The LoHud Yankees Blog

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has refuted the idea the Yankees are waiting for Johnny Damon to make a decision before moving on to other outfield options.

“That’s not true,” Cashman said. “I have a certain amount of money, and when I decide to spend it, I’m going to spend it.”

While Cashman has repeatedly acknowledged that the Yankees remain in the market for an outfielder, he said the team has “had no discussions on Jermaine Dye” and is “not on Jim Edmonds at all.”

The slow-developing outfield market has not surprised Cashman. After seeing last year’s free agent market develop slowly, Cashman said, he expected the same this winter.

“How long it’s taking certain people to wake up and smell the coffee, that’s what surprises me,” Cashman said. “When you get on the phone with agents, they tell you one thing, and certain agents can’t honestly believe what they’re trying to convey. Do they think I’m stupid?”

UPDATE, 5:12 p.m.: Here’s the latest story from Jon Heyman. Clearly he has a source telling him something different from what Cashman is telling me. Also, Marc Carig heard from Damon today. Damon says he should have a team within a week.

The slow-to-develop outfield market began to move this week when Rick Ankiel signed with Kansas City. Now the Yankees might be ready to move forward before the other outfield options come off the board.

Jon Heyman says the Yankees have given Johnny Damon a deadline — a matter of days – to accept a low offer before they move on to other options.

Heyman lists five alternatives: Reed Johnson, Jermaine Dye, Xavier Nady, Randy Winn and (curiously) Jim Edmonds. Just my opinion, but Edmonds doesn’t seem to fit the profile. The Yankees might very well be interested in him as non-roster invitee, but it’s hard to imagine the Yankees going into spring training with Edmonds as their fourth outfielder. He’s not right-handed and he hasn’t played in a year.

It seems pretty clear that the Damaso Marte/Xavier Nady trade didn’t work out the way the Yankees would have liked.

The move was supposed to boost the Yankees into the postseason in 2008, which didn’t happen. Nady was supposed to have added value because he was under team control in 2009, but an injury robbed him of almost that entire season. Marte was supposed to give the Yankees a go-to left-hander out of the bullpen, which has occasionally happened.

Ultimately, though, the Yankees won No. 27. They won it with Marte pitching extremely well postseason, with Ross Ohlendorf having pitched well in Pittsburgh and with Nady stranded on the disabled list. It wasn’t exactly how they drew it up, but the Yankees won, which makes it hard to feel too bad about any deal that led to that moment.

As Rob pointed out this morning, Marte remains a valuable piece. He was outstanding in the playoffs, and even his regular season splits against left-handers were good. If having him in the bullpen made it easier for the Yankees to make trades for Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez, all the better.

On the trade market, you (almost) always have to give up something to get something. To get Marte — and a few months of Nady – the Yankees gave up one pitcher who might be developing into a solid mid-rotation starter (Ohlendorf), one pitcher who had a strong enough Triple-A season to get his first taste of the big leagues (Dan McCutchen), one pitcher who has been designated for assignment (Jeff Karstens), and one young outfielder who hit .303 in Double-A last season but still hasn’t shown much power (Jose Tabata).

Was that too much? Probably. But the Yankees won the World Series, and even that mistake had a positive impact on making that happen.

Now writing in the Pinch Hitters series is Rob Abruzzese, who found that the acquisition of Damaso Marte might have played a significant role in the Yankees moves this offseason.

After three years writing for two different blogs, Rob started Bronx Baseball Daily in November of 2008. He’s also done work for the New York Daily News and Pinstripes Plus. He’s a graduate of Brooklyn College with degrees in journalism and political science.

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In 2001, the Yankees traded Damaso Marte to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Enrique Wilson and almost immediately regretted it. Wilson hit against almost nobody not named Pedro Martinez, and for the next few years, the Yankees would never have a consistent lefty out of the bullpen while repeated attempts to reacquire Marte were unsuccessful.

In 2008, the Yankees finally managed to bring Marte back, along with outfielder Xavier Nady, by sending outfielder Jose Tabata and right-handed pitchers Daniel McCutchen, Jeff Karstens, and Ross Ohlendorf to Pittsburgh. Initially, the trade was mostly well received. Tabata was the center piece of the deal and not only had he been struggling, he was also fresh off behavioral issues that caused the Yankees to question his makeup. None of the pitchers appeared too special either. McCutchen looked like the only one of the three with the potential to stick in the Bronx, and even he was a longshot.

Perception of the trade changed because the Yankees had a decision to make involving Marte. He was a Type-A free agent and there were three scenarios that could play out at the time. The first two involved offering him arbitration. If he rejected, the Yankees would still have had the opportunity to re-sign him and could accept a pair of draft picks if they didn’t. If he accepted arbitration, the Yankees would retain him on a one-year deal that would give them roster flexibility and the chance to net two draft picks again in the next offseason as it seemed realistic that he would have been a Type-A free agent again.

The third scenario was the one that happened, and it wasn’t a popular one. Before the Yankees and Marte had the chance to exchange arbitration figures, the two sides reached an agreement on a three-year, $12 million deal. To fans worried that Marte would struggle in the Bronx — he did have a 5.40 ERA in the final weeks of 2008 while pitching in Pinstripes, so there were a lot of them — this was an unacceptable risk.

Perception of the trade took a nose dive early in 2009. Marte hurt himself in the World Baseball Classic and pitched to a 15.19 ERA in seven regular season appearances. Nady was done for the season by April 14. To make things worse, it appeared that the Yankees might have prematurely given up on Tabata as he was putting up pretty good numbers for his age at both Double-A and Triple-A. Marte nearly missed the entire season and when he did come back he didn’t help the perception that the Pirates had gotten one over on the Yankees by finishing the season with a 5.62 ERA in 14 games, finishing the season with a disappointing 9.45 ERA overall.

On face value the deal was looking quite terrible, but Marte’s numbers against lefties for the season would be reason to have faith. In fact, he was masterful against them, holding lefties to a .120 average and a 0.65 WHIP. That carried over into the playoffs. When manager Joe Girardi started to lose faith in his other lefty reliever, Phil Coke, Marte stepped up. His final playoff ERA was 0.00 and he held batters to a .150 average. More importantly, he was perfect in the World Series, striking out five batters and stranding all four runners he inherited.

While Marte certainly wasn’t the MVP of the series, it could be argued that the Yankees couldn’t have won the World Series without him. As amazing as that is, his benefit to the team didn’t end there. By signing Marte to a three-year deal, general manager Brian Cashman gave up a chance to get some highly coveted prospects, but he did get something the Yankees haven’t had since the days of Mike Stanton — a solid and dependable left-handed reliever.

This offseason, because the Yankees had a dependable lefty in the pen, they were able to involve Coke in a trade for outfielder Curtis Granderson, and they were able to trade Michael Dunn for right handed pitcher Javier Vazquez. Had the Yankees never signed Marte to the three-year deal, they would have been unable to include one or both young lefties in those trades and probably would have been forced to include more highly touted prospects.

So, in a way the initial Pittsburgh deal that looked so bad at one point freed the Yankees up to make additional trades that will help the Yankees as they try to repeat in 2010. It also got them the lefty that they had been trying to trade for since they mistakenly dealt him away in 2001.

I’m new to the Baseball Writers Association of America, so it’s hardly my place to start suggesting significant changes. I’ll leave that to Jayson Stark, who wrote today that the BBWAA should consider adding an annual award for the top releif pitchers in each league. From his article:

Once again last season, one of the most dominating pitchers — and one of the biggest difference-makers — of modern times didn’t win a single major award.

Not a Cy Young. Not an MVP. Not a Nobel Prize. Not even a People’s Choice Award.

But then, that’s nothing new for Mariano Rivera. He may be directly responsible for putting five World Series rings on the fingers of his good friends, Derek Jeter and George M. Steinbrenner 3rd. But clearly, baseball seems incapable of finding an award that the greatest closer in history is allowed to win.

Stark breaks his argument into three parts, I think the third is the most important: Because relief pitching is here to stay.

The bullpen is not a novelty. Pitchers are being drafted — and drafted early – specifically for their ability to pitch the late innings. Their impact is significant, and while I’ve never been one to get too wrapped up in awards, the chance to recognize the best each season doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

Some other news and notes as we head into the weekend…

• One of the Oakland A’s top prospects is leaving the game to enter the priesthood. Grant Desme was the only 30-30 player in the minors last season. Baseball America named him the No. 8 prospect in the Oakland system noting, “he earns praise for his leadership.”

• Curtis Granderson on wearing the NY on his hat: “When you wear it, man, it’s something. It pops.”

• Jose Contreras is heading for Philadelphia.

• The Yankees are said to be one of the teams that have talked to Jim Edmonds. For whatever it’s worth, here’s my take on Edmonds: He hasn’t played since 2008, so it’s hard to imagine him getting anything more than a non-roster invitation. Given that situation, I imagine he’ll end up somewhere familiar, either with the Cardinals (who could use a lefty corner outfielder off the bench) or with the Angels (who just traded away Gary Matthews Jr.). It would certainly be a no-risk addition for the Yankees, but I would be surprised to see it happen.

Toronto Blue Jays
2009: Fourth place, 75-87
Key additions: C John Buck, RHP Brandon Morrow, SS Alex Gonzalez, RHP Merkin Valdez, 3B/1B Brett Wallace
Key losses: RHP Roy Halladay, SS Marco Scutaro, RHP Brandon League, C Rod Barajas
• The additions and losses pretty much speak for themselves. The players acquired in the Halladay trade will probably open the season in the minors, but I did include Wallace in this list because he spent most of last season in Triple-A. I’ve always (perhaps foolishly) liked League, but the Blue Jays swapped him for another hard-thrower in Morrow, who could work out of the rotation (something League could not have done). 

Youth on the way: The two keys to the Halladay deal are Wallace and right-hander Kyle Drabeck. If they don’t open in Toronto, those two will open in Triple-A and could push for big league spots by the end of the year. The Blue Jays also have right-handers Zach Stewart and Josh Roenicke (both from last year’s Scott Rolen trade) knocking on the door, with Roenicke likely to open in the big league bullpen. Catcher JP Arencibia hit 21 home runs in Triple-A last year.
Experience on the slide: Lyle Overbay is entering his mid-30s, but he seems to be holding steady as a solid offensive first baseman. He’s not leading the league in doubles any more, but he’s still productive. For the most part, the Blue Jays have shed most of their veterans in favor of a youth movement.
Possible upgrades: Getting Dustin McGowan healthy might be a good start toward helping the Toronto rotation. The Blue Jays are also reported to be one of the teams that watched Ben Sheets throw this week. I don’t remember Toronto being linked to any specific outfielders, but there is certainly room to upgrade there, and there are plenty of options on the market.
• The term “rebulding” seems a bit misleading in this case. The Blue Jays won the World Series in 1993 and haven’t finished higher than third place since. Let’s just say they’re building, and they’ve been building for the better part of two decades.

Better than the Yankees: LF Travis Snider and DH Adam Lind absolutely crushed minor league pitching. Lind had his breakout big league season last year, and Snider’s could be coming this year. 2B Aaron Hill deserved the Silver Slugger last season, but I don’t think you’d take him over Robinson Cano. They do have the Garfoose, which has to count for something.
Worse than the Yankees: In almost every way. Without Halladay, the Blue Jays might not even be as good as they were last year. And that wasn’t especially good.
Yankees connections: Quick! Which team currently has LHP Sean Henn on its roster? You guessed it, the Blue Jays.
• I’m sure the Yankees would love to have Lind, there’s a lot of upside to Snider/Wallace/Drabeck and Ricky Romero won 13 games as a rookie. Ultimately, though, there’s no way you’d swap organizations. 

Prediction: Fifth place. The Orioles seem to have more talent right now. Hard to imagine any way the Blue Jays contend this season.

If the Yankees sign a left-handed outfielder who’s name is not Johnny Damon, this blog might explode. And so it is with great relief that I write these words: Rick Ankiel has signed with the Royals.

Ankiel’s power might have played well in Yankee Stadium, but he never seemed to be the kind of guy Brian Cashman was after. Especially not after the Yankees traded for Curtis Granderson. Ankiel’s signing in Kansas City does, however, finally gives us a glimpse of the current outfield market.

Ankiel signed for one year, $2.75 million. That figure jumps to $3.25 million guaranteed because there is an option for a second year — at $6 million — with a $500,000 buyout. That’s the going rate for a guy who hit .231 with 11 home runs last year (.264 with 25 home runs the year before). The base salary is roughly the exact same as last season, when Ankiel made $2.8 million in St. Louis.

Although Ankiel doesn’t fit the Yankees plans, he does have similar numbers to Marcus Thames, who does fit the profile of a right-handed outfielder who could play regularly against lefties.

The past three seasons…
Ankiel: 289 games, 47 HR, .255/.315/.465
Thames: 276 games, 56 HR, .244/.298/.491

It’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s fairly close (Thames made $2.275 million last season). If the Yankees are in the market for a Thames-type outfielder, Ankiel’s contract might give some idea of how much it would cost to sign that deal right now.

Don Mattingly is one of those players. Those players who linger. Those players who stick. Those players who won’t be forgotten.

As Dan so aptly demonstrated this morning, Mattingly was the kind of Yankee that carved out a special place in the minds of the fans. He was very, very good at what he did, and the way he carried himself raised him up even higher. To people of a certain age, simply mentioning his name – “Remember when Donnie …?” – brings a knowing smile.

That means something. Actually, it means a lot. While there is a (small) segment of the baseball population that believes Mattingly belongs in the Hall of Fame, most people – including me – see Mattingly as something different.

Is he a HOFer? Nope. But in many ways it almost doesn’t matter. Whether it’s something everyone knows about (the ‘popcorn’ incident, say) or something no one knows about (the first time you got his autograph, maybe, or – if you’re a former beat writer – the first time you talked hitting with him), Mattingly is ingrained. He is remembered.

Sure, no plaque comes with that but don’t kid yourself, either. That’s something all of us – both in and out of sports – are forever seeking.

Donnie Baseball already has it.

Next up in the Pinch Hitters series is Dan Hanzus, who wrote about the legacy of Don Mattingly.

Dan lives in Hollywood now, but he’s been a Yankees fan ever since 1987 when he went to Yankee Stadium for the first time and saw Mattingly go deep. He is the auther of the River & Sunset blog, and when it came to writing about a Yankees icon, it was difficult to hold back.

“I crept a bit over the word limit,” he wrote. ”Trying to get a Mattingly Disciple to self-edit is an arduous process.”

———

When the Yankees begin defense of their 27th championship on April 4, it will mark the 15th season since Don Mattingly last played professional baseball.

This statement is not meant to make you feel sad and old, though I suspect that outcome is possible. Take solace in the fact that Father Time manhandles us all … unless you’re Derek Jeter, in which case you destroy Father Time, then go to Chili’s with Minka Kelly.

I bring up Mattingly because 15 years seems like an appropriate amount of time to re-examine his legacy, a legacy that seems to be shifting as we creep further from that Game 5 in the Kingdome. It’s probably unnecessary to explain on a Yankees blog what made Mattingly so great, because those that saw him know how special he was. In his truncated prime, Mattingly was the best hitter (and fielder) in baseball, once driving in 145 runs when that didn’t automatically mean you were sharing a bathroom stall with Jose Canseco.

How he played, and how he carried himself as he did it, made Mattingly an idol to countless kids like me. Mattingly was unquestionably the most popular Yankee of his era, New York’s answer to Larry Bird in Boston, only with a better mustache. The link of Yankee Mystique™ was as follows: Your grandfather had Joltin’ Joe, your dad had The Mick, and you had Donnie Baseball.

A treasonous back robbed Mattingly of what was a certain Hall of Fame career, but a decline in production never changed how people felt about him. He retired as a Yankee legend, a player with no rings but a lifetime of goodwill.

Of course, the only thing worse than Mattingly’s back was his timing. The year after the Hitman went home to Evansville, the Yankees won the World Series. Even Mattingly himself would later admit that this “kinda sucked.” He wasn’t wrong.

The Yankees’ transformation in the Jeter Era brought with it a change in culture, as the Steinbrenner Doctrine — anything short of a championship is considered failure — took hold.

Retroactively, this mission statement casts Mattingly’s career in an unflattering light.

Success can spoil any fanbase. Look at New England Patriots supporters, who booed Tom Brady in the first quarter of a wild-card game. Yankee Universe is hardly immune to this phenomenon; when the Bombers failed to qualify for the postseason in 2008, there was panic on River Avenue. Give fans a taste of success and we want another. Give us more, and we want it all.

With a Cooperstown call doubtful and no World Series glory to re-run endlessly on YES, time and perception threatens to box Mattingly in as little more than the best player in an era of average Yankee teams. But boiling down his iconography to that basic level would be unfair to both Mattingly and those who revered him.

He was an idol who understood what it meant to be one. In a time when clowns like Clemens, McGwire, and, yes, A-Rod make it seem like hero worship of an athlete is a lost cause, Mattingly remains a symbol of why that will never be true.

The Yankees’ 2009 World Championship trophy has been making the rounds with various public showings, and it’s next big event will be Saturday at Fordham University’s Hall of Fame Day at the school’s Rose Hill Campus.

The trophy will be at the Hall of Fame Day Brunch and Induction Ceremony beginning at 11 a.m.. The trophy will then be on display at the men’s basketball game against Temple at 1 p.m. in the Rose Hill Gym. Fordham students and alumni in attendance will have the opportunity to take photos with the trophy.

• Just a reminder that the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers of America Association is holding its annual dinner on Saturday. Here’s all of the key information.

• The latest Baseball America minor league transactions include no new Yankees. Former Yankees right-hander Scott Patterson has signed with the Red Sox, Wilson Betemit signed a minor league deal with the Royals, J.D. Closser signed with the Dodgers and Dane Sardinha (Bronson’s brother) signed with the Phillies.

• Jason Bay talked about the Red Sox negotiations that eventually led him to the Mets.

• The story is no longer online for some reason, but earlier today the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Cubs are interested in Jonny Gomes, one of several outfielders who could fit what the Yankees are looking for to round out their outfield.