TAMPA – Hideki Matsui is still no sure thing to be ready for Opening Day, yet he is the Yankees’ projected cleanup hitter. He is trying to get his knees in shape while probably on his last legs as a Yankee. He needs a starry season, but his future in pinstripes is probably as tied to Jorge Posada’s 2009 as to his own.
Matsui is a puzzle right now. He has morphed from an iron man who played every Yankees game from 2003-05 to a frequently hobbled player who appeared in 59 percent of the games over the past three seasons. How much Matsui can play and how much the Yankees need him to play are key to both how good the 2009 Yankees will be and where Matsui will be in 2010: 1) New York. 2) Another major league team. 3) Playing in Japan. 4) Retired.
“I would be lying if I said I don’t think about it,” Matsui said. “It would be the ideal situation that the Yankees feel they need me. I am trying not to think about it and just focusing on this season.”
Matsui is entering the final season of a four-year, $52 million deal. People around the Yanks will tell you he was very involved in those negotiations and bargained hard. So he is no wallflower, but rather a prideful man who will not accept just anything to stay a Yankee.
Of course, it is quite a leap to assume the Yanks will even want to retain him. Just look at the landscape:
1. He is coming off of left-knee surgery, a year after having right-knee surgery. A few days back, third base coach Robby Thomson would not even let Matsui try to score from second on a two-out single because of the recognition that the 34-year-old is to be protected, especially in March. Right now, he is running without a significant burst, but said he sees no reason why he will not be ready for Opening Day in three weeks.
2. Matsui will be joined in free agency by Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady. Those guys are still viable corner outfielders. Matsui is not. He is viewed within the Yankees hierarchy as strictly a designated hitter now.
3. General manager Brian Cashman said: “I need Matsui’s knees to be fine and Posada to be able to catch to affect the length of the lineup.” Translation: The 2009 Yanks cannot have them sharing the DH role. That would mean Posada is not over his shoulder surgery, and Jose Molina or Kevin Cash is a daily drag in the lineup at catcher.
It also would mean Matsui is definitely finished as a Yankee because Posada is signed through 2011 and would have to be the full-time DH. Matsui could be a goner anyway, because the Yanks desperately want to get younger and more flexible on the roster, and might want to keep the DH slot open – even under the best circumstances – for Posada, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and their other aging entities.
Besides, if the economy remains troubling, salaries might stay down for secondary players, allowing the Yanks to cherry-pick a DH at an affordable rate as the Angels did with Bobby Abreu (one-year, $5 million) this offseason. Heck, it might be Bobby Abreu.
Matsui said he would be open-minded about playing for other teams, no matter the obvious association with the Yankees. As for returning to Japan, he said, “It is not really an option for me. I don’t want to think about going to Japan, right now.” The assumption remains, however, that his old Yomiuri Giants would welcome back a legend warmly should Matsui pursue that avenue.
Of course, Matsui’s options would expand with a strong 2009. And with A-Rod absent for at least April, manager Joe Girardi’s plan is to have Matsui – knees permitting – as the cleanup replacement, in part because Matsui has so much familiarity in the role from Japan. But also because he has been such a dependable run producer here.
Can he be again? The Yanks crave that, for Matsui to be part of the mosaic that compensates for A-Rod’s absence. Last legs or not, Matsui must step up and stand out.