Well first of all I have been posting at Yankeesmix.com the last week or so and while it was nice to be on a .com website I enjoy having my own blog more.
I really like the signing of Nick Johnson not only because he was my favorite player back in the day but he is an on base machine. I expect him to bat second ahead of Tex and get on base giving the middle of the order massive RBI opportunities. While replacing Damon and Matsui will be hard I think we did a good job at it. Granderson and Matsui's production will pretty much offset each other. Granderson's speed will make up for the dip in average. And while Nick Johnson probably wont hit as many homers and definitely will not steal as many bases I think he will see more pitches and get on base more than Damon. So while these were 2 unpopular moves replacing two fan favorites I think in the long run fans will see it as the right decision. We all Remember what happened to Giambi just this year. He went from a .247 32 HR and almost 100 RBI guy to a .201 13 HR 51 RBI guy. And honestly I think seeing that falloff in production made the Yankees weary of resigning these 2 aging vets.
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Aaron, many people assume that the Yanks' signing of Nick Johnson was a response to Hideki Matsui surprising them by jumping the gun and signing with the Angels. What if they were not really surprised?
ReplyDeleteHow about this theory.....
the Yanks told Matsui they would not resign him, opening a spot at DH and #5 hitter. Johnny Damon is a free agent, opening a spot in LF and #2 hitter. They SIGN THE GUY THEY WANT, a #2 hitting first baseman who doesn't run and won't play in front of our Gold Glove 1B. He doesn't play the outfield, so he goes to DH [Nick Johnson].
Now, Cash COULD fill the holes from within [Melky in LF, Grandy or Po hitting behind Alex]... or, he could fill the LF/#5 hole in one fell swoop. Matt Holliday. My guess is that we actually ARE targeting Holliday, and the other idea is the backup plan. I think he wants to play in NYS, and the Yanks want him - it's a matter of making the dollars fit where they need to so that everyone is satisfied.
Best always and Go Yankees!
Chuck