Why the Yankees Should NOT Sign Johnny Damon

No Damon at any price.

The Yankes can afford one weak link in the batting order. Ideally that should not be LF but it is what it is.

Flexibility to groom Montero ( the more I read about his bat the more impressed I am) is key here and a Posada/Montero catcher platoon sounds very worthwhile.

but I’d still get Damon if the price were right. Halting Montero’s progress is hardly a concern in 2010. He should get a full season of catching at AAA. Calling him up to take over DH for an injured Johnson isn’t likely. Miranda will get that call.

And whatever I’ve said about Gardner, he does not compare to a cost-effective Damon. He would still get a decent amount of ABs even if Damon were sharing LF with him. For the A games, you’ve Damon and Johnson’s bats in the lineup, with Gardner coming in in the later innings. For the B games, you’ve got Damon to PH for Gardner in high-leverage situations.

Basically, you’ve upgraded Hoffman with Gardner and Gardner with Damon. So the odd man out is Hoffman.

If the Yanks can get Damon for the right price, they should.

lol, but I agree, we don’t really need hiim but if he’s cheap we should

I have a hard time believing that Damon would be a “liability”, and “hurt the Yankees flexibility” if he resigned.

Firstly, you seem to think that Jesus Montero could be ready to go next year, and maybe even THIS year, and should be starting in the majors by next year. I disagree with that. He is only 20 years old, and there is no need to rush his development. We all know he can hit. Thats not only what the Yankees want him to do. They want him to catch. He needs to get better at catching. It’s not gonna happen in one year at AAA. It would probably take two years at least, to get him to be a respectable, average catcher. Bringing him up to DH, at only 21 years old next year? I would think that bringing Montero up to the majors early would hurt his development, rather than keeping him down for an extra year when he’s still really young. Signing Damon for a 2 year deal, where he could DH the second year? I don’t find a problem with that.

And you seem so sure that Damon will not accept a one year contract, but I disagree with that one too. Remember Abreu last year? He was looking for 16 million a year for around 3 years. He got 1 year, 5 million. Damon is running out of teams interested, and he is running out of time. He HAS to lower his price, and possibly his years too. Do not be surprised if he accepts a one year deal somewhere. And if he does? Well then, I’m good with it. You think Damon playing LF will halt the development of Brett Gardner? Gardner, in my mind, is what he is. He’s 27 years old. He’s not going to get much better. He is what he is. Excellent defender. Great speed. Perfect fourth outfielder off of the bench. But you can’t steal first base. And that could be a problem if he starts every day.

There are a lot of upsides to bringing Damon back. He is a perfect two hole hitter behind Derek Jeter. He has a tailor made swing for Yankee Stadium. He’s clutch. He is NY proven. He’s playoff proven. He’s a fan favorite. He deepens the lineup. And the Yankees will be a better team in 2010 if Johnny Damon is in the lineup every day.

I get that everyone likes to, but why spend the money on someone that really isn’t a necessity? Sure, having Damon isn’t a bad thing, but do the Yankees really need him? No.

It is obvious to me that you cannot get what I am saying. Let me repeat myself in a less crowded post. Brett Gardner is not, never will be, never has been better than Johnny Damon. The Yankees simply do not need Johnny Damon. I’d love having Damon as much as the rest of you, but as a DH or at most a one-year left fielder. He will not have the opportunity to be either of those things given the Yankees current roster and his contract demands. He can lower his contract demands, but I don’t see that happening. If he lowers them? Great.

There is a price at which Johnny Damon is worth signing. Nick Johnson is not going to play every day, Johnny Damon is not going to play every day, Brett Gardner is not going to play every day, and someone will get hurt.
Certain parks (Fenway, Camden Yards, etc) have small enough LFs that Damon would not be as much of a liability in the field.

However, I see no indication that Damon’s price will drop to the point that he is worth signing.

I’ve said all along even before this past postseason had begun that neither Damon nor Matsui should be retained.

It all comes down to money. It’s also in the best interest of Damon’s career to not resign with Yankees. If he takes a discounted one-yr. deal and plays a definite platoon role on the NYY, the chances of Damon landing a starting job in 2011 with another club will be virtually nil. As of right now, Damon can still questionably fill a full-time LF job for another team. That’s how he sees himself. He’s a winner, a veteran, a good leader, and still carries a capable bat. There are teams out there will still over-pay for those “past” qualities and offer a multi-year deal. Those same qualities serve very little value to the Yankees currently since there are plenty guys on the team that offer the same.

we would not be holding brett gardner back by signing johnny damon. gardner has no future as an everyday outfielder. his future with the yankees is as a late inning pinch runner, so we would be stunting his growth in that area if we didnt sign damon. but if we can get damon at the right price which i think is for 14 million for 2 years, why would we not get a guy that owns the right field porch…we arent going to not sign crawford because we have damon inked for one year at 7 million, that wont stop us…and what if nick johnson doesnt perform or once again gets injured, we wont have anyone to fill that void and then what will we think of having NO NEED for a guy that we may not have won the WS without?

Let’s get younger…..

i really think the yankees missed on…i dont think matsui neccessarily got the love from the yankees he was looking for early on in the free agent process cause they were too busy playing there games….there is NOOOO way the yankees dont accept that 1 year 6.5 million dollar deal for matsui….there is really 0 risk longterm and very little risk in this one year deal(if n. johnson isnt a risk then matsui isnt) matsui just really never came back to let the yankees make a counter offer i dont think

 The yankees just won a 27th title and it seems cashman is trying to reconstruct the team. Much credit to him however, last season he spent almost half a billion dollars on 3 players, and it lead to a world series championship. But it seems to me like he hit a panic button. We lost 3 key players to this franchise. I even include melky for he was a good number 9 or 8 hitter and his fielding was impressive. Melky was slowly developing as a quality clutch hitter, and the fact that he is a switch hitter only enhances that. Now Damon, yes he’s up in age and will slowly break down, but yankee stadium is the perfect field for a player of his caliber. Damon’s deck was becoming a feared area for visiting pitchers and his baserunning continues to be under estimated. In no way will nick johnson replace Johnny, even with his 402 OBP, which he averaged in the NL. The yanks rewarded andy pettitte with a huge salary increase, much deserved, but also a man up in age. I still believe the Yanks have a great chance to repeat, however I don’t see why such a reconstruction was needed. Yet, curtis granderson makes us a better and faster team, which in my opinion has the been the only good move this winter.

is the ideal 2-hole hitter for this lineup. I think we need him back, even if it means all you Gardner lovers will have to see him be nothing but a PR…which is all he should be at this level.

The last thing we need is Damon, what we need is Jermaine Dye