The question is why would the Yankees want Nick Johnson and why would Nick Johnson want the Yankees?

To suggest that Nick Johnson is an offensive upgrade over Johnny Damon is simply absurd. They don't mind paying $200+ in payroll and they are going to start penning pinching here?

Nick Johnson is a tough guy to compare to others because so many of his seasons have been broke up by injury. But if we normalize his 162 game offensive stats against Johnny Damon's here's what we get.

Nick Johnson 86 RS 19 HR 80 RBI 6 SB .273 BA .402 OBP .447 SLG
Johnny Damon 113 RS 16 HR 76 RBI 28 SB .288 BA .355 OBP .439 SLG

Averaging out the stats doesn't really tell the true story here mostly because Johnson never plays anything resembling a 162 game season.

With Johnny Damon you have a 14 year model of consistency. He hasn't played in less than 141 games in 13 years! I may sound silly but actually, if the guy could play another 5 years at this pace, his numbers would be Hall of Fame worthy. Click on his link and take a look for yourself!

Nick Johnson Career 409 RS 89 HR 379 RBI 27 SB .273 BA .402 OBP .447 SLG
Johnny Damon Career 1483 RS 207 HR 996 RBI 374 SB 288 BA .355 OBP .439 SLG

And while Damon hasn't played in less than 141 games since he became a full time player in 1996, Johnson who came up in 2001 has only played more than 141 games one time, 147 in 2007.

We all know that Johnny Damon can't throw but the Yankees weren't going to use him primarily as an outfielder anyway and they won't use Johnson their either.

Oddly enough, one of Nick Johnson's strengths is that he's a stellar defensive player. But the Yankees already have arguably the best defensive first baseman in the AL in Mark Teixeira?

So what is Nick Johnson thinking? Nick Johnson if he's healthy should be in the prime of his career. Wouldn't you think he would want to play the field full time? Keith Hernandez was a good hitter and a great fielder. Would it have made sense from a career standpoint to sign with the Yankees and back up Don Mattingly?

I completely understand what the Yankees are doing. They intend to use the DH position as a rest stop for all the aging All-Stars. You will routinely see Posada, Jeter, A-Rod, and anyone else that may have injured their gluteus maximums in a one night stand DH'ing throughout the year.

The Yankees are going to be sorry that they decided to try to save money on this roster spot of all places and not re-sign Damon, a player who played such an important role on this team.

Nick Johnson is going to be sorry too as his baseball career will never have the opportunity to flourish and have his defensive talents used for the benefit of himself or his team. His $5.5 million paycheck will clear though and I'm sure that had something to do with why he is willing to do this.

This is a very surprising move to me. I would have thought that everyone involved knew better. - Paul Leume

Paul is a MLB columnist from Montreal, Canada. Paul, a one-time beat writer covering the Montreal Expos for the Montreal Gazette is a proud grandfather of 3 girls and now spends his time offering his thoughts and prospective on Major League Baseball on a variety of blogs and websites throughout Al Gore's internet.

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Comments (3)

Do some homework
written by Jimmy Dugan, December 18, 2009

"Nick Johnson is a stellar defensive player" - completely and totally untrue at this point. Johnson's UZR/150 was -6.6 last year. The guy made 12 errors at first base. Kevin Youkilis went an entire year without making a single error two years ago.

What this proves is that all of Nick Johnson's value is tied to his bat. He actually fits this lineup better than Damon, who becamse very homer happy in the new Stadium last year. His .402 career OBP will slot in perfectly behind Jeter.

So, how can you say that Nick Johnson at $5.5 million for a year is comparable to the $30mm+ that Damon is demanding over a three year commitment? You are absolutely right to say that Damon's numbers would be HOF worthy if maintained over the next 5 years - but the odds of that happenning are about as good as Tiger Woods keeping li'l Tiger in his pants for a week. The guy is on the downside of his career (the guy left the clinching game of the WS last year to nurse a frigging leg cramp!), and the Yankees replaced him with a low-risk high-reward replacement. Great, savvy baseball move by Cashman. And this will look even better when the Yankees sign Matt Holliday.

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Step up ur game
written by George McLean, December 18, 2009

The road to the 2110 WS goes right through the Bronx. The Yankees have to step up there game. Stay focus on pitching,and power we have to replace the bat that we lost to LA.

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written by Paul Leume, December 18, 2009

Hey Jim, I'm glad you enjoyed reading my post today. Thanks for the kind words this holiday season.... much apprec

Nowhere in my post did I say that Kevin Youkilis was a bad fielder. (He doesn't get anything that's not hit right at him, but he's not a bad fielder.)

Johnson has had injury's that have affected him both in the field and at the plate. Nick Johnson (despite your comments) is known in the league to be a stellar defender).

I believe that Johnny Damon would have been a better fit for the Yankees and I believe Johnson did himself a disservice at this stage of his career in limiting himself to a DH role. In my opinion he would have been better of signing with the Mets to be honest. Happy Holidays.

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