Friday, December 18, 2009

Yankees not done yet

Although Brian Cashman seems determined to stick within the budget given to him by Hal Steinbrenner (running the team on his father's behalf), it is clear that the Yankees are not finished adding to their team.

"I don't think we're done yet," Steinbrenner said in an interview after the Curtis Granderson press conference. "We're still going to talk to people about trades. (But) I'm a believer in budgets."

A deal to bring Nick Johnson back to the Yankee family to serve as designated hitter appears imminent. Johnson is a few years younger than former DH Hideki Matsui although his injury history is worse. I think he will be a good replacement if he can stay healthy, but I wonder why the Yanks think he is a better option than Matsui. He's likely to sign for less guaranteed money, which helps the budget, but the dollars may be fairly similar if he reaches the incentives the Yanks will put into the contract. Remember, Andy Pettitte nearly doubled his salary this year by reaching all the incentive targets.

"Hideki was a great Yankee as we all know, but change is inevitable," Steinbrenner said.

After he finishes the Johnson deal, Cashman will turn his full attention on finding one more starter. Several names have been thrown around, but considering the Johnson deal came out of nowhere, perhaps Cashman has one more surprise in store for Yankee fans.

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