The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

BERN BABY BERN!!!!

NEW YORK -- While Johnny Damon dominated the headlines Wednesday, the Yankees made a move to secure his backup as well.
While the Yankees wait for the Damon signing to become official, they took another step toward filling out their roster, coming to terms with Bernie Williams on a one-year, $1.5 million contract.

Damon is expected to take his physical Thursday in Tampa, and, assuming all goes well, he could be officially introduced as the newest Yankee on Friday at a Yankee Stadium press conference.

Neither deal was announced by the team on Wednesday, as the Yankees must complete the language on both contracts before making them official. Williams' deal could be announced as early as Thursday.

Damon, who agreed to a four-year deal worth between $52-$53 million late Tuesday night, spoke with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for about 15 minutes on Wednesday afternoon.

Steinbrenner's spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, said the owner characterized the talk as a "good conversation."

Williams has been with the Yankees for 15 years, the past 13 as the starting center fielder, making him the longest-tenured player on the current team. Damon will inherit the starting center field job, and Williams will take over the bench role filled by Ruben Sierra over the past two years.

The Yankees offered Williams arbitration on Dec. 7, with the understanding that he would decline it. By doing so, they extended the negotiating deadline to Jan. 8, though the two sides were able to come to terms before Christmas.

Williams made more than $12 million in 2005, so he returns to the Bronx with a significant pay cut. Sierra earned $1.5 million last season, the same amount Williams will receive for 2006.

Williams ranks in the top 10 on several all-time Yankees lists, including hits (2,218, fifth place), runs (1,301, fifth), home runs (275, sixth), RBIs (1,996, seventh) and doubles (420, fourth).

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

yea i heard this yesterday. My sister is a HUGE Bernie fan.

I like the guy a lot. He is truly a great player and i am glad that he will go out a Yankee

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Yankee fans need to get their prioritys straight if resigning 50 year old BERNIE is the best move of the offseason.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Posted by DjPiLL

Yankee fans need to get their prioritys straight if resigning 50 year old BERNIE is the best move of the offseason.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

i gotta say, they made the right decision, it's only fair he goes out as a yankee

not sure what his role is gonna be, but they did right by him

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Posted by Redhead

Posted by DjPiLL

Yankee fans need to get their prioritys straight if resigning 50 year old BERNIE is the best move of the offseason.

for about 1 mil...they can spare it for a great, faithful player.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Posted by DjPiLL

Posted by Redhead

Posted by DjPiLL

Yankee fans need to get their prioritys straight if resigning 50 year old BERNIE is the best move of the offseason.

for about 1 mil...they can spare it for a great, faithful player.

I agree... but "best move of the offseason?"

I can't help it.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

I guess I am being more facetious than anything else.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Posted by DjPiLL

I guess I am being more facetious than anything else.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

I'm not saying it was the best move of the offseason. I said best move of the offseason for yankee fans. There's a difference.

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

Posted by Redhead

Posted by DjPiLL

I guess I am being more facetious than anything else.

now that is soooo out of character for you

Re: The best move of the offseason for Yankee fans

We had Newsday’s Yankees beat writer Jim Baumbach on live with us from Tampa last night on my 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Long Island Sports Talk radio show.

Please go here for the interview:
http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg

For some reason, there was a tremendous amount of static in the area that was going to be picked up by the sound board, so I had the decrease my mic’s input into the board. As a result, you might not clearly hear my question but Jim (which is the most important thing) and my co-host can be heard loud and clear. If you were listening over the air, you could hear me fine, as well. So, I’ve provided a list of topics discussed in the 33 commercial-free minute interview (in chronological order) as a guide:

--Jim (and Sweeney Murti) being hit by George Steinbrenner’s golf cart
--ARod and the Dominican/US saga
--Mike Mussina
--Jason Giambi’s weight
--The Yankees and the World Baseball Classic
--Mel Stottlemyre being back in Camp
--Bernie Williams
--Randy & Posada
--Carl Pavano
--Jaret Wright
--Aaron Small (Jim calls him the nicest person he has ever met in baseball.)
--Scott Erickson
--Randy’s propensity to announce his stats
--Andy Phillips/Kelly Stinnett/Ben Davis
--A discussion on how the roster is basically already settled
--Tino Martinez as an analyst
--Larry Bowa
--Joe Torre
--Lou Piniella
--Hideki Matsui
--Gary Sheffield
--The Yankees having a Japanese media advisor
--A discussion of writers’ access to players during Spring Training, and why so many of the stories seem to be the same across different newspapers on the same day.
--A discussion on whether any young players could surprisingly make the team, ala Cano and Wang
--Cano and the WBC