The Yankees are now waiting for Johnny Damon to return on his hands and knees

Now that the Giants have signed Aubrey Huff, it looks as though the options for Johnny Damon and his rigoddamnediculous $30 million demands are drying up. You know what that means? Cashman was right again. At first , I didn't agree with the thought of re-signing Damon, mostly because I thought it was the Yankees best interests to sign Matt Holliday (albeit before the Cardinals crippled their franchise and overpaid the shit out of him). Since it looks like the team is holding out to sign Carl Crawford after the 2010 season, Damon at $6-7 million for a year makes all of the sense in the world. At that number you are paying Johnny Damon what would be his actual value, instead of what his Yankee Stadium numbers, and not to mention Scott Boras, may say that he is worth.

At that price, we can actually talk about Damon's actual value to a club - instead of how a multi-year contract could end up looking in three years. A multi-year deal would have us weighing Damon's age and projected decline. In this instance, we as analysts have the ability to say the Yankees have secured a player that CHONE projects to be a 3.2 win player at a premium price. Not to mention making Brett Gardner the fourth outfielder, a position that we all know is where he belongs.

If/when Damon returns, we will be able to one again blow inordinate amounts of smoke up Brian Cashman's ass for another savvy, shrewd move. Personally, I have come to expect nothing less.