Do The Yankees Need Injury Prone Nick Johnson?
December 22, 2009 · Alex Ferguson · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Nick Johnson is once again a Yankee, if the reports are right .
As a Yankee fan, I should be happy. In 2001 he pulled off a brilliant catch from first base that sticks in my mind. He’s not a horrible hitter (lifetime .273 hitter).
He’s seen as being the ‘next Johnny Damon’ in that he’ll provide a bat to cover Alex Rodriguez and play DH for 100-odd games.
But taking over from Hideki Matsui, one wonders if the New York Yankees did the right thing.
Matsui was already a legend before he creamed Pedro Martinez into the November night and celebrated World Series No. 27 on an open topped bus.
Now, bad knees and all, he’s gone to the Los Angeles Angels, where he’ll power up a very tasty line-up.
Johnson’s come on board with a $5 million, 1-year deal, and you know what? If it’s injuries that Matsui has, then Johnson can provide them, too.
The New York Post says this about his injury history : “As a Yankee, he missed the entire 2000 season with a right hand injury. He was limited to 38 games in 2008 with the Nationals due to a right wrist problem. A fractured right femur late in the 2006 season cost Johnson all of 2007. A lumbar strain and a fractured right cheekbone limited him to 73 games in 2004 as an Expo. As a Yankee in 2003, he missed 61 games because of a stress fracture in the right hand.”
Wow. The guy’s more injured than Carl Pavano! What more could you want!
Listen, in a stadium like Yankee Stadium Edition No. 2, a player like Johnson should do well. The stadium’s built for a left-handed hitter, especially one who can hammer the damned thing. But no stadium’s built for a disabled left-handed hitter.
And if history’s anything to go by, “disabled” and “list” may be the two words that Johnson will hear some time in 2010.
Oh, and guess what – the rumors are that Angels OF Juan Rivera’s on his way out of Anaheim. Can he come back – please?
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