Sherman Likes Hideki Matsui for Andruw Jones Deal

With a tentative deal on the table between the Yankees and the Brewers for Mike Cameron the Bombers are exploring other options before they decided to follow through with it.

They could decide to take the money they would be spending on Cameron and put it towards Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, or Derek Lowe. There is also the possibility they add Adam Dunn, and there have been rumors they would be open to moving Xavier Nady.

One thing that interests me today was found on Joel Sherman’s blog. He proposes a swap of Hideki Matsui and Andruw Jones.

It is an interesting proposal. Jones is coming off of a very dissapointing season, but has a career OPS of .828 and plays very strong defense. Also Sherman notes:

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There was a story recently that he is playing winter ball in the Dominican to try to put last year behind him. He has lost a lot of weight and already is talking about how he needs a big year in 2009 to set him up for free agency again, so you will probably get a motivated player. Because he started so young it is easy to forget that Jones does not even turn 32 until April, and as recently as 2005-06 he hit 94 homers. Cameron is a surer thing, but Jones has the potential for something special that Cameron does not possess. He also has the chance to be a complete bust, which Cameron probably doesn’t have.

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Also Jones would be a free agent after the 2009 season. So he wouldn’t block the development of prospect Austin Jackson and if he was a total bust the Yankees wouldn’t have to hang on to him for very long.