Another Name To Consider
One of the tougher decisions facing the 2010 Yankees is how to allocate AB's to the DH spot. If they bring back Damon, they would have four different players (Damon, A-Rod, Jeter and Posada) who could potentially get more than 10 games each at DH. That's one of the reasons why the Yankees should only bring back Matsui at a reduced rate and with the understanding that he may only play 80-100 games. Will Matsui accept those terms? Your guess is as good as mine.
But, let's say he doesn't. Let's say the Yankees lose Matsui to some other team, how will they recover his lost production? My suggestion would be to consider giving a deal to Jim Thome. Yes, Thome is old and can't play in the field, but he is a reasonable match to Matsui with the bat (.249/.366/.481 for Thome '09 .274/.367/.508 for Matsui). Best of all, he has reached the point in his career where he just wants to win as evidenced by his acceptance of a trade to the Dodgers where he knew he wasn't going to do anything except pinch hit.
I would be willing to bet that Thome would be fairly cheap ($4 million?) and could provide a solid option if Matsui leaves. You could DH him 80 or so games and use him as a pinch hitter when needed. I would prefer a younger, more athletic option, but Thome wouldn't necessarily be a bad choice.
BTW- it's only been a week since the Yankees won, but it looks like Jeter has really let himself go. Yikes!
Comments
Thome...... how about ken phelps... Poasada should DH 80 games, break up the rest of the 82 to give guys rest, throw Tex in their for 8 to 10 games. Before Thome ,If it was either or Matsui by far.. why let matsui go for Thome .. Never., And my position is to let matsui go ,so we can rest our vets, and gear up for younger..Peter please maybe Cash peeks at your site..don't plant any seeds/.
Posted by: bornwithpinstripes | November 13, 2009 03:14 PM |
I would take 1988 Ken Phelps. The problem with Ken Phelps wasn't his hitting, the problem was the Yankees gave up Jay Buhner to get him. If they had signed Phelps as a free agent he would have been a decent pickup.
You can't DH Posada that much, unless you get a backup catcher who can hit. 80 games of Cervelli would be a real drag on the lineup. Now, if the Yankees want to bring Montero up to be the backup catcher, I could see Posada getting those 80 games.
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November 13, 2009 03:43 PM
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Peter what year was that trade/ also I feel Montero should be our edgar martinez, pure DH, he is going to put up great #s for us.I call him baby huey..I would give cervelli , all of AJs starts, comes to about 32?So give posada 100 behind the plate the rest to cervelli , would that work? hey we know the kid bunts real well. and his at bats are quality, what was his avg.?
Posted by: bornwithpinstripes | November 13, 2009 03:51 PM |
It was 1988
You can't put Montero in the fulltime DH role at 19, Edgar played third until he was about 30.
I would let Montero catch in AAA for a couple of months and consider bringing him up in June or July if the Yankees need to upgrade the offense. At the very least, he should be ready in 2011 to play a big role, probably as a C/DH.
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November 13, 2009 04:07 PM
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agree 100% about montero as far as this year.. what about full time dh?? That trade cost us big time, we also gave up the third baseman..who also haunted us..what was his name..I was ill when they made that trade.
Posted by: bornwithpinstripes | November 13, 2009 04:26 PM |