I, for one at least, am not going to buy into the Gammons-led Red Sox party line and believe that Manny is the root of all evil. If two games and one incident erase all that he done on the field, then I think we need to reevaluate our puritanical view, or clean out the closets of the many players already in uniform.

I must try that bacon roll. That is awesome on so many different levels.

Aaagghhhhhhh!!! As Charlie Brown would say.

I was all for Tex for 6 or 7 years at 20mm per, but at 9 or 10 it’s time to move on. Just because the Yanks have lately done a terrible job filling the slot doesn’t mean 1B is all of a sudden a hard position to fill. Plenty of FA 1B guys will hit the market in the next 6 years, guys like Pujols, Howard, Prince, etc.

Besides all that though, Nady should really be on the trading block right now, I want a replacement for Tabata in the farm system! I think a market for him would develop before the FAs settle, as he’s so much cheaper. The tier of teams who can’t pay for Dunn, Tex, Manny, etc should look at Nady as a solid option. Hell, maybe trading Nady opens up enough money to get Tex after all, which would leave Swish in RF, then go get Holliday for LF next year. Swish’s flexibility means signing Tex gives you a medium term OF asset, of which we have none if Swish is the 1B.

I guess that’s all to say there is really no excuse to not add one big time hitter. there are just so many ways to go, at plenty of price points.

IIRC, Rob Neyer said they were 3rd in the AL in road OPS in 2008 – obviously a big difference. Still, its possible that the Yanks offense might be OK next year without any other additions, but I’m skeptical.

I think the forgotten point in all this Manny talk – and the talk about the offense in general – is the Yanks’ lack of depth and their over-reliance on guys who, at age 35 or older, are that much more likely to miss games due to injury. That’s even before you add Manny (going to be 37) into the equation (or Cameron – who will be 36). Damon, Matsui, Jeter, Posada – all are likely to miss 20 games or more. The Yanks’ options to cover any of those guys, even with a mere replacement-level player, are basically nil. The reserve OFs are Shelley Duncan and whichever of Melky and Gardner isn’t in CF. Even if you consider Swisher a reserve OF, the 1B on the roster are Shelley again and Juan Miranda. I guess Ransom could cover 1B too – but then the Yanks have no reserve 2B or SS or 3B!

Why add to that problem by signing a 37-year-old with a recent history of knee and leg issues (Manny) – or worse, trading for a 36-year-old CF? (Though at least Gardner might be an OK cover in CF for a couple of weeks if Cameron got hurt, or in LF for Damon.)

Youth is not a panacea, but context is important here. I’d much rather the Yanks take a chance on Dunn – or somehow sign Tex – if only because either of those guys is far more likely to play 160 games next year than Manny is.

We’ve already seen what happens when Posada and Matsui miss significant amounts of time. Do we really want to see that again?

Tex, on the other hand is a team guy. It has been excruciating watching the Yank’s attempts to fill the hole at 1st. Mantiewicz looked great, but his bat was cold. Giambi’s bat was great, but couldn’t throw a ball in a straight line. I would prefer to see that addressed. Also, with Damon and Matsui, we have a log jam between LH and DH if Manny were there.