03/06: YB Community Projection: Johnny Damon
Posted by: James
Johnny Damon - Centerfielder
Age: 32 Years Old
Three-Year History and splits:
Outlook: To date, Johnny Damon, the Yankees latest splash in the free-agent market, is probably one of the more difficult Yankee starters to project. Yankee Stadium is a different playing environment than Fenway Park and there are a number of flags that go up when thinking of what Damon can do, not the least of which is his age (another guy on the wrong side of 30). His career line at Yankee Stadium is .252/.301/.346/.647 (even lower during his years with the Red Sox) and of course, common wisdom says that most Yankee free-agents take a year or so to get acclimated to their surroundings so take these nuggest however you would like.
On the plus side, the man is going to be the first in a long line of very good hitters. Seriously, who would you rather take a shot with? Johnny Damon or Derek Jeter? He'll be seeing some good pitches to hit and if you add in his selectiveness (he's averaged just below 4 pitches per plate appearances over the last 5 years), we could be looking at a very good year. Last year, his protection was Edgar Renteria and he still put up .316/.366/.439/.805 (you can adjust for yourself for contract year and all but hey, he was playing hurt).
Damon also has good speed and very good instincts on the bases so a return to his higher stolen-base totals might not be so far-fetched (he put up 30 SBs as recently as 2002-03). However, Torre might not want to run down George's new $52 million aquisition so keep that in mind. Still, if all Damon does is pull a Knoblauch and get the Yankees back to the promised land, I think any Yankee fan would take that trade, even if it means the release of Johnny's book, Idiot! The Second Coming. (You can find SG's look at Damon here.)
Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:
Age: 32 Years Old
Three-Year History and splits:
| SEASON | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 145 | 608 | 103 | 166 | 32 | 6 | 12 | 67 | 68 | 74 | 30 | 6 | .273 | .345 | .405 | .750 |
| 2004 | 150 | 621 | 123 | 189 | 35 | 6 | 20 | 94 | 76 | 71 | 19 | 8 | .304 | .380 | .477 | .857 |
| 2005 | 148 | 624 | 117 | 197 | 35 | 6 | 10 | 75 | 53 | 69 | 18 | 1 | .316 | .366 | .439 | .805 |
Outlook: To date, Johnny Damon, the Yankees latest splash in the free-agent market, is probably one of the more difficult Yankee starters to project. Yankee Stadium is a different playing environment than Fenway Park and there are a number of flags that go up when thinking of what Damon can do, not the least of which is his age (another guy on the wrong side of 30). His career line at Yankee Stadium is .252/.301/.346/.647 (even lower during his years with the Red Sox) and of course, common wisdom says that most Yankee free-agents take a year or so to get acclimated to their surroundings so take these nuggest however you would like.
On the plus side, the man is going to be the first in a long line of very good hitters. Seriously, who would you rather take a shot with? Johnny Damon or Derek Jeter? He'll be seeing some good pitches to hit and if you add in his selectiveness (he's averaged just below 4 pitches per plate appearances over the last 5 years), we could be looking at a very good year. Last year, his protection was Edgar Renteria and he still put up .316/.366/.439/.805 (you can adjust for yourself for contract year and all but hey, he was playing hurt).
Damon also has good speed and very good instincts on the bases so a return to his higher stolen-base totals might not be so far-fetched (he put up 30 SBs as recently as 2002-03). However, Torre might not want to run down George's new $52 million aquisition so keep that in mind. Still, if all Damon does is pull a Knoblauch and get the Yankees back to the promised land, I think any Yankee fan would take that trade, even if it means the release of Johnny's book, Idiot! The Second Coming. (You can find SG's look at Damon here.)
Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:
| AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|
Richard A. Holland wrote:
IMO Damon should have a good year. When he has a good year, will Yankee fans idolize him? No. Will they respect (accept?) him as quality baseball player? I believe they will.
Having collected all of my lucky charms and keeping my fingers crossed, I predict;
AB 632
R 125
HR 14
RBI 88
SB 20
AVG .321
OBP .377
SLG .442