According to Jon Heyman the Yankees have been in contact with Hideki Matsui. The Yankees reportedly only want to spend about $1-2 Million on a DH after trading Jesus Montero to Seattle.
Matsui posted a .251/.321/.375 line with 12 homers in 583 plate appearances last year in Oakland. He recovered from a slow start to produce better results in the second half (.753 OPS after July 1st), but the average DH posted a .265/.340/.429 line in 2011, so Matsui, and his lack of fielding ability, hasn’t drawn much interest. A return to Oakland doesn’t seem likely and no other teams have been publicly linked to the Wasserman Media Group client.
After his poor year in Oakland Matsui will probably be looking for one last year before retiring as he will be 38 in June. The Yankees limited budget would seem like enough to bring back Matsui for one last year in Pinstripes before riding off into the sunset. The worst part is that even if Matsui put up the same numbers as he did last year it would still be better than the performance from Yankees DH since Matsui in 2009.
Personally I like this deal for two reasons. One is that Matsui has a proven bat in Yankee stadium and his cheap contract will provide minimal risk. After Matsui the Yankees would have to look at some minor league invites if they plan on staying on budget. The other factor is that I absolutely loved Hideki Matsui and it would be absolutely amazing if the Yankees could bring him back. Ive loved Matsui since he came over in 2003 and he hit a grand slam on opening day.
I really hope it happens, because if it doesn't work then the Yankees can fall back on Jorge Vazquez and I think we would all love to see Godzilla return to the Yankees.
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