Lifting the curse of Tony Womack
Talk of Garciaparra serving as a pinstriped utility man, while lots of fun, are probably a diversion. Nevertheless, we're hearing some very encouraging words from the Yankee GM down in Dallas for baseball's winter meetings.
Last year, after watching Boston's Dave Roberts speed around the basepaths in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship, the Steinbrenner contingent (I assume) demanded speed. Tony Womack was the result -- a disastrous signing because speed isn't very useful if the speedy player is unable to reach base. If Cashman can resist the temptation to trade for Pierre (no hit, no patience, no power...and a pretty poor center fielder to boot), than Cashman and other cooler heads may be prevailing in the Yankee front office. Laying off giving Johnny Damon -- rock star though he may be -- a contract that would ensure he'd be wearing pinstripes well into his dotage is another promising sign that the Yankees may have a plan (get younger, focus on on-base percentage) and are sticking to it (if the Yankees could give Damon a contract similar to Hideki Matsui's, then that would be a pretty good signing, but those kind of terms would appeal to the Red Sox as well).
That said, I don't think the Yankees are staying out of the free agent market because of payroll concerns, despite their supposed financial woes. They say lowering payroll is an objective, but I think that's for the benefit of player agents. I think they're wisely staying out of the market because there's not much out there that fills a need for them at this point.
Allowed to dream for a moment, though, wouldn't it be weird to have both Damon and Nomah! on the Yankees?
The Yankees have made no progress toward signing Damon, the Red Sox center fielder, with Boras still seeking a seven-year contract. They also have competition in their lukewarm pursuit of another center fielder, Juan Pierre, whom the Florida Marlins are expected to trade.
The Yankees believe Pierre would be an upgrade over Bubba Crosby, but they are not likely to enter a bidding war for him with the Cubs, the Rangers and other teams. The Yankees have concerns about Pierre's low on-base and slugging percentages, and they have no interest in meeting Florida's asking price of second baseman Robinson Cano.
Last year, after watching Boston's Dave Roberts speed around the basepaths in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship, the Steinbrenner contingent (I assume) demanded speed. Tony Womack was the result -- a disastrous signing because speed isn't very useful if the speedy player is unable to reach base. If Cashman can resist the temptation to trade for Pierre (no hit, no patience, no power...and a pretty poor center fielder to boot), than Cashman and other cooler heads may be prevailing in the Yankee front office. Laying off giving Johnny Damon -- rock star though he may be -- a contract that would ensure he'd be wearing pinstripes well into his dotage is another promising sign that the Yankees may have a plan (get younger, focus on on-base percentage) and are sticking to it (if the Yankees could give Damon a contract similar to Hideki Matsui's, then that would be a pretty good signing, but those kind of terms would appeal to the Red Sox as well).
That said, I don't think the Yankees are staying out of the free agent market because of payroll concerns, despite their supposed financial woes. They say lowering payroll is an objective, but I think that's for the benefit of player agents. I think they're wisely staying out of the market because there's not much out there that fills a need for them at this point.
Allowed to dream for a moment, though, wouldn't it be weird to have both Damon and Nomah! on the Yankees?
posted by John at 10:14 AM
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