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Out With the Old, in With the Older

Johnson's power was likely sapped by a combination of bad luck and spacious home ballparks.

The Yankees have been heavily criticized for losing Hideki Matsui’s services to the Angels, who picked him for a team-friendly one year deal at just over $6 million. But the Yanks were not about to stand pat and hand the DH spot to a AAA scrub. Now, just a few days after New York was lambasted for dropping their Japanese slugger, former Bombers prospect and first baseman Nick Johnson returns to his roots as a Yankee, and presumably the designated hitter position. The reported one-year, $5.5 MM deal has a team option for the same salary next season and is pending a physical.

In terms of wOBA, Matsui and Johnson were relative equals in 2009 (.378 and .373 respectively). With Mark Teixiera already in the fold, Nick’s defensive abilities won’t play much of a factor, but he has generally been a positive defender throughout his career. Hideki, on the other hand, did not play a single inning on the field in 2009 and the Yankees were apparently not too keen on trying him there in 2010.

Considering their remarkable similarities in terms of cost and production, there shouldn’t be so much outrage regarding either Matsui’s departure or Johnson’s acquisition. However, because Nick’s game is more on-base centric than Matsui’s, I believe he is a better bet to sustain his production for the next few seasons. The short porch in right won’t hurt either, as NJ’s paltry total of 8 home runs last year is sure to increase (fly balls hit by Nick cleared the fence just 6.2% of the time, compared to his 13% career average). And for those who are waiting for the injury bug to make the Yankees look foolish, remember that Johnson has amassed over 500 plate appearances a year in three of his last four seasons (he missed all of 2007 and most of 2008). It’s not often that baseball players sustain broken leg injuries, so calling him a fragile player is quite unfair.

All of this being said, the Yankees would have probably been fine with either Hideki or Nick in the order next season, but Nick is still just 31 and could really surprise people by milking Yankee Stadium’s right field dimensions. If he’s healthy, look for his power numbers to rebound. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he could hit close to 30 HRs if given around 600 PAs.