Posada had 316 PA as a LHB in 2011.  Dickerson and Golson combined had 77 PA (as 5th/6th OFers, which is basically what Damon/Ibanez would be when not DHing).  Damon got 647 PA in 2011.

I don’t know if Damon is looking for more money than the Yankees want to pay for this roster spot, but I’m damned sure that he’s looking for more playing time than the person who fills this roster spot is likely to get.

Damon is represented by Borasshole, which most likely means that now as then he’s holding out for more than he can get.  I actually wonder if there’s any sort of hangover from the failed negotiations when he left the Yankees after the ‘09 season.

[2]  True that.  Homeboy wants 3,000 hits.

When I was a kid I read in Baseball Digest that Al Oliver’s Montreal teammates nicknamed him “Hall” because he was always talking about his HOF chances.  I think I would nickname Damon “Hall.”

Too lazy to check. Is Matsui off the board ?

[3] was supposed to refer to [1].  That is really important.

[5] 2. Adjusted or attuned by the addition of a counterbalancing element; moderated or measured.

Yes. I’m that petty.

Seems like Damon hasn’t learned a thing since the last time he played hard ball w/ the Yankees.  Well, presuming he actually wanted to come back either time.

[1]
Even if the Yankees offered Damon all of Andruw Jones DH PAs, they still wouldn’t offer him the DH PAs of ARod,Tex and Jeter.  And they wouldn’t offer to routinely hit him at the top of the lineup.  That probably still leaves him well under the 500-600 he needs for his quest.

I just took a look at the all time hit list.  Would Harold Baines(2866) be in with 134 more hits?  Would Craig Biggio(3060) be out with 61 fewer?  Will Omar Vizquel (2841) be out if he doesn’t get 159 more hits?  How about Ivan Rodriguez(2844)?

[8] Yes, Baines would probably be in.  Vizquel probably will/would be in if he gets to 3000, I think he’ll come up short (though be on the ballot for a while) if he doesn’t.  Biggio would still be in, as would/will IRod.

If you’re asking, “should/shouldn’t they” as opposed to, “will/won’t they”...the arbitrary number shouldn’t affect it at all.  But it does.  A few years ago we bandied this about, and I think when I looked at the 3000 hit club and cross-referenced with the fWAR listings.  The only player I thought was questionable was Lou Brock.  THAT started a debate!  FWIW, I don’t think Damon will get to 3000 hits (nor will Vizcaino), so we won’t have to worry about it.

[8] Baines is probably the only guy you mention whose case is comparable to Damon’s.  Biggio should be in with or without 3000 hits, given the offensive value he provided while playing his entire career at premium defensive positions.  Vizquel is not likely to get another 160 hits, but I think does have a very good shot at Cooperstown largely because of his defense, but also because his offense was overrated at his peak.  Rodriguez should sail in despite the ridiculous standards that catchers have historically been held to by the voters, but has the steroid accusations to deal with.

Getting back to Baines, he was a damned fine hitter.  Much better than Damon, but he provided essentially no value except with his bat.  Damon is 15 points behind Baines in OPS+, but 14.6 ahead in BB-Ref WAR.  Basically, the entire difference is in the positional adjustment.

Can Jeremy Lin hit RHP?

Something about consistently dunking the ball into short left field?

[11][12] Finally—all that serious baseball discussion made me think I was on the wrong site.

Well - by my count it is 47 days until opening day - so it’s spring training for baseball discussion too.  Don’t want too much this early, got to take March to build up stamina and the like…

Captain Crunch Whole Milk, Skim or Soy Milk?  Berries, bananas or Prosciutto?

Snuggles/Clay reporting for complaining camp.

AJ passed the physical, apparently.

Mo loves us.

What’s the most unheard of thing you’ve ever heard of?

[18] The Piazza gay stuff about 10 years ago.
@ Pin…. the kitchen scene.

My daughter went to a Whitney Houston cross-dressing contest at a gay bar last night.

And Selig has taken the cash and approved the deal.

@OTF…WTF ?

[20] Was she dressed as Bobby Brown?

Are we allowed to resume talking about Quentin Tarantino’s foot fetish yet?

Mark Lisanti basically echoing the prevailing AJ sentiment ‘round these parts.

Pin Striper @Pin7Striper
@Joba_62 How’s the rehab going ? Why haven’t we seen any “Joba’s in the best shape of his life” stories in the press ? We want 07 Joba back.

I’m being ignored by a Manatee

[21]  Your query regarding Ms. Thurmans best scene in KB1. Ms. Fox was quite badass too.

How is Roy Oswalt still unemployed? How cheap can Matsui get before he gets an NRI?

[26] OIC

Olney is now alleging that the Phillies tried to set up a three-way trade with Blanton going to LAAaaAAaaAAaaA and Abreu going to NYY and AJ becoming a Philly.

Something must be known to be wrong with Oswalt.

Oswalt hasn’t been able to find work cuz he kilt Kennedy.

He was a patsy.

[22] Apparently, the year after I graduated High School, Bobby Brown wandered into my High School’s prom. It was at a banquet hall and he was at a function in another room.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownbo04.shtml Nice.

What’s up with Mo coming to camp late?  On the one hand, who cares?  Plus it’s Mariano F’ing Rivera.  On the other hand, baseball demands players jump through lots of silly hoops or else be judged not to play the game the right way.

The New York Yankees have agreed to a one-year deal with Raul Ibanez worth around $1 million plus incentives, baseball sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney on Monday morning.

Per ESPN.

Rumor also has it that they’d like to bring Chavez back on a similar deal.  So basically they’re going to get two veteran role players for about half of what Damon would want, and hopefully without any whining about playing time.  OTOH, you have to squint pretty hard to see Chavez and Ibanez actually contributing much of anything that Branyan and Laird couldn’t have.  OTOOH, they only have to be worth a half a win combined to earn their contracts (unless the incentives are for things like taking over the face pie concession that AJ has abandoned).

“face pie concession”—nyuk nyuk!

At the price they’re paying Raul, The Muscle will still have a shot at making the club.  If the Chavez contract is similar, so will Bill Hall.

per roidoworld:

ESPN’s Andrew Marchand reports that the Yankees and Eric Chavez are “expected to come to an agreement.”
Marchand says the Yankees “like the idea of adding Chavez as a valet for Alex Rodriguez” at third base. And the A.J. Burnett trade has freed up enough cash to make a signing more financially feasible. Look for the two sides to intensify contract negotiations this week.

Make your bets as to when Chavez gets injured. I say April 28.

I say April 31.

Garcia looks massive, similar in bodyshape to Colon.

So approaching Hughes and Joba?

Do not mess with Mo’s preparation. It is science and can’t be understood by us.

Yay Ibanez, I guess. Having Chavez around means we won’t lose sleep about Nunez coming in for ARod. We can get on with losing sleep about him coming in for Jeter.

Mo is beyond the human conceptual categories of space and time.  He descends from on high to ST when he’s effin ready.  Pin, as usual, is correct.

And Mo makes a brisket that is beyond.  Simply beyond.

With PA incentives, Ibanez could repoertedly get over $4mm.  Not that cheap.

What does this have to do with Mo’s brisket?

It will be hard to justify PA for Ibanez if he’s having another bad season.  With Chavez signed, sliding Arod into DH for “half days off” becomes very easy.  Imagine Ibanez complaining about PA over Arod.  Impossible.  He’ll have to hit well enough to justify playing Arod in the field.

Every position now has a passable backup.  If the binder has been upgraded to maximize these players’ strengths, this could be good.

I really wanted to see Branyan get a real shot. Although, could they still carry Branyan as a pitch-hitter? Someone you could pinch-hit for Gardner down one late in a game?

Then again, the “problem” with the Yankees is that there are very few guys you’d ever actually pinch-hit for, so I guess he’d be useless and a pinch-runner like Dickerson would be more valuable.

I’m not sure I ever pinch-hit for Gardner. He had good on-base skills and before you know it he’s in scoring position. If you need one run, he’s who you want leading off.

[49] pitch-hitter

Are you giving up on Swisher that easily? Bill Hall is probably higher on the depth chart here as well.

[48]  Actually, I guess it’s $4mm if he hits “all” of his PA incentives. The reports don’t say what the PA milestones are; it COULD be that Ibanez needs to get 600+ PAs to trigger $4mm in pay (IOW, he would need to become a fulltime DH/OF in order to get to that level).  If so, then of course he would have to be enjoying a pretty good year to earn $4mm (that, or the OF is decimated by injuries). 

Hopefuly, the incentive structure is such that if Ibanez is only being as we expect him to be used—primary DH vs. RH pitchers; bench player on days ARod and others are being used as DH—then his salary will be much closer to the $1.1mm base pay.

“like the idea of adding Chavez as a valet for Alex Rodriguez”

Goddam prima dona ballplayers need “valets” now?  Mickey Freaking Mantle had Mike Hegan for a “caddy.”  If a caddy is good enough for the Mick, then a caddy should be good enough for anybody.

[53}
I thought it was Ross Moschitto.

Who else is super excited for a week of BSOTL articles? And another ST where Banuelos is the center of attention again? When do the ST games start?

Anyone else going to buy the MLB.tv package now so you can catch like 3 ST games?

Mo has been showing up late in recent years.  I remember other articles about it.

If Chavez as a valet is anything like Bates on Downton, I think we can expect him not to be around much of the time.

Is it time to talk about Old Thurman Fan’s gnarled feet?

You’re confusing OTF with UTF.  Common mistake.

[56] As long as his wife isn’t the most one-dimensional villain in TV history, Chavez will be an adequate addition to the house.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/aj-burnett-happy-to-escape-new-york-yankees-for-pittsburgh-pirates/2012/02/20/gIQA7brUPR_story.html

Quick summary of AJ’s comments in this article:  AJ Burnett is not a cheerleader, shaking pom-poms.  And the reason he stunk was when he started losing, people started giving him advice on what to do to not stink, and then he took that advice.  He’s not going to do that anymore.

And the reason he stunk was when he started losing, people started giving him advice on what to do to not stink, and then he took that advice.  He’s not going to do that anymore.

Oh good, an aging headcase with poor control, hits on becoming uncoachable as his fountain of youth.

He may as well have blamed “that unlucky tattoo I got in December 09”.

Girardi saying that everyone is in good shape (notice that he doesn’t point out if anyone is ITBSOTL).

“I thought our guys came in good shape,” Girardi said. “I thought they were all ready to go.”