Where does Damon rank?

[HOOTIE]

Ichiro is by far the best. But clutch wise I always think damon is up there.

I don't know man, Ichiro drives a mean clutch.
Hopefully, Damon repeats his 3/13 post season from last year, and NYY fans will come up with names like J-Choke, Johnny Day-Choke, Johnny Choke-Mon.

I don't see Damons value going up. He played on the best offense the last 2 years. His Fenway numbers are better then his road numbers, especially avg. and oba. As far as the short porch goes, the 3 year LHB hr index, is only 108, nothing staggering.

Hey AC, just curious, why do you think Damon is clutch? His post season numbers are modest.

A guy puts on a Yankee uniform, and now he's the best leadoff hitter in the game?
And why does a Yankee signing generate over 10 pages and 2,000 views?
Can't we ever talk about, say Trevor Hoffman? Darn Cafe East Coast bias.

[Yoda]

Ichiro is by far the best. But clutch wise I always think damon is up there.

I don't know man, Ichiro drives a mean clutch.
Hopefully, Damon repeats his 3/13 post season from last year, and NYY fans will come up with names like J-Choke, Johnny Day-Choke, Johnny Choke-Mon.

I don't see Damons value going up. He played on the best offense the last 2 years. His Fenway numbers are better then his road numbers, especially avg. and oba. As far as the short porch goes, the 3 year LHB hr index, is only 108, nothing staggering.

Hey AC, just curious, why do you think Damon is clutch? His post season numbers are modest.

A guy puts on a Yankee uniform, and now he's the best leadoff hitter in the game?
And why does a Yankee signing generate over 10 pages and 2,000 views?
Can't we ever talk about, say Trevor Hoffman? Darn Cafe East Coast bias.

What a way to ruffle some feathers around here.

[BronXBombers51]

Ichiro is by far the best. But clutch wise I always think damon is up there.

I don't know man, Ichiro drives a mean clutch.
Hopefully, Damon repeats his 3/13 post season from last year, and NYY fans will come up with names like J-Choke, Johnny Day-Choke, Johnny Choke-Mon.

I don't see Damons value going up. He played on the best offense the last 2 years. His Fenway numbers are better then his road numbers, especially avg. and oba. As far as the short porch goes, the 3 year LHB hr index, is only 108, nothing staggering.

But HOOTIE, you don't think New York's 2006 offense will be better than any of those Red Sox offenses? Damon was a major part of those offenses, and now he tacks his production onto a team that already has a stacked lineup. I'm not sure about his average, but I'd expect his power to increase slightly, and his RBIs/runs to remain the same, if not increase.

Right now I'd predict a line similar to:
.300 BA
15-20 HRs
80 RBIs
120-130 Rs
25-30 SBs

Hey AC, just curious, why do you think Damon is clutch? His post season numbers are modest.

A guy puts on a Yankee uniform, and now he's the best leadoff hitter in the game?
And why does a Yankee signing generate over 10 pages and 2,000 views?
Can't we ever talk about, say Trevor Hoffman? Darn Cafe East Coast bias.

I don't think Damon is the best leadoff hitter in the game. I think Jeter was better. There are also probably a few others that are better as well. I'm just not sure if Ichiro is that player either.

[MikeFromNY]

Darn it, BronXBomber...you stole my thunder.

I was going to say Jeter's better, too.

[HOOTIE]

Yoda, it was all in fun. If Arod gets bombarded for one bad series 2-15, you don't think it will happen again if Damon repeats his 3-13?

BB, no i don't think NY will quite match those Boston offenses. It will be close though.

Boston
2003 961 runs 1st
2004 949 runs 1st
2005 910 runs 1st

NY will probably score 900 runs, maybe a few more. Even if they score 950 runs, it only matches what Damon has had in Boston. Now factor in hitting in Yankee Stadium to his nice Fenway splits. He will put up numbers still, but i see a small drop myself.

[stumpak]

OK, so back to the original question: In a 5x5 format, where do people rank Damon, Figgins, Ichiro and Crawford? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Y`s Guy]

Hitting lead off for Torre, who likes to run

Uhh, no. It's obvious that you do not see much Yankee action. Damon will get on base and wait to score on a double or homer.

[stumpak]

You are right. While the Yankees were 1st in the AL in SBs back in 2001, for example, they were in the middle of the pack in the AL for 2005.

However, I have to wonder if this is a change in Torre's preference that is driving this or a combiation of no Soirano and aging legs elsewhere. Or put another way, if a speedy guy is added to line-up, will the Yankees SB totals be back near the top of the league.

[BronXBombers51]

You are right. While the Yankees were 1st in the AL in SBs back in 2001, for example, they were in the middle of the pack in the AL for 2005.

However, I have to wonder if this is a change in Torre's preference that is driving this or a combiation of no Soirano and aging legs elsewhere. Or put another way, if a speedy guy is added to line-up, will the Yankees SB totals be back near the top of the league.

Torre is an NL-style manager. He'll give the green light enough for it to make a difference. The teams over the past few years have been old and slow. Damon will get his 25+ steals this season, don't worry.