In the process, they buried the Red Sox, who are going to go into next season playing for the wild card again. You don’t replace a bat like Damon’s at the top of the order. And if Boston can find someone who is willing to take on Manny Ramirez’s salary, the Red Sox will be a lot weaker and still looking to fill the various holes in their pitching staff.

The Yankees, meanwhile, hadn’t done anything big this off-season. But they have been collecting middle relievers, shoring up the part of their pitching that most needed help. The starting rotation is still iffy, but, as they showed last year, if you can score enough runs, it doesn’t matter.

At least it doesn’t matter until they get into the playoffs. Randy Johnson had what was for him an offseason last year. Jaret Wright is never more than a pitch away from the DL. Wang had arm problems and was shut down for a big piece of the season. Carl Pavano is a bust. None of that will be any different next year.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Pain on the skating rink, flying high on the hardwood, upsets on the football field, and more. more photos

So I’m not willing to give the Yankees the World Series because they got Damon. But the AL East is a lock, and maybe the best record in the American League with it. That’s always any team’s first objective — to make the playoffs.

Damon pretty much gets that job done. There’s still work for Brian Cashman to do. One more quality starting pitcher would do it. Maybe the Yankees will get that man, and maybe not.

In the meantime, it’s got to be nice being a Yankee fan. It always is when former Boston stars join the team. Damon isn’t Babe Ruth and he isn’t Roger Clemens, but he’s a big addition to the best line-up in the game.

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