There has been much talk on the internet and sports radio that the Yankees “need” to “free up” their DH spot for guys like Posada, A-Rod, Jeter and other aging guys that might need a rest from playing in the field. While I agree that some of these guys definitely need a day off now and then, last year Girardi managed to do that while still having Matsui play 118 games as the primary DH. What these advocates fail to realize is the loss of production that would occur if they simply turned the DH spot into an empty parking space. They seem to forget that whenever a guy like Alex or Damon or Jorge are the DH you are running out guys like Cody Ransom or Jose Molina. Now I realize that even the youngest of catchers do not play every day. The Yankees will be lucky if Jorge catches 110 games or so. But no AL teams use their DH spot for their primary catcher on his off day except for Napoli sometimes with the Angels, so that would, as Jason would say, be a specious argument. The Yankees did vastly improve their bench by mid-season with Hairston and Hinske but calling Hinske a butcher in RF would be a compliment. He hit a few bombs but that was about it.  Jerry was much better than Ransom, but almost anyone would have been. Some might bring up Alex’s hip injury and suggest that he of all people should be treated with kid gloves. Well last year he played only 9 games as DH. In fact no one played more than 9 games as DH last year. I was surprised to see that Damon only played 4 games and by the way, in that small sample size he only hit .200 so don’t let anyone convince you that he would make an ideal designated hitter. On the other hand maybe he would. Some guys do not respond well to it. They lose their focus. Even Giambi was a much better hitter when he was playing first base ( shudder). Alex in his small sample size of 38 PA thrived there. Again-key word -small sample size.

I have two points I’d like to emphasize. The Yankees need a full time DH and they also need a guy who can keep his head in the game without playing in the field. I’m sure you can guess where this is going. Matsui. OK here is his line from 2009: He had 502 PAs with an OBP of .361 and he slugged .506. 27 home runs, 86 RBI and he struck out a not too shabby 71 times. His knees are a concern and he is a baseclogger but hey, Jim Thome isn’t exactly fleet of foot. None of the potential DH’s out there are even remotely fast. One might make the argument for Damon next year as DH. I’m not opposed to it, but we already know that Matsui makes for a very good one. Yes you do lose the versatility that Damon might bring since he can still play the field but this post is not about whether JD should be a yankee next year, it’s that I believe that Matsui may be better suited as DH.  The other issue is revenue coming from Japan. NHK, the main Japanese broadcasting company shows every Yankee game and that brings in a tremendous amount of money to the team. There is no doubt that those broadcasts will follow him wherever he goes. Then there is all the Japanese signage in the stadium. That will disappear as well. I have read that the Yankees pull in about 15 million a year from these sources. Matsui is paying for himself without even swinging a bat. 15 million isn’t a ton of money to the Yankees but it sure would be to many teams that might well snap him up for that reason alone.  Godzilla has said he wants to continue rampaging in The Bronx and i’m all for it.