Whos in left??

Well all the starters seem to be set except left field and a number 5 starter. But we know it will be Joba or Hughes and the other on will either play left or go to the bullpen. I mean just go to the bullpen. So who plays left? There are big names available such as Jason bay, Matt Holliday and Johnny Damon. Then the more likely option Mark Derosa and Jermaine Dye. Who do I want to play left? I want a less known name. I think we should give a guy a chance to make a name for himself. Right now the 2 options on the roster are Brett Gardner and Jamie Hoffman. i would love to see Hoffman get the chance. Basically what I want is a position players name on the Rookie of the year ballot. His minor league numbers don't really jump out at me though .290 10 homers and 64 RBIs last season and at age 25 I do not think he will provide much pop. There really is not any minor league outfielders in our system who I think provide much pop at the big league level right now but perhaps we could pull off a deal for a blocked prospect and insert him into our lineup and just go with it. If he does not work out we have pieces to trade for a left fielder at the deadline.

Welcome back Nick Johnson.

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.

Whats Next???

My Guess and the good money would on on Andy Pettitte. Now im not great with these number but I think we had about 30 mil to spend and have a payroll lover than last year right around 200 Mil. This basing on what I have read at Lohud which I believe said we have around 170 mil committed. Along with only saying we will be in the 195-200 range. Granderson adds about 5.5 to the 170 number. But Bruney took away 1.5 so basically with those 2 trades we added 4 Mil to the payroll. So 174 is committed. Pettitte will sign for lets say max 13 mil. So were up to 188 Mil. Damon resigns for 2 yrs 20 Mil possibly. So we are at 197. If Wang is non tendered that frees up 5 mil, Gaudin would free up 2 Mil and Mitre 1.25 Mil. I see Gaudin coming back but the other 2 possibly leaving so we could be back down to 192M. we could use that free money to bring in another starting pitcher such as Sheets, Marquis, Escobar or Hopefully Chapman. One of those guys would bring us just under or around 200M.

What would the Lineup and rotation look like?

SS Derek Jeter
LF Johnny Damon
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
C Jorge Posada
2B Robinson Cano
RF Nick Swisher
CF Curtis Granderson
DH Jaun Miranda/Shelley Duncan

I would leave the DH spot open for battle among guys in camp. I know Duncan in a free agent now but tell him he has a shot to start at DH and if he loses the battle he can elect for Free Agency. Hopefully other prospects such as Brandon laird in the Battle. But having a prospect there will allow us to DH Rodriguez, Posada, Jeter, Damon, Swisher ect. from time to time without having to take a star out of the lineup.

1. CC Sabathia
2. AJ Burnett
3. AE Pettitte
4. PJ Hughes
5. Ben Sheets, Chapman, Escobar, Marquis???

Ive always liked Joba as a starter and felt that was his future. but I dont feel he will be effective with Joba Rules so as long as there are going to be Joba Rules id just make him a full time releiver and our future closer.

Welcome to New York Curtis Granderson.

I was not a big fan of trading Jackson. However I do like this addition alot. Any guy who can bat .280 (I know he hit .249 this year but for him .280 is not out of the question) with 30 HR and 20 SB is alright in my book. Also he seems to be a great guy off the field. I have seen him do interviews on ESPN he seems smart and will be a great addition to this team. Hes under a reasonable contract for the next 4 years and if we can resign him for 2 guess who comes a free agent then Austin Jackson. So why not make this trade keep Granderson around if he produces for 6 years he will be 35 then he can walk. If Austin Jackson becomes a star there is no reason we cant bring him back to play out his prime in New York. Now the only question is what number will Grandy where? He was 28 in Detroit and 28 is available on the Yanks. However he seems like the type of guy who might say that Girardi has first dibs on 28 and take a different number. My guess will be 26.

First Overall Pick

Usually the Rule 5 draft comes and goes and I do not really care what happens. But now with the first overall pick after the Brian Bruney Deal I cant overlook it. The Only guy I remember Yankees picking up Via the Rule 5 draft was Josh Phelps. One guy who interest me in this draft is Jordan Brown Who could possibly play left for us.

Jordan Brown 25 OF/1B from the Indians Organization.
Avg .336 OBP .381 HR 15 RBI 67

Huge Blockbuster in the works???

There is a Rumored 3 proposal between the D-Backs, Tigers, and Yankees.

The basics for Yankee fans are
Yankees get Granderson .249 30 hr 71 RBI and 1 or 2 prospects from the D-backs

Yankees give up Austin Jackson .300 4 hr 65 RBI (AAA) along with Phil Coke, Michael Dunn and Ian Kennedy.

I feel that Granderson would be a great pickup for the Yankees and could possibly hit almost 40 HR playing in Yankee stadium as a lefty opposed to the huge Comerica Park. However I think we are giving up to much. Austin Jackson is a top prospect and Phil Coke while a bit shaky at times was a pretty big part of our pen this season. Seems like a lot to give up for a guy who had a much lower Average than Damon last season and only 6 more Home Runs and less RBIs. But the RBI are depleted because of his role as a lead-off hitter. Id be more willing to pull the trigger on this deal if we could switch Austin Jackson to say Austin Romine and possibly add in another prospect since we are deeper at catcher with Cervelli and Montero being so young.

My Final Verdict? NO! At the cost of Jackson id be happier resigning Damon to play left for another year and making a push as Carl Crawford for left next offseason. Even if Damon ends up with a 2 year deal he could DH in 2011 if Crawford is brought in.