Saturday, December 20, 2008

Damon Thinks Yanks Are Headed For A Ring

Johnny Damon spoke with the NY Post's George A. King III, and it's safe to say he's pretty excited about next year's team.

"With the better team we're throwing out there, hopefully that means a world championship for us," he said. "Over the years I've been here we felt we had some of the best players in the league, but I think now we can kind of look at every facet of the team and say, 'They're the best around.' . . . The three best guys going in the postseason in Sabathia, Burnett and [Chien-Ming] Wang, those three are going to be tough to beat.

"We're feeling pretty good, but I think it's up to the rest of us to make sure we are not complacent about it, make sure we go out and get our work done in spring training, and following [manager Joe] Girardi's lead and get ourselves in the best shape that we can so we can bring a championship back to New York."

He also spoke about his recruitment of A.J. Burnett:

"You come here and help a team get back to the World Series and win it, that would be something special." Damon also made it clear to Burnett "how much we all wanted him on the team."

And his hopes of being resigned next year by the Yanks:

The outfielder is in the final year of his contract and his goal is to have such a good season, "somehow I can get the Yankees to sign me for a couple of more years," he said.

The new stadium:

"It's awesome,"
And the honor he felt by winning this year's Thurman Munson award:

"I feel so honored to win an award that was named after the Yankee captain," Damon said. "I really enjoy wearing the pinstripes."
Johnny is always good for some nice quotes, isn't he?

8 Comments:

Anonymous said...

johnny is a charachter, and one that is certainly nice to have in the clubhouse but im not so sure about him being resigned, but he did do pretty solid last year batting .303, and his 6 fot 6 games will always be a classic, but his arm is terrible and he isnt so great defensively and we have matsui, and posada to worry bout DH not to mention if we do indeed bring in manny, there might be no place for him, but i like him in pinstripes and i always respected him when he was with the sox he seems like a good guy to have around ...

Greg Cohen said...

This is a big if, but if the Yankees win the world series this year, and Damon is a big part of it, I would not be surprised at all if they gave him a 1 or 2 year deal.

His arm is crap, but he's become a very solid left fielder and if he can continue to hit like he has I could see the Yankees bringing him back. He's also a great clubhouse guy.

Now, this may not be the best idea, and I'm not saying they should do it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Anonymous said...

yea like i have said all along even though his arm is horrible, he brings fun to the clubhouse he loosens things up and anybody that has sat in the bleachers at the stadium knows he is a charachter, but lets not get too cocky just yet we did sign to great pitchers, in CC and AJ, lol, but AJ must stay healthy and i think the yanks are the best place for them as long as they keep guys like clemens and pettites trainer out of the clubhouse, not to mention the new state of th art training and medical facilities they have in the new stadium, i still think we need a strong bat to protect arod, but like many have said before me we had our big offensives guys injured last year in Posada, and matsui, so lets see what we can do, i would like one more bat though and if swisher can heat up and be at least a good dependable on base guy and cano starts hitting his signature doubles right up the line i think we very much will be perfectly fine and will give it one heck of a run .. and although i want a CC jersey everyone is going to get one so i dont know what jersey i am getting this year, maybe a BIG TEX eh?? lol

Greg Cohen said...

Don't worry, I'm not getting cocky at all. All I said was if the Yankees win a ring there's a chance he comes back. I didn't say the Yankees will win a ring.

Anonymous said...

lol well i think they have a good shot if they stay healthy, so LETS GO YANKS !!

Anonymous said...

Johnny should lead by example.No need to talk in the media, show us on the field. I hope he has taken some bunting lessons over the winter.

R.J. said...

Guys, Johnny's agent is Boras. He's not coming back for a 1-2 year deal. Which basically means, he's not coming back.

Greg Cohen said...

You're probably right R.J., but then again the free agent market is a lot different with the economy the way it is. And even in a good economy not many teams are going to give a 3 or 4 year deal to a 36 year old outfielder. It will be interesting to see what Bobby Abreu gets this year, because I think Johnny will get something similar.