Kuzul

It’s a few days before Christmas and so far, the Yankees have been relatively quiet in their off-season shopping.

So far, after missing out on Cliff Lee, the Yankees have brought in Russell Martin to be the starting catcher and Pedro Feliciano for the bullpen.

For the Yankees, that’s an extremely quiet winter considering their deep pockets and myriad of resources.

Right now, though, it looks like the Yankees are attempting to bring back a familiar face to the lineup.

According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Yankees have been talking to Johnny Damon for a potential reunion for the 2011 season.

Damon was with the Yankees from 2006-2009, and was a key member of the 2009 World Series Yankees team, but was not brought back for the 2010 season and signed with the Detroit Tigers.

Damon was originally slated to come back to New York, but Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and Damon’s agent Scott Boras couldn’t come to an agreement last winter for a contract.

Primarily used as a DH last season, Damon’s numbers went down playing in Comerica Park, hitting just .271 with eight home runs and 51 RBI, where Damon averaged about 20 home runs and 80 RBIs in Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees would like to use Damon as another DH and an occasional left fielder, although Damon, who will turn 37 next season, is looking for more guaranteed playing time.

At this point, though, Damon’s options aren’t looking that great.

Detroit has no major interest in bringing back Damon, the White Sox used a lot of their free money to bring in Adam Dunn and bring back Paul Konerko, and with the signing of Carl Crawford, the Red Sox outfield is pretty crowded.

The Yankees outfield does consist of Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher with Jorge Posada to be the main DH, but things can drastically change before and during the season.

Last year, Nick Johnson was supposed to be the everyday DH, but couldn’t stay healthy for a month, leaving a hole in the Yankees lineup.

The Yankees tried to fill that hole with Lance Berkman’s bat in the second half of the season, but his power seemed to drop off dramatically, and Berkman spent time on the disabled list.

Last year, everyone said the Yankees should have just moved on from Damon because of Brett Gardner being an everyday part of the lineup.

While Gardner did have a good 2010, his bat seemed to disappear in the playoffs for the Yankees.

Damon was always one of the more clutch players during the postseason and could have been used in October when it seemed like nobody was hitting for New York.

The Yankees were looking to add a right-handed bat for their outfield, but it seemed like they are getting limited on options, especially with Matt Diaz and Bill Hall signing with new teams.

The Yankees were tied to Hall and considered bringing him in, but the Astros snagged him off the free agent market this week; so , don’t be surprised if the Yankees feel more of a need to bring in Damon’s bat.

While the Yankees still need to focus on pitching for 2011, this is a move they should make for next season.

Damon might be a year older now, but his swing and style is still designed for Yankee Stadium and his power numbers could see a boost again if he did return.

Damon knows he can’t demand what he tried last season, so he and the Yankees might be able to work out a similar deal, just like he did with the Tigers last winter, which was for one-year and $8 million.

Personally, the Yankees should have never let Damon go in the first place. I was 100 percent against Damon not being brought back, and now, I am 100 percent all for bringing him back.

Now, they have a chance to bring him back to possibly finish his career in a place he loves and where he is adored by the fans of Yankees Universe.

Hopefully this winter, Cashman and Boras can come to an agreement and get Damon back in pinstripes.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Via Ken Davidoff of Newsday:

“While the Yankees’ primary focus remains pitching, they have been communicating with free agent Johnny Damon about a possible return to the Yankees for 2011, Newsday has learned.

“Four sources said that Damon and the Yankees were talking about a role in which Damon, 37, would get occasional at-bats as a designated hitter and fill in at leftfield, allowing starting leftfielder Brett Gardner to either rest or shift to fill in for centerfielder Curtis Granderson or rightfielder Nick Swisher.

Damon would prefer a job with more guaranteed playing time, two of the sources said, so a deal is not close and far from guaranteed. But there have been multiple conversations between the two sides.”

The Yankees have been looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder this offseason, but it looks like they may turn to Damon, a lefty, instead. Damon had a .756 OPS last season with a .740 OPS against lefties so he isn’t a terrible option.

Damon probably wouldn’t be getting a ton of playing time though. Jorge Posada isn’t likely to do much catching at all so he should get a good amount of starts as the DH and their outfielders are all in their prime. So really Damon would only be playing the occasional day off for one of their outfielders or against a tough lefty. That realistically doesn’t sound like more than 50 to 60 starts.

There is the possibility that this could mean that the Yankees could be looking to deal one of their outfielders for a pitcher and would replace him with Damon. That seems unlikely, but it certainly remains a possibility.

If the Yankees are looking to deal one of their outfielders and replacing him with Damon it doesn’t sound like the best idea though. Damon, 37, had a pretty big decline last year. He went from a .854 OPS with the Yankees in 2009 to a .756 OPS with the Tigers last year. That’s about a 100-point drop. Now he’s a year older and it is possible that his numbers could drop even further.

If his OPS drops to around .700 or lower he could be a big strain on the team considering how bad his defense has gotten. He was barely even an outfielder for the Tigers last year playing 97 games as their DH and only 36 games in the outfield.

It it’s strictly a part-time role where he only plays 50 to 75 games including a decent amount as the DH it might not be such a terrible deal. Hopefully the Yankees will be smart and only offer him about $2 million or less though. Because if he’s making $4 million or so they’ll be reluctant to cut him if he’s OPS’ing around .650 by June.

What do you think? Should the Yankees re-sign Damon? Or were they smart letting him go a year ago?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

According to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, the Yankees are interested in bringing Johnny Damon back to the Bronx. The report states that the Yankees are intending on bringing back Damon to use as a fourth outfielder and occasional DH. 

In 2011, the Yankees will utilize Jorge Posada full time as the DH and are expected to have Gardner, Granderson and Swisher man the outfield, leaving Damon with a bench role in a potential return to the Big Apple. 

Back in 2009, the first season at the new Yankee Stadium, Damon tied a career high with 24 home runs and drove in 82 runs. However, Damon’s numbers dropped off in the Motor City this past season, hitting eight home runs with 51 RBIs in nearly the same number of games played. 

In any situation, Damon would prefer a starting role v. a bench/pinch hitter/occasional starting role. Damon is 429 hits shy of 3000 for his career, and 15 stolen bases shy of 400; numbers that would cement his status as a Hall of Famer. 

Other candidates for Damon’s services include the Boston Red Sox, which would have Damon using him in the same capacity as the Yankees with Crawford, Ellsbury and Drew occupying the outfield.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers are another pair of potential landing spots for the 37-year-old outfielder who might use him to a better extent that the AL East foes. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth have grabbed all the headlines with their lucrative nine-figure contracts, but many of this off-seasons free agents remain unsigned.

For some players like Adrian Beltre and Rafael Soriano, their big day is a foregone conclusion, but others won’t be so lucky. Whether due to age or declining skills, many players may have to wait until Spring Training to sign a contract, that is, if they can find work.

With that in mind, let’s examine 15 players who could have to wait until March before finding a new home for the season.

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Curt Flood was one of the most influential baseball players of all time, and he did it off of the field. 

In 1969, Flood challenged baseball’s reserve clause and refused to play after being traded and took his case to the Supreme Court, thus changing baseball’s free agency game forever.

Here are a few MLB players who changed baseball’s free agency in some way or another.

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The MLB winter meetings will take place this week in Florida, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot of work to do. Despite a flurry of moves that brought Juan Uribe, Jon Garland and Rod Barajas to LA, the Dodgers have holes to fill in left field and in the bullpen. They also need to address the somewhat unsteady production they got from first baseman James Loney and center fielder Matt Kemp in 2010.

General manager Ned Colletti has plenty to do, as the Dodgers are still not ready to usurp the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants yet. The team’s ability to challenge San Francisco and Colorado for NL West supremacy may hinge on how well Colletti does this week. Read on for five moves the Dodgers need to make, or at least explore, in order to become favorites in the West in 2011.

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MLB Rumors: It may be December, but there’s still plenty to talk about in the baseball world.

I know, I know—you probably are worrying about your favorite NFL team, stressing over the BCS or laughing (or crying) over what’s going on with the Miami Heat.

But the MLB is alive and kicking.

There are a ton of rumors (and some news) out there floating around about some of the game’s biggest stars.

So let’s take a look at what’s going on with America’s pastime. 

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Throughout the years, the Yankees have established themselves as the most successful franchise in all of sports. Along with this winning attitude has come a slight air of arrogance among the front office.

The Yankees have made a habit of mistreating their loyal stars when it comes to the end of their careers and possibly their last contracts. Although baseball is a business and they will argue that it is nothing personal, it is concerning that we seem to see this again and again.

Once again, we are seeing this take place with the current Yankee captain, Derek Jeter. Let’s take a look at Jeter’s situation and some other Yankees that have gone through a similar experience.

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The sports industry is an odd one.

You can give your heart and soul to a team and its fans, and they can want no part of you when it comes to a new contract. 

There have been several instances where a player has chosen to move on, or a team chooses to trade a player and at least get something for their star player.

But, in rare instances, a player wants nothing more in the world than to remain with his team. Only to find out that the team doesn’t feel the same, but some other team is more than willing to take them in.

Right now in New York, the Yankees general manager has encouraged iconic short stop Derek Jeter to shop his services around baseball to see if he cant best a Yankees offer of three years for $45 million

If the Yankees let Jeter go, he would undoubtedly be the biggest fan favorite not to retain a contract with the team he became famous with.

For comparison here are ten instances where it has happened in the past, and feel free to use the comments section to remind me of the ones I missed.

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The Tigers did pretty much as expected in 2010. Maybe not the way it was expected or with the intangibles (*cough* UMPIRES *cough*). 

Looking ahead to 2011, it is very promising. Millions and millions of dollars are being freed up and we could have a lot of fun these coming months.

This is a preview of the 2011 Offseason tied in with my prediction for it. The format will go as follows…

Page 1: Introduction

Page 2: Payroll Check

Pages 3 – 13: A look at each position and it’s 2011 preview

Page 14: Payroll Check

Pages 15 – 20: Free Agent and Trade possibilities for each position of need

Page 21: 2011 Offseason Predictions and Explanations

Page 22: 2011 Opening Day Predictions

Page 23: Final Payroll Check

Page 24: Conclusion

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