[CityofBrotherlyShove]

It's something all American League East fans will be watching closely as the season goes on. Who will have the better 2006: Johnny Damon or Coco Crisp?

Their 2005 stats

Total BA:
Damon .316
Crisp .300

Times on Base:
Damon 252
Crisp 222

OBP:
Damon .366
Crisp .345

OPS:
Damon .805
Crisp .810

SB:
Damon 18
Crisp 15

Age:
Damon 32
Crisp 26

And then there's this...

2006 Salary:
Damon $13 million
Crisp $2.75 million

Damon is moving from Fenway, a hitter's park, to Yankee Stadium while Crisp is moving from a pitcher's park (Jacobs Field) to Fenway.

The numbers from last year certainly suggest that Damon's numbers are on the decline, though a change of scenery can always reignite players, so that will remain to be seen.

One thing that cannot be argued, however, is that Crisp is a huge defensive upgrade from Damon, who isn't known for his strong arm. Teams used to being able to run against the Red Sox and Damon will have to change their ways this season.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Yes well, I crunched the same types of stats last year, to convince myself that Coo Crisp was my late round super pick in my fantasy baseball drafts... if memory serves, I think I cut him shortly after he got out of April with .253 AVG, 1 HR, and 2 SB...

Hopefully, he will fare better with Boston fans, whose wishful thinking might have him slated as a bit more than a "poor man's Johnny Damon."

[halmaster]

Coco Crisp...Damon will w/o a doubt get injured when he collides w/ Matsui (sp?) in left center attemting to field a ball. Then he'll have to retire and go back to growing out his hair and looking homeless.

[Lefty Noob]

Welcome to the GoTeamsGo.com forums, halmaster. I must say that's a rather unique prediction -- one I'm sure the Yankee fans on the boards hope doesn't come true, I'm sure. So what kind of numbers do you think Crisp could put up this season?

[ThePundit]

Welcome Halmaster. Are you saying given a choice, you'd rather have Coco than Johnny for one year?

I'd much rather have Damon. Thank you Red Sox. We Yankee fans thank you for ignoring him and basically handing him to us. And by the way, Coco also misses time with injuries.

[CityofBrotherlyShove]

Pundit, it's not that simple. Anyone would take Damon over Coco for one year, if salary and length of deal was not an issue. But when you factor in their ages, their salaries, and the length of deal Damon was demanding, it becomes a very different story.

[ThePundit]

City:

I hear what you're saying.

But when it comes to the Yankees and Red Sox, this year is all that matters. Payroll is irrelevant. I give Steinbrenner credit. He doesn't price the average fan out of the ball park, so his payroll can be as high as it wants and it doesn't affect me one iota.

For this year, its about getting the bad taste out of Yankee fans mouths' from the 2004 fiasco. Bearing that in mind, Damon is the man over Crisp.

So even if the Yankees have to eat a year or 2 of Damon's deal at the end, it doesn't matter. There will be that next big free agent that they sign.

[Lefty Noob]

So even if the Yankees have to eat a year or 2 of Damon's deal at the end, it doesn't matter.

Unless baseball eventually wises up and institues a salary cap. Then it'll matter.

[CityofBrotherlyShove]

Just because the Red Sox have the second highest payroll in the MLB doesn't mean they spend as freely as the Yankees. While it may not hurt the Yankees to pay Damon a huge salary for four years, even if thery only intend to play him for 2, that's not something the Red Sox were interested in.

So, yes, salary is important enough to be considered.