Posts Tagged ‘Nick Johnson’

It doesn’t seem like the Yankees will go quietly through the trade deadline. Here are some trade rumors swirling around:

Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenXMFOX) of Fox Sports Radio tweeted, “Yankees making hard run at Ted Lilly of the Cubs and Scott Downs of the Blue Jays…and have had conversation with HOU on Berkman.”

Richard Justice (@richardjustice) of the Houston Chronicle tweeted, “Seems to be decent chance Lance Berkman gets traded this afternoon. Yanks seem be leader, but Rays, others interested.”

Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) of the NY Post goes further and tweets, “Yankees are definitely in for Lance Berkman, considering him seriously.”

Numerous media outlets suggest the Yankees are out of the running for Adam Dunn.

If I had to guess, I’d say the Yankees will be making a move before Saturday’s trade deadline.

Let me preface this by saying that this one goes out to all the haters out there that hated on me when I didn’t like the Nick Johnson signing over re-signing Matsui.

I rarely view personnel decisions that Yankees make negatively, but over the winter I was adamantly against the signing of Nick Johnson as the DH over Hideki Matsui.

What was the response I heard? Johnson is an upgrade over Matsui due to his OBP and Matsui is getting old and who knows how long he can stay healthy for.

What was my response to that? Johnson is made of glass. I’d rather have Matsui’s power numbers.

For what it’s worth, Matsui hasn’t done much this year, but Johnson has done less. Without going further into numbers, Johnson is doing no good for the team being on the DL and with expected surgery he won’t be returning until July. Say all you want about how the difference in age between Johnson and Matsui means that Johnson is expected to be more productive. I didn’t listen to it then because age doesn’t matter when you’re dealing with a guy that has annual stints on the DL. Matsui hasn’t been great this year so far, but he’s healthy and Johnson isn’t. Say all you want about Nick Johnson’s OBP and Matsui struggles thus far, but Matsui is healthy and can help his team while Johnson is over on the bench with an injury.

By no means am I trying to say that Matsui has been incredibly productive this season and he would have been a huge help for the Yankees. I’m saying that maybe the bashing I took over the winter was premature, just as this post may be. Nick Johnson may come back from injury in July and tear it up. But he’ll be gone for a good portion of the first half of the season and he hasn’t been a major contributor to the 2010 Yankees.

I’m not asking for sympathy, folks, I’m just asking that before you post comments about how you’re right and I’m wrong, wait until things pan out a while before you go blog bashing. My opinions on New York sports aren’t always right or in the majority, but that’s what why we do this and you read this – to spark discussion and get us all excited. Be respectful though, because nobody is always right.

The Yankees’ offseason moves coincide with their bid to make the team younger. The Yankees have parted ways with Johnny Damon, 36, and Matsui, 35 (turns 36 midseason), in favor of Curtis Grandereson, who will be 29 by the start of the season and Nick Johnson, 31. The Yankees did, however, want Damon back, but not at the price and length of contract he demanded. 

The Yankees will be losing some power, but they hope the jet stream to right field will help Nick Johnson hit more home runs. What Johnson lacks in power he makes up with patience at the plate. He has a .400+ career OBP and he’ll be given a lot of fastballs to feast on which should drive his average up. Pitchers will be less inclined to walk him knowing Teixeira and A-Rod loom on deck. It would be quite a feat if Johnson walked more than 90 times this season. He walked 99 times last year. 

Granderson, who hit 30 home runs last year, will hover around the same mark in 2010. He’ll fill some of the power void left by Matsui. Although he doesn’t hit well against lefties, he should improve with some tutelage from hitting coach Kevin Long. 

The Yankees lose veteran and post season experience but they get younger and by not giving in to Damon’s demands, they save some money which can be spent on a pitcher to help solidify their rotation.

My previous post was not a slight against Nick Johnson. He will be a nice addition for the Yankees, but for the price, the Yankees could have kept Matsui, a power hitting DH. Johnson will bat second for the Yankees and will score a ton of runs if he has an OBP of .426 like he had last year. The Yankees have one less power hitter but they add a guy that gets on base often. There will be more of a burden on Teixeira, A-Rod and Posada to be major run producers since they have one less run major run producing bat, although Granderson will pick up some of the slack.

Here is the Yankees potential lineup (although the 6-7-8 hitters may be switched depending on the pitcher):
SS Derek Jeter
DH Nick Johnson
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
C Jorge Posada
2B Robinson Cano
CF Curtis Granderson
RF Nick Swisher
LF Melky Cabrera

Of course the Yankees could make other moves and the Nick Johnson signing is not official yet. Consider this; Damon had a .365 OBP in 2009 and scored 107 runs. Nick Johnson had a .426 OBP and has a .402 career OBP. Although he doesn’t have Damon’s speed, Johnson will score over 100 runs hitting in this lineup coupled with his high OBP.

The Yankees will potentially have two “Nicks” who work walks and get on base a lot. Nick Swisher walked 97 times last year and Nick Johnson walked 99 times last year.

Nick Johnson may be returning to the Bronx. Johnson came up through the Yankees’ system and played for the team from 2001-2003 before being traded to the Expos in a package for pitcher Javier Vazquez in 2003. 

Johnson hit .291 in 2008 with the Nationals and Marlins combined with eight home runs and 62 RBIs in 133 games. He also walked 99 times and had an OBP of .426. 

Johnson would replace Hideki Matsui as the Yankees DH. Earlier this week Matsui signed a one-year deal with the Angels. Matsui hit .274 in 2009. He also hit 28 home runs and had 90 RBIs. Nick Johnson has never reached either of those marks in his career. Johnson’s best season was 2006 when he batted .290, hit 23 home runs and drove in 77 RBIs. He also scored 100 runs and walked 110 times that season. Matsui has hit 23 or more home runs four times since 2003 and had 90 or more RBIs five times since 2003.  

If you’ve been reading my articles, you’d know that I have been in favor of the Yankees re-signing Hideki Matsui since day one. I have said Matsui should have been the Yankees’ priority ahead of Damon. This made even more sense when the Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson because Granderson adds depth to the outfield and in turn makes Damon expendable, especially since the Yankees and Damon are way off in terms of salary and years. Not too many people agree with me about this. People said the Yankees didn’t want to bring back Matsui because he’s slow, has bad knees, can’t play the field, and the DH spot needs to be open for aging stars like Posada and Jeter. My answer to this was simple; Matsui can flat out hit. That’s all the Yankees need from their DH. Matsui can also sit out one or two games a week to let Posada DH. The Bombers don’t need a DH that can run, steal bases or play the field. They need a hitter to bat 5th of 6th in their lineup. Matsui also did a great job protecting A-Rod which he wasn’t given much credit for.

Read the rest of this entry »