So who'll replace our Japanese mythical beast?

He breathes fire and he even made it into an episode of The Simpsons, so what next for Godzilla? The baseball version may not return this season following a nasty injury in the first inning of the recent rubber game at The Stadium against the Sox. The surgery was successful on his wrist and Matsui showing his class even apologized to the Yankee fans for letting them down, that is classy but it wasn't his fault, it is just one of those things, he plays hard and sometimes bad things happen. As a side note it was an awful day for my fantasy team in my keeper league as I lost Matsui and Rowand to the DL within minutes of each other, talk about a bad inning!

So now the question turns towards who'll replace the Yankee LF for the next three months at the very least.

The first option is obviously to stay at home, Bubba Crosby could be the everyday LF and so could Melky Cabrera once Gary Sheffield returns. Melky has been tearing it up at AAA and is still only 20 years of age but there are huge questions regarding his make up and whether or not he is ready for the big dance in a full time capacity. Bubba is nothing more than a 4th or 5th OF but if he can field well and do the little things then maybe that'll be enough, a lot depends on how long Gary Sheffield remains on the DL.

Going outside the organization then the most likely options are Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu and even Alfonso Soriano. Abreu is the one that is generating most hype with the Phillies desperate to offload his salary (he is owed $30m over the next 17 months) and is has been reported that a couple of B grade prospects might be enough to get the All Star RF, which means the Yankees would keep hold of stud prospect Philip Hughes.

Soriano is probably the most interesting option out there as the former Yankee has repeatedly spoken about his love for the club and how he'd love to return. He would happily play LF in the Bronx and the Nationals are not going to win a playoff place this year. Soriano is highly unlikely to stay with the club as he's a Free Agent after the season and with a $10m salary this year, the Nats may take the option to cut their losses on the former All-Star 2B.

Brian Cashman will obviously be looking around and seeing if the Bombers can make a move that makes sense, for now though expect Bubba Crosby to win a lot more playing time, and if he does well enough then it might well save the club a fair few dollars and a couple of good prospects.