After the trade of Phil Coke left Damaso Marte as the only lefty reliever in the Yanks bullpen, I wondered who else could fill the void.
Mike Gonzalez was out there, having gone 5-4, 2.42 and 10 saves for the Braves this year. The 31 year old has had really only one off-year since 2004.
But scratch him. MLBTR is reporting that he’ll go to Baltimore for $12MM, with incentives that could make it worth as much as $16MM.
In going to the Angels, it seems like Matsui took the bull by the horns. He wasn’t going to wait for a Yankee offer that may or may not have come and didn’t wait for the rest of the market. You wonder if Damon may do the same thing.
Update: The O’s have also signed 3B Garrett Atkins. Atkins only hit .226-9-48 for the Rockies in 2009 (OPS+ 66) but did go .329-29-120 in 2006 (ops+ 136) for them, following it up with a .301-25-111 (ops+113) year in 2007 when the Rockies won the NL pennant.
Whether he can get it back or whether those numbers were strictly Colorado (career splits .327 at Colorado, .252 away) we’ll have to see. Career .289. 162 ga. ave. .289-21-100 (OPS + 102).
The Sommer Frieze 
