And now, leading off for the Yankees...

...is Johnny Damon.

Hard to believe, still? A little. But it accomplishes what the Yankees needed. A centerfielder, a leadoff hitter. Chuck Knoblauch was the last Yankees' true leadoff hitter, and it was also the last time the Yanks won the World Series.

Is he a traitor to the Red Sox? Maybe. Does he have a poor throwing arm? Yeah, probably. But he is still a good hitter, and gets on base, and no one runs down a ball out in center better than him. I remember all the times he would kill the Yankees by making a catch and then crashing against the wall. He also does two things for us: fills a hole for the Yanks, and weakens the Red Sox.

But trying to be objective, I can see what he was thinking. He would have taken less money from the Sox if they gave him more years (Yanks got him for 4 years, $52 million). Also, he was concerned about the Sox' management now... I mean, how can you let Theo go and then hire two co-GMs? Doesn't make sense. And the Sox have made all these trades and signed guys, but they still have three gaping holes: SS, CF and 1B. And Manny is Manny.

So am I happy about this? Yeah, definitely. Fills a big hole. And as ESPN.com said, now Johnny needs to find a good barber in NY.