Damon in 2010 and beyond

Johnny Damon's current contract ends after this season, which leaves the Yankees with an interesting dilemma. Do you resign him, and for how long? First, lets go back to his signing 4 years ago. I was against this signing. Not because he was a member of the Sox, but because he was 32. I didn't want to sign a guy to big money entering his decline years, after the Sox had him in his prime. The prime years in baseball are generally considered to be 27-32. We signed him anyway. Well, I was half right and half wrong. I was wrong on his offense, as he improved and is having his best year of his career this year with an OPS+ of 134. But I was right on his defense. He became a terrible defensive OF only after his first year of the contract. Which brings us to 2010. We currently have 2 1/2 DHs in 2009. We have Damon, Matsui, and Posada. Both Matsui and Damon are up after this season. Matsui can only hit, as he cannot field, run, or do anything else. Damon is essentially a DH playing LF. Posada will have his catching duties reduced, meaning he has to DH more often. Compounding matters is Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero. Ajax should be ready for Pinstripes in 2010. Montero likely in 2011, and quite possible in 2010. He will mostly likely split duties with Jorge. But the OF situation is crowded, and I am not sure you would want to play Damon out there anyhow. So what would I do? Well, I would sign him to 1 year with an club option. Or offer him arbitration. I would let Matsui walk. But forget a long term deal. The problem is that he is going to be 36, and at that age, he could fall off a cliff at any time. We saw it with Bernie. If he doesn't accept it, let him walk. We are unlikely to see another year like 2009 at his age. We have enough depth to make up for his offense. Also, we will drastically improve our OF defense. What do I think the Yankees will do? Probably sign him to a 3 year big money contract. Why? Because that is what they do. They love veterans. Let's just hope they don't go too crazy and resign Matsui too. You can never have enough of those DHs laying around!