Managing the Yankees

No, I am not saying this as a farewell phrase to our beloved slugger. We all know that Matsui is a free agent in the 2009 off-season and there are rumors that he might not come back. I am writing this blog to inform the Yankees (particularly Brian Cashman) to strongly consider Matsui before looking at other free agents. Matsui's age and weak knees indicated that the Yankees will let go of their DH after the season but that immediately change when Matsui played superbly in the World Series.

In the World Series, Matsui batted .615 AVE, 3 HR, and 8 RBI's. In Game 2 he hit a home run of Phillies pitcher Pedro Martinez. In Game 4, with the DH role being waive of, Matsui pinch hit in the late inning to provide insurance run. In his only at bat he hit another homer. In Game 6, Matsui exploded hitting a home run and produce 6 RBI that put Philadelphia's nail in the coffin. Matsui's incredible performance gave MLB no choice but to award the Yankees' DH the World Series MVP. The Yankees roster is deep and talented but Matsui really provided the offense that the ball club needed.

Since Matsui's arrival in New York back in 2003, Matsui provided his ball club another weapon in their always feared line-up. In his 7 years stint with the Yankees, Matsui gave the Yankees 100+ RBI's (except to the seasons that he was injured in 2006 and 2008). He was often called the "RBI Machine", giving important runs to his team. Matsui was nicknamed Godzilla because of his powerful hitting especially in right field.

Matsui is also known as the Yankees "Iron Man", playing 163 games every season. He had only two injury season in 2006 and 2008, but other than that Matsui was there all season long. Matsui played left field but his recent injury (knees) kept him from doing that this season. The Yankees made Matsui their DH at the start of the season and Matsui answered back with an a above satisfactory statistics (.274 AVE, 28 HR, 90 RBI's in just 142 games played).

And now the Yankees are thinking of letting Matsui go. I say no.
I am aware that Matsui's age is a concern and his knees are a big risk but if Matsui somehow agree to take a pay cut and play for one more year then the Yankees should grab it immediately. There are not a lot of free agent out there that can not compare to the offense of Matsui. And the Yankees will make a dumb decision of going for another high prize free agents like Bay and Holliday.
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is slowing down defensively and the Yankees are thinking of giving Posada the DH role next year. That seems to be a great idea but who will be their everyday starting catcher? Molina? Cervelli? The Yankees will be losing the offense that brought their ball club to their 27th World Series title. Let Posada catch for at least a year and relief him with Molina or Cervelli from time to time to save his strength for the post-season.
Give Matsui the DH role next season (Posada can DH once in a while). If the Yankees let Matsui go they will lost their No.5 or No.6 hitter and they will lose power from that spots.

Why are the Yankees even thinking of changing their roster that made wonders in 2009. If they want to change they should add talents not reduce. Matsui has 1-2 good offensive years left him. The Yankees should not waste it. Bring Godzilla for one more year and let his numbers do the talking.