Giles called and Damon discussed

Yankees manager Joe Torre called Free Agent OF Brian Giles on Tuesday to speak to the player about possibly playing in the Bronx. The 34 year-old with a career .413 OBP interests the Yanks as they look to overhaul their OF. With talk of Gary Sheffield either being traded or made into the full-time DH, the Yankees need to shore up defense, which has been lacking in recent years.

Giles' bat would be nice in any line-up. He is a high OBP guy with good power and despite playing in the pitchers paradise known as Petco Park for half his games last year, he was still able to hit over .300 on the year. His left handed swing would also fit well in the big ballpark in the Bronx due to the short RF porch.

Whether or not he is the teams answer to the CF problem is unclear. The possibility of moving Matsui to CF has also been spoken about but that doesn't excite me either. Yankee officials seem to be talking about a 3yr/$33m deal for the former Padre, which might be good value but it wouldn't exactly be making the team younger, something the Yankees were seemingly keen to do this off season.

Johnny Damon is perhaps the premier CF on the FA market but with super-agent Scott Boras looking for 7yr/$84m, the Yankees have already moved him to the back of the line with 4yr/$44m being the top end of the Yankee budget for the former Red Sox CF.

How this one plays out will be interesting, many names are being tossed out with regards to the CF problem, but where will the Yankees go? Giles, Matsui, Crosby, Rowand, Bradley, Ichiro? Place your bets now!