The Yankees appear to be on the verge of signing the injury prone free agent Nick Johnson to a 1 year $5.5 million deal as a replacement on the roster for Hideki Matsui/Johnny Damon.
If we look at this situation strictly by math, the dollars and age on paper, the Yankees are replacing elders Damon with Granderson, and Matsui with Johnson. I can see the value in Granderson, I was a big fan of his game in Detroit, and contractually he costs about $4 million less than Damon was seemingly insisting on. But contractually Johnson and Matsui are a wash, and the variables favor Matsui in a one year deal.
Don't get me wrong, Johnson is a good bat and will be a good DH, enjoying the short porch in right. He hit .291 last year and had the 3rd highest OPB in all of baseball behind Pujols and Mauer. He walked over 90 times and struck out just 84 times. But he gets hurt - he gets hurt a lot - or maybe the Yankees memory is not serving them well. Is there another can't miss prospect Nick Johnson who was never able to complete a full season in pinstripes without going down?
The burning question is why not bring back Hideki Matsui under the same terms? Nothing against Johnson, he doesn't exactly have the rep of a 'bad guy', but Matsui has been here for a while, through the bitter losses and the revival. He fits in great with the core guys in the clubhouse - and he wins. He HITS in the clutch. He has a MONEY-bat.
In addition to replacing Matsui at DH, Johnson is the Yankees answer to Johnny Damon not warming to their rumored offer of a 2 year return for about $18 million. If Damon really wanted to come back he could probably get them to bump that up a little bit, but he wants to max out his pay over the course of a 3 year deal. Apparently he thinks he is worth about $40 million over 3 years - both minimums in his eyes - or perhaps in his Boss Boras' eyes.
Can't wait to hear Damon's Dad crowing about "Johnny being worth more..."
The occasional fool will question the Yankees loyalty to a guy who had a great World Series and a very strong 2009, etc etc. To that fool I reply that Johnny has already been paid very, very handsomely for his efforts. VERY handsomely. He was paid very handsomely in 2007 when he shit the bed by coming to spring training fat - not out of shape - FAT.
If anything Johnny Damon should be giving back half his money for that year. Andy Pettitte is a far greater champion than Johnny Damon and he took around $5.5 million to come back last season.
But this Nick Johnson signing? I can't wait to hear Cashman's reasoning. I can just hear him, "When Teixera needs a rest we can put Johnson over there..." My reply is that putting Fragile Frankie Nick Johnson at first exponentially increases his chance for injury.
Johnson doesn't seem like he'll get rattled, he played here before. We may get lucky, he may stay healthy - and if he does stay healthy he'll lengthen the lineup, and the night of many a pitcher. He won't hit 28 homers like Matsui, but he sees more pitches per at bat than even Nick Swisher does.
We already knew for sure how perfectly Matsui fit in here, so I just thought he was a lower risk with similair upside.
Comments