Watch out Johnny Damon...
Johnny Damon has missed two games this season. In both of those contests, Melky Cabrera took his place in the leadoff spot (not centerfield though). In those two games that Melky batted leadoff, he reached base 8 times, with 6 hits and 2 walks. That's a table-setter.
There continue to be rumors about the Yankees looking for an outfielder. I have mixed feelings on this.
The most recent rumor is a three-way trade with the Marlins and Phillies, in which the Phillies get Dontrelle Willis and the Yankees get Pat Burrell. There was no indication what the Yankees would be giving up in the trade. The Marlins have completely denied this deal.
The part I don't like is that Melky has earned Hideki Matsui's at bats while Matsui is on the DL. His defense is even looking better now. He's earned the right to keep this job.
However, considering Sheffield might be headed back to the DL, and the Yankees haven't ruled out putting Damon on the DL too, Melky might not lose at bats. It would allow the Yankees to put Damon on the DL and let his foot get better, and when Sheffield and Damon finally get back, it could still keep Melky in the lineup a lot by giving days off to Sheffield, Damon, and Bernie.
If they were to get Burrell. The playoff lineup would look something like this (if everybody is healthy then):
CF- Johnny Damon (Lefty)
SS- Derek Jeter (Righty)
RF- Gary Sheffield (Righty)
1B- Jason Giambi (Lefty)
3B- Alex Rodriguez (Righty)
LF- Hideki Matsui (Lefty)
DH- Pat Burrell (Righty)
C - Jorge Posada (Switch)
2B- Robinson Cano (Lefty)
That's a lineup I could live with. If the Yankees were to make the World Series, having pinch hitters in necessary, and Bernie Williams and Melky Cabrera, are perfect for that role as they are both switch hitters.
There is no real way of telling what the Yankees chances of getting Burrell are at this point (probably not very good). However, the possibility of all three of their starting outfielders being on the DL at the same time, sort of forces the team into thinking about making a deal.
3 comments:
For the record, I would do it like this, although it would probably cause Sheffield to have a coronary:
CF- Johnny Damon (Lefty)
SS- Derek Jeter (Righty)
1B- Jason Giambi (Lefty)
3B- Alex Rodriguez (Righty)
LF- Hideki Matsui (Lefty)
RF- Gary Sheffield (Righty)
C - Jorge Posada (Switch)
DH- Pat Burrell (Righty)
2B- Robinson Cano (Lefty)
Not that this would happen, but still.
I don't understand why the Yankees don't just go after Craig Wilson of the Pirates. They clearly don't like him very much as evidenced by how infrequently he plays behind Burnitz's rotting corpse (although he's gotten the last few starts in right since Burnitz has come off the DL), so he'd probably come fairly cheap. Plus, he's only signed for one more year and probably wouldn't mind coming off of the bench every once in a while once Matsui comes back. Seems to make sense.
One thing the Yankees may want to consider is to trade for somebody (or 2 somebodies) that they believe they will be able to trade later.
Get somebody with the intent of getting Damon and Sheffield as much time off as possible until they are fully capable again, and then trade their acquisitions when they have Sheffield and Damon fully healed.
Hopefully they could get the same level of prospect they give up, so the net impact to the minor league system is zero.
I'd vote for:
Rodriguez (R)
Giambi (L)
Burrell (R)
Matsui (L)
Sheffield (R)
Damon (L)
Jeter (R)
Cano (L)
Posada (S)
But I'm weird like that.
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