Since the Cubs completely suck, their Matt Lawton acquisition was useless, and the veteran left fielder is now a New York Yankee. The Cubs acquired minor league pitcher Justin Berg (21 years old, 6-1, 3.07 at Staten Island, a sinkerballer) in the deal.
Lawton played for New York yesterday in right field with Gary Sheffield getting the day at DH. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and hit eighth.
The Yankees are expected to play Lawton in left, Matsui in center and Sheffield in right, with Bernie DHing. Joe Torre said something about not promising Lawton anything, which is getting kind of silly. If the Yankees want to win, Torre better play Lawton, regardless of how true a Yankee he is.
As for how I'd say it will affect the Yankees, I think it's a good move for their team. Bernie Williams is a total liability in the outfield at this point and knows it. Lawton stunk in his 19 games with the Cubs, but perhaps it was just contagious. Matsui is no center fielder either, but he can hit and is a better glove than Bernie, and with Lawton you're potentially adding a very good on-base guy to the bottom of the order, or they could hit him second if they wanted to.
The Yankees are in a dogfight with Boston for the AL East and also with the Indians, A's and maybe the Twins for the wild card. They needed to upgrade and they did it. I hate the Yankees more than just about anything on earth, but for a team in their position, they made a good move.