Matsui. Give him another year. I don’t buy the “keeping the DH slot” open argument. On the days you need to rest somebody in the DH slot, Matsui has proven his worth as a bat off the bench.
As long as its for the right length and right $$, I say bring both back.
I wonder if Damon lost much money on the Stanford capital scheme. If so he may need to sign elsewhere and skip the home team discount for what will be his last contract.
Matsui is probably a much bigger revenue generator for the team than Damon based on his Japanese fan base. I see him being signed before Damon which will put pressure on Damon.
I’d like to have Damon back for 2 and Matsui for one. And only if we can’t do that would I engage Holliday.
wassup guys, here’s the pics that I took from the parade: I got the best spot even when I got there at 10:30. LOL..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2.....8789/show/
(if you cant see whose who, click on the pic for description.
I think it still will be a larger factor with the years involved than the cost per year.
Shorter term lets the Yankees have options on bringing up talent from the farm or setting sights on up coming FA’s.
I don’t really think it will be a quick deal. Too many teams are looking to release players, or shed some salaries.
The Yankees will also be looking at a Starting pitcher, wanting to have a solid 4 man rotation and have depth enough to cover for injuries.
The Yankees aren’t afraid to let players go, though. Just look at Abreu last season. He wasn’t even talked to, and he expressed wanting to stay. Its probably why he agreed so quick to the Angels offer this season once they bumped it up a little bit.
Problem with signing Matsui is it assumes that Damon can play the field most of the year. It’s a gamble, but maybe for one year it could work. Posada doesn’t need to play DH on all the days he’s not playing. So I guess I’m saying you sign Damon for 2 years, $22M and Matsui for one year $10M. I think we can hold off the DH being a the way station for old Yankees for one more year.
Jeff NJ
I think that’s too much $$ for this market, but otherwise we’re on the same page.
is nady on the way out also?
“Why wouldn’t I want to come back?”
“Because I want a multi-year contract”?
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Chad, Josh, Sam, and everyone else. Thanks for “reporting” the parade and the player reax today.
-Unless you’re a professional athlete earning millions of dollars a year, an adult male should not be caught dead wearing sneakers with socks above the ankles. So it really doesn’t matter what color they are as long as they’re hidden.
-Is it possible that D-Rob has the best looking Yankee Wife?
I can’t believe it’s out already, but I just picked up SI’s Commemorative issue….
There are articles on CC (from April), Tex, Jeter, Alex and Mo (the recent cover story)…..no AJ, but at least there are good pics, lol. There’s a recap of the season in pics and picture recaps of the ALCS and ALDS; there are game summaries of the WS games. It looks like a keeper…….
no way you give Damon a 2 year deal, listen when it comes down to business you do not pay for the enxt two years for what he did this past year. What he did this past year he got paid handsomely, if you give him a contract for two years you are paying for his potential in those two years. NO WAY you give him gauranteed 2 years.
As for Matsui, I agree it would be tough to lose 25 HRs close to 100 rbi’s at the same time if you bring him back he needs to be your full time DH if not then you really are wasting money.
Can anybody tell me where Hank Steinbrenner is????
Posada needs to DH more than he does now already. If they brought both back then they could rotate the DH between Damon, Matsui, and Posada. This is assuming that Matsui could get healthy enough to play LF one out of three games.
The only thing with Crawford is that he’s more of a #2 or hitter and they really need a #5 hitter type more longterm to hit behind Arod. Cano may develop into that type of hitter but he’s not at this point.
When I look at this post season, I would have to rate in order of importance:
1) Mo
2) ARod
3) CC
4) Jeter
5) Matsui
6) Damon
7) Andy
Maybe Andy is too low in this ranking, but why would you want to remove the 5th or 6th most important post season player on the team. Next year we WILL make the playoffs no matter what, I think we should keep two of the most clutch playoff performers I have ever seen on the team. Period.
Under the parade photos box:
“About this blog
Thoughts and discussion on the 26-time World Champion Yankees.”
Might want to change that 26 to 27. =D
Anyone think that Abreu’s deal would be palatable enough to offer Damon?
Anyone think that Damon would want (or deserve) more?
Offer Matsui and Damon one year contracts and tell them only the first one to agree gets the contract. Hardball.
Abreu’s deal sets the neighborhood of any deal Damon will get. My guess is 2 years is about right.
The post about this parade being “For twentysomethings, this parade was theirs.”
I definetely agree with that. Im 20 now (lol just on the borderline) and was what, 11? when the yankees beat the mets. I wasnt a big fan back then, I was just like “hey, when i was a kid the yankees always won, theyre my favorite baseball team”
Even in 2000, I didnt really follow baseball. I knew the basics and the big news, losing a couple of times in the WS, to the Red Sox, getting Arod and whatnot but never became a real fan until like 3 years ago.
I felt part of this one, I went to the games, and I even shelled out some of my money to watch ALDS Game 2, ALCS Game 1, WS Game 1. It was great. I was at the parade at like 830 and loved every moment of it
A question for the Blogsters. Who, if anyone will be covering the winter meetings for LOHUD in Indianapolis 7-11 December? Thanks for the work you guys have done, so far.
Also, I think Damon and Matsui can be resigned but they both have to make some concessions. Damon cant be asking for a HUGE salary and more than likely he will be back. Matsui, on the other hand, he is purely a DH if he cannot play in the outfield. That means he may have to sit out some nights and let other players take the DH role. He would also need to take a decent sized paycut and in playing time. However, if Matsui can get some of his knees back he could take up some time in LF too. Sort of like a platoon where the other guy would DH or get the night off. That way we have this in terms of depth:
LF- Damon / Matsui
CF- Melky / Gardner
RF- Swisher / Austin Jackson
DH- Matsui / anyone else
I forget their salaries now but we should take it year by year with them.
Damon for 8-10 mil
Matsui for 5-8 mil
The Yankees are a classy orginization. They should take the high road and reward both players for helping them win their 27th world championship. Offer Damon 2yrs at market value about $19 Million like Abreu got. Then show Matsui the respect and gratitude he deserves giving him 2 years at market value the second should be a player option that he is expected to decline if he is not healthy enough to play at a high level. Then get one more outfielder (Bay, Holliday, Granderson or Upton come to mind unless AJAX is ready)and let Damon and Matsui mostly share time at DH until somebody gets hurt.
I don’t think there is any way that the Yankees bring back both Damon and Matsui and then go after another outfielder.
I rather have Damon back than Matsui. Matsui is a great hitter but his knees are about to give out. The yanks got real lucky they basically got a full season from him this year.
THe Yankees have a history of rewarding player for world series greatness. Remember Jim Leyritz.
Offer Damon and Matsui– 8.5 million each– Damon for 2 seasons and Matsui for 1.
I also expect the Yankees to add one more World Series calibar pitcher. Lackey would be nice if he can be had for less than 20 Million per season. Harden, and Chapman are also good possibilities. Bedard may be considered if he is not too much of a head case. Sheets is a posiibility if he is healthy.
I think if another contending team offers Damon a 3 year deal and the Yankees are only offering 1 or 2 years then Johnny will be gone….I on the other hand don’t think Matsui has any interest in playng for another team and would be more likely to give a hometown discount to stay a Yankee
I agree if Damon gets a good 3 year offer from somebody else he will probably take it.
I think Austin Jackson is going to be a bust. From everything Ive seen he doesnt hit with enough power. He may be a decent 4th outfielder but Id like to see the Yankees move him before his value declines even more.
As much money and years as they have committed to cc and aj I can’t see them going after lackey. I think if they go after a pitcher it will be a risk/reward type such as bedard or sheets. I personally think Hughes is in the 2010 rotation and joba is the pen where he is best.
This is my interpertation
http://dondep.home.comcast.net/~dondep/Photo_1.jpg
I don’t think the Yankees will allow Boston or LA to get Lackey for under $20 Million. If that means they sign him for $19 Million so be it. The Steinbreners have asked for a repeat and I think they are willing to pay whtever it costs and the World Series win will mean even higher revenues next year. I also see a parrallel with the old Don Gullet and Tommy John signings. If you pitch well against the Yakee on a world series and you are a free agent the Yankees will make usually you a good offer.
I think Hughe and Joba will both get a chance to be the 4th or 5th starter. By the end of the seaon they will probably both be in the rotation because somebody always gets hurt.
I say make good offers for both Matsui & Damon… They are known quantities, and you can have them for 1 or 2 years. After that, hopefully Ajax will be ready, and Crawford can be convinced to come over.
BUT
I say offer contracts w/ base plus incentives (like Pettitte had), where the incentive brings the total just a little beyond Abreu. Also make the base portion about 65% in 2010 and only 40 or 50% in 2011. I’d also like to make a portion of the incentives based on actual performance, not just games played and days on the active roster.
Boras again will have a conflict of interest and again will choose to ignore it. He will attempt to feed Holliday to the Yankees probably toward the end of the FA period as he did with Tex to the obvious exclusion of Damon. It will be interesting (though I doubt the Yankees will have any interest in Holliday given the numbers Boras will place on the table). He will try, however.
What the area of greatest need? I’d say the Yanks could use an all-star level outfielder. They should try to sign Bay or Holliday. If they succeed, then they won’t need Damon.
I would keep Matsui. He may share DH time with Posada during the regular season. But, Posada will catch most of the games in the post-season. We will want both their bats in the lineup.
Having another topnotch SP is always nice. Still, if Andy comes back, they’ve got CC, AJ, Andy, Joba, and Hughes, with Gaudin as a 6th starter.
Bring JD back!!
Damon’s arm will keep costing the Yankees runs. He cost them 3 in the World Series alone. If Johnny would take a one-year deal that would be ideal for the Yanks because there aren’t any real alternatives on the market or in the minors. (Austin Jackson will have to have a huge spring but the Yanks have the make a decision on Johnny before then)
Johnny is clutch and I love him but he also had to sit out Game 6 with an injury. The writing is on the wall here.
it is always better to let a player go 1 yr too early than 1 yr too late.
It’s been real Johnny see ya when we see ya…..
Damon must go…if it is an either or situation i’d much rather have Matsui for 1 yr than Damon for 2 or even 1…
Johnnie’s comments about how many options he’s gonna have are telling you where his head is at…he’s about maximizing the value of his LAST contract. While he’d love for it to be with the Yanks if the Padres offer him 3 yrs for 30 and the yanks are at 2 for 15 he’ll be in San Diego..
If Cash can show a REAL YANKEE like BERNIE the door when it’s obvious his game is in decline phase then he certainly can do the same with Damon…
Ken November 6th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
I think Austin Jackson is going to be a bust. From everything Ive seen he doesnt hit with enough power. He may be a decent 4th outfielder but Id like to see the Yankees move him before his value declines even more.
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Didn’t they say the same thing about Bernie Williams? That turned out pretty good from what I remember.
As Chanp809 stated correctly, you let a player walk 1 year early as opposed to 1 year too later.
Cashman has always preached “roster flexibility” and locking up Damon or Matsui for more than 1 year is too much.
As painful as it would be to lose Matsui’s #’s you have to consider the core of your team is aging and will need more time at the DH spot this year than last. Matsui’s knees from all accounts are not getting any better. Give him 1 year at most and ride out what he can give you.
Damon could probably snag a 2 year elsewhere and would probably balk at a 1 year deal. Again his legs are injury prone, doesn’t do you any favors in the field, but is a great hitter for you.
I guess these are good problems to have