Trade coming?
by Travis G on Dec 23, 2008 4:59 PM EST
in New York Yankees Analysis
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PrintJoel Sherman of the NY Post writes that with the acquisition of Mark Teixeira, the Yankees will trade one of Damon, Matsui, Nady or Swisher (h/t MLBTR).
Each player has pros and cons:
Damon - best outfielder of the bunch, can play centerfield, good leadoff hitter, good speed, can't throw for his life, misses time every year with nagging injuries, wrong side of 30.
Matsui - best overall hitter of the group, worst fielder, wrong side of 30, coming back from a serious injury.
Nady - solid all-around player, had career year in 2008 with Pittsburgh, disappointing in the Bronx, just turned 30.
Swisher - can play 1b and OF, only 28, great plate discipline, good power, but will he rebound from a poor '08?
It looks that Matsui might be the one traded. He makes a lot of money ($13 million), can't play the field, and gets injured too often. The others are all more versatile, while Swisher and Nady are also younger and healthier.
[update 5:05 - no out-out clause for Tex]
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hmm...
its not that i dont like matsui, what it is is that he just came off surgery we made it through most of last year fine until the end without him, damon is still a great hitter, swisher has UPSIDE, and well nady, i kind of like him in pinstripes
by I Bleed Pinstripes on Dec 23, 2008 5:02 PM EST reply actions
Matsui
I would trade Matsui. Nady can play right, and maybe bat 5th in the lineup. Damon the Yanjkees might have to pay some of his salary to the new club and Swisher is the new guy. Why trade for him and trade him away within a 3 month period ?
no brainer
no brainer.. you get rid of Damon… how can you say Damon is the best OF of the bunch when he can’t throw for crap? He’s an absolute liability and frankly an embarassment in the field. I would have NO problem with Jeter leading off, so Damon is very expendable.
Plus coming off a decent hitting year for him, he would probably get more in return in a trade than Matsi
An embarrassment in the field?
You realize he was one of the best leftfielders both fielding and hitting in the league right? You’re gonna base a whole players worth on the fact that he doesn’t have a strong arm? Thats just stupid dude.
If anything you trade nady, at least you can get something useful for him. Matsui would end up being a straight salary dump and damon is waay to integral to the offense to trade.
by CasanovaWong on Dec 23, 2008 7:22 PM EST up reply actions
i wrote Damon has a weak arm
but that’s not everything. the fact that he catches most balls hit into his zone is far more valuable than gunning down a few runners over a season.
Melky, despite his cannon, gunned down just 4 more runners than Damon. there is something to be said for their ‘intimidation factor’ that holds runners, but fielding is still more important than arm throwing.
I think he knows that, which is why he also responded to Nick n/t
"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden
Matsui
I mean Swisher can play all three OF spots and first base, Matsui can only DH. Has to be him, Swisher should bounce back and go .370/.490 and hit 25+ HRs…plenty of protection for A-Rod. That said, they likely shouldn’t trade anyone, they need the depth.
Matsui is my choice ...
Without Damon we don’t have a credible leadoff hitter, and unless we plan on trading for one, Damon has to stay. Nady and Swisher have some upside so I’d kind of like to see these guys remain in pinstripes. That leaves Matsui. As someone mentioned, he is probably the best hitter of the bunch—when healthy, but he’s the odd man out in my opinion. We probably get the least for him, but if we are going to trade anyone of these mentioned, it has to be Matsui.
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we did move Cabrera. Even though he did well in Winter ball, he’s young, plays a good outfield, has a strong, accurate arm, and would likely bring a reasonable return.
"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will
I agree
I think the most tradeable in terms of return value are Nady and Swish, but Matsui is the one we SHOULD trade (per Travis’ poll question). More tradeable than Matsui and more expendable on our part, however, is Melky. I’m surprised he was left out of the equation in the original post.
We could use the depth, so the only reason to trade now is to get a utility infielder or a solid infield or catching prospect or two in return—to fill needs in the major-league club or in the farm.
"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden
the reason Melky was not in the poll
is that he wasn’t mentioned by Sherman. it was was those four who were explicitly said to be on the block.
Package Nady with Cano to get a SP?
I think we need Damon. There is very little speed in the lineup.
Matsui is a professional hitter when healthy and there will be minimal interest with that salary – I agree with a previous post.
Nady – Probably gets the most interest. Maybe package with Cano to get a #2 starter like Cain?
NO!
Give up on getting another starter already. It’s no longer a need. If we get more, it’ll further block out our hordes of awesome pitching prospects who will be ready in the coming years.
Our needs are a utility infielder and infield and catching prospects.
Plus, we should not get rid of Nady or Cano. We should even consider re-signing Nady as a free agent next year, since our OF will be basically empty.
"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden
I can't believe how retarded Yankees fans are
Hello… Matsui has a no trade clause and he will not void it for any reason, seeing as it is a sign of disrespect.
And lol at you guys calling Damon your best fielder. Thats really, really sad.
Retarded?
Damon is our best overall outfielder, not our best overall fielder. That was never said. He is the best among those four mentioned except maybe Swisher, though. He is better offensively than Swisher, though—hitting fewer homers but stealing more bases and hitting for a much higher average. So if you add it all up, Damon comes out on top. Cabrera and Gardner are our best fielders.
Also, Matsui could conceivably waive his no-trade for Seattle or San Fran. There were rumors to that effect in the past.
"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden
The rumors
in the past have indicated that Matsui would accept a trade to a West Coast team. Don’t carry the disrespect thing too far- you could argue that he would not want to be to be disrespectful and selfishly stand in the way of the Yankees’ and whichever team wants him more’s plan.
Damon certainly covers as much ground as anyone else- Melky is faster but Damon takes better routes.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
The Angels need a DH
Maicer Izturis?
"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden
Please
another disgruntled redsox fan who turned on a former player. Statistically speaking damon had the 6th highest vorp out of all mlb LF’s. The joke is how boston fans are so quick to disparage players who helped them win their rings. Anybody else see how quick they were to kick lowell out the door when they thought they were in for teixeira??
by CasanovaWong on Dec 24, 2008 2:31 AM EST up reply actions
Seriously
I wish we hadn’t kicked Lowell out for 3 relievers who ended up going nowhere. Talk about player development. We developed one of your players for you, Red Sox.
"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden
what are you? some baseball genius?
1. the list of guys with NTC who get traded is long and distinguished.
2. where was it said Damon is our best fielder? point me in that direction. it was only said he is the best among the 4 players mentioned.
thanks for contributing.
There are financial reason not to give up Matsui
One of which happens to be his HUGE following in Japan, where with the exchange rate the team makes bank selling merch to that country. Im sure he easily covers his own costs. They Yankees talked about how valuable that demographic was to them when they brought him in… I dont think they turn their backs on it now.
Trade Damon
They are
Not so sure about foreign broadcasting though.
They’d lose that add on the outfield wall and they’d lose whatever tourist dollars Godzilla brings to the Bronx. I don’t have a clue how to estimate those losses compared to the real dollar savings of trading him.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
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