With the Yankees in the market for a designated hitter now that Jesus Montero is heading to Seattle, they are looking at a number of options and reportedly already reached out to Johnny Damon and Carlos Pena.
Since they already added $10 million to the payroll with the signing of Hiroki Kuroda, they don’t expect to spend a lot to sign another bat and both could be relatively low cost.
Damon, 38, made $5.25 million last year with the Rays, but since Tampa Bay doesn’t want him back, he’ll likely have to settle for less in 2012. And Pena, 33, told MLB Radio the Yankees had made contact with him, according to their twitter account.
Pena, who hit just .225 after signing a one-year, $10 million deal with the Cubs last season, said he hadn’t decided where he wanted to go, but preferred to play first base. If he holds true to that, the Yankees would be an unlikely fit, with Mark Teixeira at first base.
Another former Yankee, Hideki Matsui, is also still around after spending last season in Oakland. The 37-year-old slugger hit .251 with 12 homers and 72 RBIs in his lone season with the A’s.
The team could also opt to give 29-year-old Jorge Vazquez a shot.
The righty-hitting Vazquez hit .262 with 32 homers and 93 RBIs at Triple-A Scranton last season. He’s also played both corner infield positions in his three seasons in the Yanks’ system after playing in Mexico.
Jorge Posada, who is expected to retire but not formally announced his decision, is not believed to be reconsidering.
Andruw Jones provided some pop in his first season with the Yankees and is back for another year, but he struggled against righties. He’ll get time at DH, along with Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira.