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They had said it so often that you had to begin to believe it. “Bubba Crosby will be our centerfielder in 2006.” The Red Sox made a big trade, the Mets made big trades and signed Billy Wagner and nothing happened in the Bronx. It was getting too quiet.
Tuesday night the Yankees changed all of that swooping in and signing Johnny Damon, the unfrozen-caveman centerfielder, formerly of the Red Sox. Damon will get $13 million a year over the next four years and a haircut and shave.
Signing Damon gives the Yankees the centerfielder they need while they weaken their chief opponent. Hopefully, the Yankees realize that Jeter is still a better leadoff hitter, but the two of them at the top of the lineup give the Yankees their most dangerous 1-2 punch since 1998 and makes them the favorites to win the AL East again.
So, with the Yankees filling their most pressing need and the Mets clearly improved there is certainly a chance we might see them face off in the World Series again. Though considering the current situation in New York we might have to come up with a new name for that event.
Illustration via ESPN.com
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that illustration by espn is so strange looking. the hair, the beard...the yankee logo.
The Yankees certainly did not fill there most pressing need, which is pitching. Thus, I would think they are not favorites to win the division. Especially considering what Toronto has done and the fact that Roger is still up in the air. But you can keep dreaming that Johnny is the answer...
what the hell are you talking about? Damon is the better leadoff hitter. Jeter is the perfect 2 spot man. Look at all the championships it was always knoblauch as leadoff, when they get to the postseason it was soriano. Jeter has always been better at the 2. We finally got the leadoff hitter that we've needed. Jeter and a-rod just need to knock him in.
While Damon is a great leadoff hitter, scoring runs isn't the Yankees' problem. They needed a good defensive center fielder, which Damon is not. He might even be worse than Bernie. A guy like Aaron Rowand, who came to the Bronx and dominated a series defensively, would have been more necessary and deserving of this contract, and could have been had for less money. Though Damon had a nice year last year, he is yet another player for the Yanks on the tail end of his career. We need youth and speed. Damon's probably a few million years old at this point.
Mattingly, shave those sideburns!
I still like him better than Steinbrenner...
Whoever said Bernie is better defensively must not watch baseball; same with the guy who said Jeter's a better leadoff hitter than Damon.
Damon may throw like a girl but at least he's got wheels, unlike Bernie.
Either way, as a Red Sox fan I say enjoy Damon; you overpaid greatly for a centerfielder who will resemble Bernie in every way in about two years (How old is Damon now? 33? 34? How long do you think he'll keep his speed.. his ONLY asset?)
And no, I'm not a bitter Red Sox fan; I never liked Damon when he was on the Sox.. he was overpaid thanks to the Duke.
I like Damon's personality, though.. like when he said he'd rather retire than go to the Yankees.
Oh, right..
I would have loved Rowand, but he wasn't a FA and the White Sox traded him for Thome.
As for who should leadoff, Damon has a career .353 OBP while Jeter has a .386. I want the guy who gets on base more leading off.
who cares if jeter gets on base more? Damon has a better runs to obp than jeter. Jeter is a better RBI man. and nice to throw in the Career averages. try to take into the significance of the last 5 years man. It's like saying I want Sammy Sosa on my team cause he has such a high career batting average. hello? sosa now is washed up. you obviously know shit about baseball.
Peter:
a typical baseball lineup goes as follows:
1. speed/obp - he gets on base, can steal a base
2. best "clutch" hitter/situational hitter/obp - if #1 stole a base, he gets a hit and drives a run in
3. best pure hitter (average, rbi) - drives in #1 if he didn't score before, or #2
4. best home run hitter - if all three before are on, it's a grand slam; chances are someone ahead of #4, all three ought to have high OBP's, will be on.. thus not a solo shot home run
#5. protection for home run hitter, so they don't walk him.. and if they do, #5 will drive #4 in
6-9 just goes for more protection; 9 can be a speedy guy with a terrible obp just so if he actually does get on there's a double speed threat.
Therefore, Jeter makes a FAR superior #2 hitter than #1 hitter. The Yanks haven't had a leadoff hitter for awhile now; batting Soriano first and Jeter second was a joke, by the way. The best the Yankees could do for the past few years was Jeter as leadoff, but he'd be a much better #2 or 6-9 hitter.
Jack- Jeter has had a higher OBP than Damon in 4 out of the last five years. Sosa is a career .274 hitter....
Dave- I agree that Jeter is very clutch, but that's why I like him leading off. However, Damon is not a bad alternative, I just don't think he is quite as good.
Imagine if we got ICHIRO instead. That would be madness.
i hope they make the turncoat cut his beloved hair, and that the sox use that 12 million to snare clemens.
damn, trying to recreate the world series team from several years ago George?
yeah, please get 44 year old clemens. I can just imagine his arm finally falling off in the middle of the red sox season.
yeah.. clemens would be unit all over again huh? bitter yankees fans? unheard of two years ago.