The Yankees will be holding their collective breaths tomorrow when Hideki Matsui has his knee further examined to determine if he will need season ending surgery.

If he does, then the search will begin on finding a replacement bat for his spot in the lineup. General manager Brian Cashman said that it is his preference to begin the search from within the Yankees’ own organization, but let’s face it, Brett Gardner is not going to cut it. He may be better than Melky Cabrera, but he certainly won’t make up for the .323 batting average and seven home runs Matsui provided.

There is one other possible replacement from within: Juan Miranda. Through 57 games at Scranton this season, Miranda is hitting .301 with five home runs and a .835 OPS. The problem with Miranda is that he doesn’t compliment the Yankee lineup well because he, like everyone else, struggles against lefties. In 57 at-bats against them this year he’s only managed a .175 batting average.

So they will eventually turn the search outward. Readily available is Richie Sexson, but even though I made the case last week that the Yankees could desperately use him, I meant as a part time player to be used strictly against lefties. The Yankees would be better off with Miranda playing everyday than signing Sexson for the intent on using him regularly.

It could work out that the Yankees use both of them as a platoon, but another possible option which could be better is Barry Bonds. Now 44-years-old, Bonds was great in limited play last year. In 340 at-bats he had 28 home runs, a .480 OBP, and a 1.045 OPS. With the short porch in right field, Bonds could do even more damage as a Yankee.

Also Bonds will come cheap, his agent has said that he is willing to play for the league minimum. So by adding Bonds you could add a legitimate threat in the lineup which will cost next to nothing on top of the fact that they won’t have to give up any prospects to make the deal. With him in the lineup Alex Rodriguez couldn’t ask for better protection.

However he certainly comes with some red flags. His age is a major concern as over the past few years Bonds has had limited playing time due to various back and knee ailments. At 44-years how much does he actually have left in the tank? Last season we saw how little Roger Clemens had left in his weak attempt at a comeback that ended in a disappointing playoff performance. Do we as Yankee fans want to risk watching that again?

Another big issue against him is his surly attitude and the steroid cloud that follows him around. Even though the Yankees already have steroid cheats Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte on the team, both of them have apologized and handled it in a much better way than Bonds has. Neither the fans nor the media will treat him well so it’s likely he will be unhappy during his entire tenure as a Bomber.

Despite the possible controversy Brian Cashman has left the door open for the possibility of Bonds’ arrival this week when he said, “I would caution everybody to not misunderstand, that because I’m not saying no to it means that it might be happening down the line. It’s not something we’re focused on at this point.”

If they choose not to go with either of those routes, another less likely option is Raúl Ibañez of the Seattle Mariners who will likely be traded as the team slips further into irrelevance. The Yankees might match up well with Seattle, a team who might be willing to take a shot on Cabrera. If you could package him together with a mid-level prospect that Mariners may be interested.

There are other options out there and be sure the Yankees will look into all of them. From a strictly baseball standpoint Bonds is the best and cheapest option, but he’s certainly not the most likely. Since the biggest reason the Yankees wouldn’t go after Bonds is because of a probable negative reaction by fans we at Hot Stove want you to vote on who you would like to be the Yankees second half DH.