5. The Yankees should worry about Johnny Damon and not Hideki Matsui.
The reigning champs have some decisions to make. They need to coax Andy Pettitte into pitching one more year, and they need to re-sign Johnny Damon. Damon — when not throwing the ball — gives the Yanks plus defense in left, and he has maintained his offensive skills quite nicely. Damon needs a platoon partner, but he's still a valuable regular against right-handers. So long as he's willing to settle for a two-year deal or two plus a team option, the Yankees should make the necessary overtures. Matsui, meanwhile, is replaceable. Plenty of DH types on the market — Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Russ Branyan, Vladimir Guerrero — can come close to Matsui's numbers at perhaps a lesser cost.
"Reigning champs".... I like the sound of that.
... Anyway, he's right about Pettitte, but then loses me a bit with Damon. Damon was nowhere close to giving the Yankees "plus defense in left" this year, bad arm or not. His range is limited and the fact that he looks like a little leaguer when he tries to catch fly balls must have scared more Yankees fans than just me.
While his numbers were better against righties (.269/.332/.444 vs. lefties compared to .288/.380/.509 vs. righties) I don't think that means he needs to be a platoon player. He's not that bad against lefties.
Personally I have no problem with the Yankees giving Damon a two-year deal, and having him play almost everyday next season, then moving him into a part-time role the year after that if they need to.
As for the names he mentioned as replacements for Matsui, there are a couple viable options. Jermaine Dye had a decent season, and when healthy Vlad showed he could still hit. But Perry suggested that these guys could "come close to Matsui's numbers at perhaps a lesser cost." I don't see how either will take that much less money than Matsui, especially to play in New York. We already know Matsui likes it here and wants to stay, so maybe he'll sign for less than it would take to sign an "outsider".
The Yankees seem like they're interested in resigning both as long as they can both be had on short-term deals, and I think that's the right way to go. And from the comments here I believe that's a common feeling within Yankees Universe.
