New York Yankees baseball is—and always has been— a bit of a soap opera. World Series victories are expected, and the thought of the Yankees being six games behind the Boston Red Sox—and 5 and a half behind the where-in-hell-did-they-come-from Rays—is causing many a Bleacher Creature to shake with rage.
Forget John Papelbon’s pregnant wife at the All-Star game. If the Yankees don’t make the playoffs in 2008, heads are going to roll.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s hardly been an easy season for the Yankees. Yeah, they could have done without Alex Rodriguez’ rumoured philanderings with a certain middle-aged pop star, but they could have done without a lengthy injury list too.
Hideki Matsui probably is going to need season-ending surgery. Immediately, that takes a 20 run, 100 RBI hitting clutch batter out of the lineup.
Johnny Damon’s injury to his arm—which he has bravely told anyone who will listen is “much better”—has done to wonders for an already weak throwing arm and certainly isn’t going to give potency to his pop, either.
Today's Must Reads
Other notables who have hit the DL have been Jorge Posada, Phil Hughes, and pitcher extraordinaire Chien-Mien Wang.
Which leads me onto the subject of a certain Barry Bonds.
For years, Barry Bonds has been the most feared hitter in baseball. Sure, there are rumours (and true ones, in my views) of steroids, but the guy can still definitely hit a long ball.
He’s aching to come back to baseball and he can’t find a team. And because he’s willing to come cheap—apparently he’ll play for the MLB minimum for the rest of the year— why wouldn’t he fit in at DH?
There’s the short porch to left field, the short porch to right, and everything is within distance of a Bonds-hit power pop fly. The Yanks need power, and Bonds provides power—although one writer at Newsday thinks he'll cause more problems than he's worth.
And it's not as though Yankees GM Brian Cashman has denied it, either.
"I would say any rampant speculation on us involving a player of that magnitude would be extremely premature," he said. "I would caution everybody to not misunderstand that since I'm not saying no to it, that that means, 'Oh my gosh, that that might be happening down the line.' It's not something we're focused on at this point. We're focused on getting Hideki Matsui back rather than, you know, what we're going to do if he's not back."
Don't get me wrong. I am not Barry Bonds' biggest fan. I didn't stand up and applaud when hit the home run that passed Hank Aaron's record.
But he—despite his growling, selfishness, and prima donna tendancies—IS one hell of a hitter. And if it's power that the Yankees want—and I'd argue need after their near-outage throughout the first half of the 2008 season—then Bonds has it in abundance.
And one more thing in Barry's favour: he won’t have a problem with being despised. I mean, when you’re a Yankee, you're despised,regardless of who you are.
comments (3) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
I don't want Barry Bonds on my team. Aside from the fact that he'd be a major distraction and would most likely damage team chemistry, who knows if he can still hit? Bonds turns 44 next week. That's old. And he hasn't swung a bat in a major league game in ten months. Besides, he wouldn't be able to play the field, so he'd clog up the DH spot, taking time away from Johnny Damon, Brett Gardner and Jason Giambi. The Yankees have been trying all year to become a younger team that holds onto their prospects and shuns the addition of washed-up superstars. Adding Bonds would be a step in the wrong direction.
about 1 month ago
I see what you mean. Having said that, Bonds can still hit (and let's be honest Gardner's not a stellar hitter - despite his winning RBI against Boston) for power. I understand about the Yankees wanting to become a younger team - as the report on Newsday said - but I wouldn't mind also making a run for the Championship.
I'm looking forward to 2009 - No Carl Pavano! Thanks for reading and feeding back though - I appreciate it!
about 1 month ago
He would damage team chemistry? He would be a distraction? For crying out loud, the Yankees have a 24/7 channel with nothing but, you guessed it, Yankees programming! The media is already way out of line in that clubhouse and I seriously doubt adding Barry would screw up that "Yankee magic." The Yankees are a good team and a competitive team, but they need a lot more than their current roster. Bonds' agent said he'd play for the league minimum, he's desperate to play and I'm sure the Yankees are his number one option. Cashman and the Steinbrenners would be absolutely insulting the fans of New York if they didn't make a jump on Bonds.
write a new comment