Yanks Sign Randy Winn..Bye Bye Johnny?

Ex-Boston Red Sox outfielder turned traitor Johnny Damon's chances of returning to the NY Yankees were dealt a deadly blow when the pinstripers inked outfielder Randy Winn to a one year deal worth $2 million. This was recently announced by the Associated Press. Last year with the SF Giants, Winn hit .262 with only two taters and 51 RBIs. His on-base-percentage was a lowly .318. It looks like Johnny Damon and his agent, Scott Boras, simply priced themselves out of New York City. That's good for Boston because with Damon in the two spot of the batting order, the Yankees are a much better team. His stroke is made for the stadium's right field porch. So it's bye bye Johnny, Johnny bye bye (as Bruce wrote and sang). I hope he ends up in the National League. Here's the latest from fox dot com...

"The Yankees need Johnny Damon. Damon needs the Yankees. But so much for happily ever after. The World Series champions will replace Damon with Randy Winn, Brett Gardner and maybe a right-handed hitter such as Rocco Baldelli on a minor-league contract. Seriously. The Yankees, you see, are on a budget. Johnny Damon would have been a good fit with the Yanks this season.
I’m calling it now: The Yankees will be looking for a better left fielder in July. Damon, possibly headed to a second-division club, will be one of their prime trade targets. Where's Damon?"

Wow, a great question. And now...Boston Red Sox stuff...

Here's the Boston Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard talking about his teammate and the closer, Jonathon Papelbon...

“He’s a competitor. He’s ready every day to throw. And really, he’s a good guy for me to watch personally. I have aspirations of hopefully closing some day, whether it’s here or somewhere else, because as a reliever that’s the ultimate goal. And who better to watch than a guy who’s a four-time All-Star and has closed out World Series games? I know I can compete with the best players in the game,” he said. “Coming into this season, I realize my stuff plays at this level. I know what I need to do to be prepared between outings. It’s not a mystery to me anymore. I know what a 162-game season feels like. I know what the playoffs feel like. All of that stuff I didn’t have at this time last year.”

Daniel, the Boston Red Sox will need you big time to hold the fort in the seventh or eighth innings until it's time for Papelbon to nail it down. Good luck to you. This will be Bard's first full season in the big leagues. He started stong last year but had an ERA north of four over the last six weeks with a propensity to give up the long ball. Yes, he can throw 100 plus miles per hour but it's all LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. I think he'll be just fine.

Enjoy your Thursday as we here in north central Connecticut prepare for another Arctic cold air outbreak. Winds will accompany the frigid air starting late this afternoon. We were due...the last ten days have had high temperatures of forty degrees or above.

Thanks for stopping in once again, click on this post's title for more Red Sox and baseball news and as always, BE WELL.