Where Do We Go From Here?

The Mark Teixeira acquisition was certainly unexpected from where I sit. I went on record, several times and to any and all who'd listen, that there was basically no room for his services. My reasoning was solid. Youth in the form of Juan Miranda and, eventually, Jesus Montero would be more than adequate at 1B. Posasda's injured shoulder may force him to log some innings at 1B. And the 30+ crew on the other side of the infield may need to switch positions some time in the near future. There was always Nick Swisher too.

I was wrong. No big deal. But all those things don't disappear with Mark Teixeira on the team. So where do we go from here?

Joel Sherman writes in his blog that going forward, the Yankees will now try to move one of the four of Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Johnny Damon, and Xavier Nady. Essentially making that expensive corner OF/DH/1B quartet a trio.

I really love this idea. If getting younger and more athletic is really the plan, dumping one of these guys has the potential of netting you a good young infield prospect (SS anyone?) and a decent OF prospect to boot. Plus you're shaving a hefty chunk of salary off of a much improved and already cheaper team It's win-win-win.

Unfortunately, I do find fault with the Yankee he expects they part with. Sherman writes that Yankees have the most interest in moving Matsui and he cites a few teams that have interest in him. The thing is, to me, Matsui could easily be the best DH in baseball in 2009. Why go out of your way to greatly improve another American League rival? If you're going to move one of those four, it's imperative that you send him to the National League. They are still good to very good players.

Hideki Matsui isn't an attractive NL option however. His injury history and that league's lack of the DH position, oh, and his full No Trade Clause make any sort of move incredibly difficult.

Enter Johnny Damon.

He's serviceable enough in the outfield to play in the NL and is a premiere lead-off man for his career. He's also my LFY (Least Favorite Yankee). The Chicago Cubs, to me, are the perfect team for him. Tell me you couldn't sell that egomaniac on ending 101 years of misery in Chi-Town. He'd love it. There's enough media there to appease his post game gab fests as well. I also hate him. I don't think I can be more blunt in this regard. With Giambi gone, Damon is the new bane of my Yankee existence. Getting rid of him would greatly improve the joy I find when I watch my team.

For those of you who ask "Who's gunna lead us off?" Allow me to reintroduce you to Derek Jeter: Lead-Off hitter Extraordinaire. For those who don't remember, there were a few years in the early 2000's (it's almost been 9 years, where's the nickname for this decade?) where Derek exclusively lead off. In fact, I've always thought he was a better lead-off hitter than Damon was in 2004, despite those HRs in game 7. For his career, Jeter's a .315 hitter when leading off the game. He's got an impressive OBP of .389 and an SLG of .471 in that lead off spot as well. These numbers are in 448 career games too, or a little under 3 full seasons. They're all substantially better than Damon's career line of .289/.355/.438 as lead-off batter too.

The 2 hole is tough to fill going forward, but I really like Swisher there for a while or Cano if that doesn't work. And the best part about this scenario is it's not set in stone by any means. All I'm doing is buying time for Brett Gardner to hit 9th and prove he can consistently get on base. In the event he can do that, he's my lead-off hitter after the All Star Break. He's already proven he can steal bases, score runs, and make a big difference when his on-base. A full season of Johnny Damon blocks any possible progression Brett could make in 09.

After all we are tying to get younger and more athletic, right?