Cashman: Yanks Set For 2010 – With The Exception Of Their Bench
This one was too hard to pass up. Via Pete Caldera -
Out in the Bronx, there is no cause to add a slugging left fielder to the Yankees’ lineup.
“Our team is, for the most part, set,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday by phone from his office at Yankee Stadium.
On a day when the Mets threw a lavish news conference to introduce Jason Bay, late of the Red Sox, Cashman — who has already imported center fielder Curtis Granderson, starter Javier Vazquez and designated hitter Nick Johnson — was working on improving the Yankees’ bench.
“We have a left fielder,” Cashman said, adding, “We do like Brett Gardner.”
Unless there is a reversal by the Yankees’ ownership to add payroll, Cashman — having improved the starting pitching, upgraded in center, and filled the DH vacancy left by Hideki Matsui’s departure — is concentrating on role players.
“With the money we had to spend, we chose to spend it in those spots,” Cashman said. “We’re just playing with the bench right now.”
Still, the Yankees have room for another outfielder – preferably a right-handed bat; Cashman acknowledged that he’s searching for a right-handed hitter.
And based on Johnny Damon’s asking price, and the fact that the Yankees have already filled the No. 2 spot in their lineup with Johnson, it would strongly appear that Damon and the Yanks have ended their run – regardless of the current situation in left field at the Stadium.
Xavier Nady, who missed virtually all of last season due to elbow surgery, is beyond the Yanks’ current payroll parameters. Both Nady and Damon are represented by Scott Boras, who reportedly agreed to send top left field client Matt Holliday back to the Cardinals for $120 million.
Maybe Brett Gardner, in 2010, can have a season like Willie Wilson had in 1979 (for the Royals)? Won’t that be sweet?
And, I wonder where Johnny Damon ends up now? The Braves? The Giants? Back to the A’s? Or, how about a sleeper pick – the Rays? Either way…Johnny’s not going to see a lot of money.
Everyone who is heartbroken over JD possibly not coming back, just consider this for a second:
Player 1 2009 Numbers:
.274 BA
.752 OPS
.346 OBP
.410 SLG
Player 2 2009 Numbers:
.270 BA
.724 OPS
.345 OBP
.379 SLG
Other than Player 1′s advantage is SLG, strikingly similar production, right? Well, the Yankees won the 2009 World Series with Player 1, Melky Cabrera, being in their outfield just about every day. It was ok because the Yanks had Swish’s contribution and another outfielder, Johnny Damon, with 25 home run power production (plus about 12 SB and a lofty .854 OPS).
Player 2, whose numbers are very similar to Player 1, is Brett Gardner. If the Yankees replaced Damon’s production in the outfield with Granderson’s 25+ HR potential (plus around 20 SB and an OPS potential of anywhere from .780 to .900), why can’t the Yankees be every bit as good as last year if we have a similar player with weaker production, only in LF instead of CF?
I understand there’s a slight sample size problem with comparing Gardner and Melky’s numbers, but it’s not like the Yankees have some humongous glaring hole in LF like everybody says. Our outfielder production, with how it’s drawn up now, has the possibility to be everything it was last year.
We don’t “need” Johnny Damon on this team.
@ YankCrank:
The problem with your example is that you’re assuming constant results. Prior to 2009, Melky Cabrera was a below average performer:
2006-2008
.268/.331/.376 (85 OPS+)
Why would Gardner’s stats in 2009 convince you that’s he different than the Melky Cabrera of 2006-2008 as I’ve shown above? THAT version of Melky Cabrera was pretty lousy.
I’ve never said the Yanks *can’t* win without Johnny Damon but I simply don’t see the logic in choosing Gardner over Damon simply on principle. 2Y/$14M would get it done with Damon at this point.
To that end, it is still mystifying that the Yanks didn’t opt to offer Damon arbitration. If he accepts, you have a solidly productive corner outfielder for one year at a slightly above-market price from your initial offer to him ($14M vs. $10M). If he rejects it — as he would’ve, given his clear over-estimation of his own salary demands — you end up with Type A free agent draft pick compensation.
—————–
I will never understand or accept the Yankees’ stupidity in how they dealt with Johnny Damon. I find it infuriating, duplicitious, illogical and contradictory. I’ve all but given up hope that Cashman will stop fellating Brett Gardner for long enough to pick up the phone and tell Damon that he’s wanted back on the team…
What the fascination is with Brett Gardner, I don’t understand. He’s a 4th outfielder. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s nothing right with that either. Bench player on a good team, that’s all he is.
MJ wrote:
I don’t think that this is a situation of the Yankees “choosing” Gardner over Damon. I believe these things about the Yanks offseason, and again, it’s my personal opinion so I can very well be wrong:
1. The Yankees, after spending a lot last year and what they want to do with flexibility in the future, do indeed have a budget they’d like to stick to for 2010. Idk the number but from what they say, they appear close to it. Let’s say a little over $200 million.
2. With the money they wanted to spend, they’re main priority was with pitching.
3. With that in mind, LF and Johnny Damon were very low on the Yankees priority. They devoted around $20+ million of that to upgrading their pitching in Vazquez and Pettitte. They also jumped at an opportunity to acquire a young, powerful talent for CF in Granderson, for a low cost of $5.5 million in ’10. And when Matsui jumped on an offer from the Angels and Damon was playing hardball, the Yanks went onto their second DH option which happened to be cheaper.
4. So in the end, it’s not that they are “choosing” Gardner over Damon, that’s just the way things worked out. I believe Cash had a pecking order of what he wanted to do, and the plan for acquiring who he wanted never included waiting for Johnny Damon to make a decision to see if he could fit into the Yankees budget.
I’m ok with all of that.
MJ wrote:
Because if he accepted, which he could have easily done, the Yanks are committed to anywhere from $13-$16 million to him. If the Yankees do have a real budget, and preferred to spend their money on something other than a 36-year-old DH or declining outfielder, this would have crippled their offseason. Not a risk worth taking.
As a Yankee fan, i’d prefer them spend that chunk of money on pitching, which they did, not an older DH-type.
Again, my reasoning is all under the assumption that there is a limit on what the Yanks want to spend this offseason. If that’s not the case, well, i’m just wrong.
@ YankCrank:
Matsui, Damon, Pettitte and Wang earned a combined $40M in 2009. Johnson, Vazquez and Granderson will earn a combined $34.5M in 2010.
With Cabrera’s arbitration raise out of the picture and no other significant payroll changes from 2009 to 2010, there’s no reason for me to believe that the Yanks couldn’t take the $5.5 in savings plus what they’re saving from Cabrera’s trade (say $2.5M) and apply it to Damon for one year.
While I respect and understand the concept of a budget, I’ve seen no evidence to support the notion that the Yanks abide by a fixed budget, instead operating on the loose idea of one. Every year payroll starts at around $200M and ends up somewhere in the $210′s or $220′s. One year for Damon wouldn’t break the bank.
The fact remains that even if they are not “choosing” Gardner over Damon, they are now standing on principle that Damon is worth less today than they originally offered him one month ago. If you were willing to take Damon at 2Y/$20M, it’s ridiculous to now pretend you can’t take him at 2Y/$14M.
If there was a legitimate and logical explanation for moving off Damon, I’d be OK but it just seems like whim and capriciousness. Gardner sucks and there’s never an excuse for letting sucky players play 162 games on your roster, not when you can remedy the situation so easily.
Seriously…Jamie Hoffmann? Seriously? Gardner/Hoffmann should make all Damon fans scream at their TV’s this year.
YankCrank wrote:
I understand and accept that. I just don’t believe the Yanks have a fixed limit but, assuming they do, I don’t think Nick Johnson was the appropriate priority over Damon. Nick Johnson earns $6M to play 2/3rds of the season at best. Damon would’ve signed for $10M to play the whole year. I’m not getting why Cashman believes in Nick Johnson when he’s never left anyone anything other than disappointed.
@ MJ:
I never said the Yankees shouldn’t sign Damon, or his time with the Yankees was over. If his price falls to Abreu’s from last year, than he can very well come back. I also wouldn’t be opposed to that.
All I was doing is making a case where I can see why Johnny is the odd man out, at this point. To me, it appears Cashman had a list of priorities this offseason and none of them included waiting on Johnny Damon and Scott Boras to drag out the winter until he was the top FA outfielder after Holliday and Bay sign. He acted fast on what he wanted to do and I loved all the moves.
There are many things that we don’t know that can play into this. Maybe the Yankees just have no interest in bringing back a 36-year-old Johnny Damon. Or, maybe they accurately predicted that in this market, nobody would be willing to offer multiple years or more than $7 million a year for him. Johnny can find he has very little takers and may come back to the Yanks at their price. We just don’t know, it can go either way.
Let’s wait and see how it plays out before we slam Cashman for not signing Damon at 2 years $14 million where, right now, it doesn’t appear anybody wants to pay that price.
YankCrank wrote:
I was wrong when I said this. I didn’t “love” the NJ signing. I understand it but didn’t love it.
MJ wrote:
You know, I totally understand this side of the argument too. When have they proven that they’ve had a budget? This may be the first offseason where they want to stick to a figure.
@ YankCrank:
You heard it here first: if you thought I was hard on Nady and Chamberlain, look out. Nick Johnson has another thing coming. He’s exactly the type of player I despise. No position, always hurt, clogging up DH with his doughy, unathletic body. I am lukewarm-to-warm on Granderson and thrilled at the Vazquez deal but detest Johnson’s arrival especially since it seems to be at Damon’s expense.
@ MJ:
It’s funny how you can take a player like Nick Johnson or Adam Dunn – players as you say have no position and are unathletic – and legions of fans either love them or hate them. There’s no middle ground.
You either love Dunn’s OBP and power or Johnson’s OBP, or you hate how they’re just big, slow guys who excel at only one or two parts of the game.
@ YankCrank:
I love Dunn. I see real value in a guy like that. Why? Because he produces and plays 150+ games a year. Sure he’s got some flaws. If he didn’t, he’d be a Hall of Famer.
Johnson’s production is meaningless to me. For the 60+ games he won’t play this year (at least, if not more) , we’ll get a steady diet of Ramiro Pena types that can’t hit for shit. Why would I care that Nick Johnson puts up great stats when he only plays a few games a month? Fuck him and his broken, lazy ass.
Worse yet, he’s the opposite of young, athletic and defensive-oriented. He goes against everything the Yanks are trying to become. He’s a no-power Giambi from 2003/2004. Whoop-dee-doo, the Yanks have an OBP machine. Hard to get on base from the DL.
YankCrank wrote:
this is still a business and we are still in a recession lets not forget this. i know your gunna say its the yankees theyre the richest team in sports, but even the richest get hit somewhat in a recession.
YankCrank wrote:
nick johnson doesnt have a position? nick johnson is a great fielding first basemen. just so happens we have the best fielding first basemen already.
BOHAN wrote:
That he was an above-average defensive player is irrelevant since he’ll never play over Teixeira. Therefore, he’s a player of limited utility to the Yanks since he can’t play anywhere else on the diamond and is blocked by a far superior player at 1B. It’s a waste of the DH spot to plug in an always-injured guy that can’t play anywhere else.
I will never understand or accept the Yankees’ stupidity in how they dealt with Johnny Damon. I find it infuriating, duplicitious, illogical and contradictory. I’ve all but given up hope that Cashman will stop fellating Brett Gardner for long enough to pick up the phone and tell Damon that he’s wanted back on the team…
MJ- I’m kinda late to the party but this cracked me up.
I’m gonna reserve judgment until I see the team on the field. I can be overly optimistic at times so bear with me, lol. Im mainly hoping that Johnson can actually go injury free this year and has a resurrection in the Bronx. I feel that Javy will be a very serviceable 4th starter. I also really wanna see Gardner succeed and hit better. Before he got injured last year he was really coming along. That being said, I would have preferred JD at DH this year, and am kinda pissed at him and Boras for being greedy. I’m still kinda hoping he comes back at a discount..to his wallet and his pride, lol.
MJ wrote:
If Hideki Matsui were in the dictionary, this would be his definition.
For the record, I completely understand anybody who has reservations with Nick Johnson being our DH. He is injury prone, and there is no way to spin it. Unlike Matsui, he doesn’t have one area of concern that can break down at any moment, rather his injuries are all over the place and can come at any time. That doesn’t make it better or worst, it just makes him a risk.
It’s clear Cashman is taking a gamble here and we’ll see if it pays off.
YankCrank wrote:
Which is why you’ve never heard me say that the Yanks were wrong to let Matsui go. I loved Matsui but letting him go made perfect sense under the “younger, more athletic, better defensively” stuff that Cashman keeps saying. Which is why Nick Johnson is completely ridiculous.
I’m not writing Damon off as a Yankee until he signs with someone else. What’s to say JD & Bore-us don’t come back to the Yankees offering a one year Pettitte-like deal with incentives?
My echoed feelings about Gardner are well documented, so no use recounting them again. Sorry, he’s not going to turn into Jacoby Ellsbury, Cashman.
MJ wrote:
then who else would you want at the DH spot then??? thats all a DH is. a guy who hits doesnt play the field (i.e. big papi, giambi, matsui, vlad, cust, thome, hafner, kubel) i dont get what ur looking for in ur DH? johnson is a good hitter and not playing the field maybe he wont get hurt. theres a chance anyone get hurt. look at jeter when he dislocated his shoulder look at arod with his hip, every pitcher has a shot at breaking down. when they give tex a day off were not going to loose anything at first base or at dh. cause jorge or tex or someone else will go dh then.
BOHAN wrote:
A lot of people make this point, but it’s really not the same. Jeter is a player who, through his career, rarely got injured but happened to be badly injured that one day in Toronto. NJ, on the other hand, seems to somehow get hurt every year…not by chance, just because he seems to be extremely injury-prone. Sure, playing him as DH “could” limit his injuries, but we can’t make a reasonable case for that scenario to be likely when he’s had wrist injuries from just swinging, or hamstring injuries from just simply running.
FTR, i’m ok with the NJ signing. I’m not bashing him, i’m just stating that he’s as much as a risk to stay healthy all year as Matsui was last year. But that’s what the DH market was like this year. Matsui’s knees, Johnson’s body, Delgado’s hip, you can go on and on. The Yankees are very much getting younger and more athletic as a team, but you don’t acquire young and athletic people to be your DH. Especially not when those players are on the market at the time.
Cashman is gambling on this, and hopefully it works out.