Showing posts with label Johnny Damon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny Damon. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2010

Damon will bat second, Jackson to lead off

Talk that Johnny Damon might threaten rookie Austin Jackson as Tigers leadoff man should disappear for a while now that Tigers manager Jim Leyland says Damon will start off in the No. 2 spot. That gives Jackson the opportunity to take the top spot and run with it.

Fantasy Impact: There's a reason the Yankees gave up Jackson in pursuit of Curtis Granderson - he's young and hasn't taken a single at bat at the major league level. Not only is he unproven, Jackson's minor league stats don't exactly knock you over. He's good, but he's not off-the-page good. Despite his athletic ability and decent size, Jackson slugged just .405 at Triple-A last season. To expect any kind of MLB power surge is silly. He's a good base stealer, but strikes out quite a bit (22 percent of the time in Triple-A last season).

At best, this makes Jackson a late-round sleeper pick in fantasy drafts. We may know more by the end of spring, but Jackson needs to show us something at the major league level before we'd be willing to trust him. Think Carlos Gomez. Don't think Andrew McCutchen.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Damn, Damon

Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon continues to hit well-above his head power-wise. Damon slugs his 10th homer of the 2009 season in the 10th inning for a walk-off win over Minnesota. He's hitting .324 from the No. 2 hole in New York's star-studded lineup.

Fantasy Impact: Can this hold up? Maybe. While Damon is 34 and hasn't hit more than 24 home runs in a single season, he's certainly showing more pop in his bat later in his career. New Yankee Stadium is seeing baseballs fly into the stands with alarming regularity, but it's not necessarily going to last. Damon's production will be expected to slow, but we think he's capable of hitting 25-30 homers thanks to his blistering pace. That makes him a great trade piece to a team needing another outfielder.