9:36pm: Damon repeated after tonight's game that he's leaning toward staying in Detroit, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck (Twitter links). Damon's gut and his teammates are telling him to stay in Detroit.
3:45pm: Damon hasn't decided whether he'd accept an assignment to Boston, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck, who notes that the outfielder has about 48 hours to make up his mind (Twitter link).
3:09pm: A no-trade clause does not necessarily give a player the right to prevent his team from handing him over on waivers, according to an MLB Players Association official who spoke to MLBTR this afternoon. In many cases, a player has a non-assignment clause that would prevent trades and waiver claims. However, not all players with no-trade clauses can prevent their teams from handing them over on waivers.
In other words, Damon's ability to prevent the Tigers from handing him to the Red Sox depends on the wording in his contract.
2:51pm: Damon told Ed Price of AOL FanHouse he's not inclined to go back to Boston (Twitter link).
2:28pm: The Red Sox claimed Johnny Damon off waivers from the Tigers, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. The next question is whether the Tigers will work out a trade with the Sox, dump Damon on them for nothing, or pull him back. Damon can veto a trade to the Red Sox. Of Damon's $8MM salary, about $1.8MM remains. Heyman opined earlier today that he believes the Tigers would let Damon go if a deal cannot be worked out.
Damon played for the Red Sox from 2002-05, but had an acrimonious departure and signed with the Yankees. The Red Sox would be getting a diminished version of Damon this time, but he'd still be useful with Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury currently on the disabled list. The Sox may have made the Damon claim to block the Rays or Yankees, but they know it is possible they end up with the player.
Damon, 36, predictably saw his power slip with the switch from Yankee Stadium to Comerica Park. He's hitting .270/.355/.409 on the season and has logged only 268 innings in the outfield. He profiles as a Type B free agent after the season, but an arbitration offer seems unlikely.
uhhhh, no.
hey that’s is what they would do to the sox .
2:51pm: Damon told Ed Price of AOL FanHouse he’s not inclined to go back to Boston
uhhh, yes. im afraid you don’t have much say in the matter.
Yeah man, forget having a player who would REALLY help this team out right now.
hahahahaha as a Yankee fan I find this hilarious
Also question: with the option to just give the player away, what is the benefit in this? is it just to get a guy off the roster that can’t go to the minors?
If the Tigers don’t pull Damon back off waivers, the Red Sox have to pay his remaining salary, so the Tigers save $1.8 mil. And he is a free agent this offseason, so if the Tigers want him back, they can re-sign him.
Unless the Sox offer him arbitration, and he accepts…
Why would they offer him arbitration? They don’t want him back, they want to block him from going to TB or NY.
Because he’s a Type B FA I believe, which means if he denies arbitration they get an extra draft pick. His agent is Scott Boras, so rejecting arbitration is nearly a lock
rejection arbitration is not a lock because there is no way he is going to get close to 8 Mil a year in free agency. If he accepts the arb offer they will have to pay him around that much leaving you with a ton of money spent on old players in the outfield.
Maybe, but Boras hasn’t been afraid to decline arbitration in the past.
Damon doesn’t seem interested in going back, but if he does maybe he won’t want to go back for 2011 too. Maybe he’s insurance if Ellsbury/Cameron can’t stay healthy next year, or if Kalish isn’t ready yet.
Why is everyone forgetting the Tigers have 60 million coming off the books next year? Salary Dump? that’s a drop in the bucket compared to what is being dumped in November. And Illitch has already said hes going to spend big again. You all are reading this wrong. The Tigers are trying to get talent back for a guy they might bring back next year and avoid him accepting arbitration. Its all about them trying to double their return for him so to speak. He would probably decline arbitration but if he comes back, no draft pick. So why not put him on waivers and hope a team he doesn’t like claims him and then try to get a fairly good prospect for him, tell him hes gonna come back next year so he waives his no trade clause and then in 2011 if they don’t get Crawford, they wind up with Damon, plus still have a good prospect. ITs a crafty move by Dombrowski.
Actually it’s probably more of a salary dump. They don’t have to worry about paying his contract next year but may have to worry about paying the rest of it this season. If they get rid of the $1.8 mill due then that is an extra $1.8 mill that they can spend in the off-season. Every dollar you can save on a player that you don’t need is a good thing.
Salary dump. 1.8 million is something to gain in a lost year for the tigers.
Fans don’t gain anything in a salary dump
I dont think it is a lock for him to decline arbitration, I’m not sure of the number but he will get a raise from the 7 million he made this year, and he wont get that much on the open market.
Oh, good point, hadn’t thought of that!
oh wow so it’s a clean break, I did not know that. thanks
save a few bucks in salary for the remainder of the year
It is to get rid of bad contracts really (See Alex Rios)
Salary dump is exactly what this scenario is.
Its all about dumping his remaining salary not getting him off the roster.
Why? They have 60 million coming off the books next year and an owner who said hes committed to spending big.The Tigers were trying to trade him for talent in return and then possibly bring him back next year if they fail to land Crawford.
He has only about a million left this year anyways. Its not that much salary relief.
$ 75 million coming off the books
With vacancies created at SP, RP, Catcher, SS, 3B, RF, and DH.
That assumes Guillen can play 2B and Boesch can play LF.
Boston is not going to send a “good prospect” to Detroit not will it be “talent in return”. If they send a player(s) it will be be marginal talent that are long shots to reach the big leagues. No team is going to send real “talent” for a Johnny Damon. He was a very good player for a long time, now he just an aging good bat/lously glove journeyman trying to hang one.
that doesn’t shock me. Part of the reason I would guess is to prevent the Yankees from getting him. When he played in that little league field and the older one he did quite well. There has been plenty of talk about the Yanks possibly wanting him back to serve as DH. I would have thought you being a NY fan you would have known that. All the Sox did was make sure that wasn’t going to happen
yes I know that’s why and that’s fine, we don’t really need him. I just find it funny with Damon possibly going back to boston (i doubt he will), I could care less about the whys and what fors
I could see this if the Red Sox needed a LH DH, but…I don’t think we need that right now.
As a Red Sox fan, I say bring him back. We need outfield help badly. Sure I hated Johnny Damon when he was on the Yankees but I still respected him, he’s a good player
awkward…
why am i thinking the sox just put a claim on him, to prevent, the rays from getting him?
must be for his defense… that’s the red sox philosophy this year, right? pitching and defense. 🙂
its the psychological factor…..Damon provides energy, mystique and craziness to the business like atmosphere of the clubhouse. great job.
Oh this is hilarious. I’m a Yankee fan and I was really hoping it was US that claimed him. Unlike Boston, we COULD use him. Maybe this was done to block us? You know, since Boston has a higher waiver priority due their LOWER place in the standings?
Yankees have no use for Damon, their OF is fine. But I do agree this is very funny. Damon, known for being happier in a Yankee uniform, going back to the mess that is Boston. I want to see how he plays into their offensive dynamic now with Manny gone and Ortiz being exposed as a steroid hypocrite. When he was with the Sox the big deal was the core, Boston’s offense has changed dynamic since the controversy.
They didn’t change their team because of steroid controversies they changed because of aging players.
Manny and Damon aren’t outperforming Boston’s outfield this season?
Not hard to outperform a guy who has been hurt all season. If pujols played half a month and then was hurt the rest of the season would it be fair to say Travis Ishacowa (I can’t even spell his name he is so bad) outperformed Pujols in this situation?
No, because a half month of Pujols is better than a season of Ishikawa.
haha touche.
There really isn’t any “controversy” except from hypocritical Yankee fans. Fact: MLB has been full of ‘roiders in the past 15 years, and of course that includes the Red Sox…and the Yankees. You think the Yankees have avoided ‘roiders despite all the aging veterans they’ve signed? Please, there is no story in this matter anymore…
As for Damon being happier as a Yankee, if you haven’t noticed, he’s said glowing things about EVERY team he’s ever played for, while in their uniform. That’s just how he is, he keeps it positive. I guarantee that if he does end up in Boston, he’ll talk about how awesome it is to be back.
The controversy comes into play when you have Ortiz “confused” about why his name was on the list. No one is saying the Yankees’ players did not take roids. But at least the Yankees’ players are contrite and accept their mistakes. Not blame it on a pregnancy pill…
And for the record, Clemens played for both, so no dishing him off to us!
Maybe you should read up a little on the situation. Ortiz was justifiably confused because Major League Baseball REFUSED to tell him WHAT he tested positive for and to this day no one knows.
MLB REFUSES to tell anyone WHAT they tested positive for. So…I’m missing your point. Try again? And this time, easy on THE random caps, ya?
Here’s my point: it doesn’t matter what he tested positive for. It was a banned substance. End of story. Keep in mind, back then, there were a lot fewer substances on the banned list, and most of them were anabolic steroirds.
My point is that you were saying Ortiz somehow lived up to his accusations less so than certain Yankeees. But Papi admitted that his best guess for what he tested positive for was most likely a certain supplement that was legal in the Domincan and possibly newly banned by MLB at the time unbeknownst to him, but not anabolic steroids. Not sayin he’s never juiced before, but as far as that particular test is concerned Ortiz told the truth in my opinion..
Yes, that is exactly what I was saying. While people like Arod and Pettitte admitted their usage of steroids, Ortiz did not. You can believe him, but to me, it’s a very naive stance.
For the record, I’m pretty sure it was the federal government that subpoenaed the documents and wouldn’t dish the information out to the players union.
Yes lots of Yankees players were very contrite after being ousted by the media and caught. You can hardly say it is honorable for a player who blatantly denied taking steroids, gets caught, and then admits.
You’re right. But still, it is more “honorable” to come clean and accept you’re mistakes when you’ve been clearly ousted, no? Or you prefer they play the Ortiz/Clemens card and deny taking anything regardless of the evidence against?
I personally couldn’t care less if they own up to it after the fact or not. It doesn’t change the fact that they did it, which is the part that affects the game and their performance, the rest only affects the way the fans perceive the player. I lost respect for Ortiz when I found out he used PEDs, but I also lost respect for A-Rod when I found out he used them, regardless of the fact that he admitted it after.
P.S. I may be the only Sox fan who did, but I actually did used to have respect for A-Rod, or at least his HR numbers. I always hated the way he played the game (slapping the ball out of Arroyo’s hand and yelling “got it” rounding third) but I used to want him to become the all-time home run leader because I thought he would actually have done it “clean” unlike Bonds.
I see neither as honorable. Neither is better than the other.
Ehh, to each their own, I suppose. Most fans have an easier time forgiving and moving on once the player owns up. I understand some people will never forgive, and that’s their right, but I honestly feel you’re in the minority.
Eh… fine but not great. Neither is our DH situation.
Guys, this is a move to block the Rays or Yanks from getting him. They don’t really want him.
Wrong…They know there is a pretty good chance they end up with him. They would not of made the claim if they “really didn’t want him”
Wrong on your part. Waiver wire block. Classic case.
You don’t block someone on the waiver wire that you don’t want that the other team might just dump him on you. I know teams block other teams all the time, but that is more the case when they know the other team is not going to give up the player for nothing. Like for instance last year do you think the White Sox put in a claim on Alex Rios to “block” another team from getting them? Of course not, because they knew the jays would just love to get him off their hands. So they did it because they wanted him. Same with the red Sox, I’m not saying they really need him, but they wouldn’t of made the claim if they didn’t like the idea of him on their team.
Yes, you do, when you have the red sox money.
haha ok, if that’s what makes you feel better.
It happens all the time. Teams make a claim, then offer a garbage trade that the waiving team has to refuse, thus taking the player back. It’s done to primarily block a better team in their own division, like others pointed out.
Wrong on your part twice… They will let him go for salary relief everyone and their mother knew that so basically they just signed him for 1.8 milli for ROS
All of you are wrong! Two wrongs don’t make a right! And I’m pretty sure three, or Johnny Damon don’t either!
This would be insane…
I only have no problem with the move if he grows out his hair again!
Ha ha ha….it’s deja vu all over again… IF the Sawks do trade for him I just hope the fans can forgive and forget. Otherwise, Johnny’s going to need a suit of armor out there.
I don’t see anything happening with this but if Damon were to somehow end up on the Sox he would get a very long standing o for his first at-bat, trust me.
Don’t see how this could hurt the Sox. He’s a good hitter, they can use the help, he’s got plenty of playoff experience etc etc…. The only downside is that he hasn’t played much outfield this year but I’m sure they’ll pick and choose his spots accordingly. They can afford him and can stash him until he’s needed, not a bad move all in all. The little added bonus that he can’t go to the Rays or Yanks is just that, little bonus but not much else, can’t see how this would have been done for that alone.
Damon’s Disciples could be back in the bleachers?!?!?!I’d have taken him over Cameron ANY day
wow
World Of Warcraft?
nerd alert =P
This makes perfect sense for the Red Sox, should Damon choose to OK it. Not sure why NYY fans think it’s so “hilarious!”
Why are people saying the Red Sox ONLY did this to block the Rays and Yanks? Have you not seen how many injuries the Red Sox have had this year? I’m not a Red Sox fan at all but saying they are only trying to block the yanks is a bit of a stretch. He will help the red Sox but they still don’t have enough to make the playoffs.
They have plenty of outfielders in the minors. Is Damon going to put them in a position to win anymore than they are?
Yes. Can you with a straight face tell me Johnny Damon is not an upgrade over Bill Hall in left field?
.240/.309/.471/.781 with 17 hrs and 40 RBIs in 263 ABs
.270/.355/.409/.764 with 7 hrs and 40 RBIs in 411 ABs
Top one is Hall, bottom is Damon. Damon is clearly better at getting on, Hall is clearly better in the power department, let’s not pretend like Damon would be a huge upgrade. It’s pretty much a wash.
It is not really a wash. The stadium in Detroit is more of a pitchers park and Fenway is a hitters park. It is a bit different.
Fenway isn’t as much of a hitters park for lefties
Helluva lot better than Comerica!
I hope the Sox get him. Yeah it sucked when he signed with the Yankees, but hes still a good player and helped bring the Red Sox and Sox Nation their first World Series in 86 years. We need outfield help with Ellsbury and Cameron out. Why not bring Damon back. He is probably the best available player in the outfield at this point.
To be honest, I’m not shocked. At the very least it means he won’t go to the yanks or Rays. Add to that, it’s not like we couldn’t use an experienced outfield bat.
Wow, bringing back the traitor..
give it a rest bro. you would have done the same thing. how many people wouldn’t? more money, bigger market, better chance at winning…or…stay “loyal” in a game that doesn’t beleive in loyalty.
hym…..
No, I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have come right out and specifically said I would never sign with the Yankees and then do so. He’s a liar.
Let the healing begin! Hah!
As a Tiger fan, salary relief does nothing for me. Dombrowski would just use any saved money to pick up Jhonny Peralta’s $ 7 mil option and pretend that he’s a shortstop.
You guys want Guillen, too? Or how about Bonderman? Inge? Peralta? All free!
I’ll settle for just Guillen. Dombrowski at least has the chance to rid himself of the other 3 in the offseason. Although it’s been awhile since anyone signed an extension…
We need to be protected from Dombrowski’s addiction to contract extensions.
I think Dombrowski has learned his lesson as far as extentions go. Locking up Verlander was good but it was only to a 5 year deal. If we play big on the FA market I can see only 2-3 year deals being handed out but the $$$ in those deals will be big. Overpay to bring guys to detroit.
Easy for us to say. So few top players actually make it to free agency, that the price goes up for those that do make it. DD has avoided free agency since the 2006 season more than any other GM in the league. Very extreme. No multi year contracts to free agents after 2006, 2007, or 2008. No multi year contracts to a position player since Magglio signed before the 2005 season. Very, very extreme.
He built the 2006 Tigers with trades, free agents, international signings, rule 5 picks, and the draft. He needs to recapture that formula. Crawford, Werth by free agency, Bartlett and Figgins by trade, Inge and Ordonez get extensions, trade for a starting pitcher, etc.
He kind of had to avoid free agency becuase after 2006, ownership and him thought it was a good idea, as did most fans, to lock up the pieces that got them to the WS, not all that bad of a move. What was bad was that all of those key pieces got injured or relapsed to shells of their former selves. We were saddled wioth big contracts to Robertson, Bonderman, Guillen, Ordonez, Inge, not to mention a couple others. Signing Willis to a 21 million deal before even seeing him pitch in detroit was a mistake, one that DD has all but said he regrets. I agree though that he needs to go play big on the FA and Trade market this offseason. This year the $$$ is there for him to use. Hopefully he takes his own advice and builds another championship contending team.
What was bad is that he made scores of bad extensions.
Guillen for four years, 48 million and he lasted one year at SS.
Bonderman four years 40 million and he had never put two good halves together, and the team ate all the risk of injury with no discoun.
Inge for four years and he never had a full solid season.
Sheffield 42 million and he spent the prior season on the DL.
Willis was the worst pitcher in the NL the year before DD traded for him and gave him $ 29 million
Renteria had no range in Atlanta, yet DD said he was “surprised” at his lack of range.
ZERO free agents were given multi year contracts for three seasons, and one player got two years (Valverde) before this season. One multi year free agent contract in four years! Very, very extreme.
Bottom line, the guy has had the highest payroll in the division and has yet to win a division title. They actually paid a luxury tax in 2008 and he had a last place team.
Now, they have at least six vacancies in the lineup and there is not one player from the minors ready to fill a vacancy.
I don’t think the Inge deal was terrible. I’m not an Inge slappy, but $6M for an average 3B isn’t terrible. I’m hoping he’s gone after the year though because I see his bat falling off a cliff (even further).
Dobrowski is allowed to make trades, but only under 2 conditions:
1. Frank Wren isn’t on the other line.
2. There’s a 6-month waiting period before the acquired players can be extended.
Mike Cameron’s better, Ellsbury’s better. I mean come on
Both out for the year… kinda kills that logic
The Tigers aren’t going to dump him just for salary relief when they have over 60 million coming off the books this offseason. Heyman is an idiot.
Well then what would they do with Damon? Would you rather miss the playoffs with damon or miss them without damon and 1.8million and resign him in the offseason? Not sure why you are calling Heyman an idiot when you are clearly the one who is misinformed.
Detroit is out of it. The whole front office and all of the fans know it. I would rather miss him the rest of this year, get talent back for him, and then bring him back if they don’t land crawford or a big name OF bat. A quality prospect is > 1.8 million.
You aren’t going to get a quality prospect for Damon
you’re not going to get quality baseballs for Damon.
well not a top 10 pick for sure but a guy in the top 20 of the Sox organization for sure. Damon will decline arbitration from the Sox for sure. That’s a B pick right there. Dombrowski isn’t going to let the Sox double up on him like that. He will want something comparable to that B pick.
Why not? What’s the point in keeping him? With all that money coming off the books I would think they have bigger plans for the outfield next year and will not want to risk offering arb. So ya might as well pocket the million bucks and put it towards next season, and let Damon go play somewhere else for the last 2 months.
Tigers need 2, 3 and 5 hitters, among the vacancies that they’ll have at RF, DH, 3B, Catcher, SS, and that’s assuming Guillen is healthy enough to play 2B and Boesch can take over LF. They’ll let Damon go, but he’s also on the list of possible signees. Lots of money coming off the books, but five or six vacancies in the lineup, before we even get to the rotation.
Sign Crawfrod LF 20 millionSign Dun DH 15 millionSign Lilly 15 millionSign Del LA Rosa 5 millionSign Bengie Molina 5 millionBring back Peralta at 3B 7Trade for Steven Drew for a couple good prospects (arizona needs pitching)(Oliver, + two relief arms) ~ 4 million.Solved.
Lineup
JAckson CF
Crawford LF
Dunn DH
Cabrera 1B
Boesch RF
Drew SS
Guillen 2B
Perlata 3B
Molina C
Rotation
Verlander
Lilly
Scherzer
De La Rosa
Pocello
Bullpen
Valverde
Perry
Coke
Zumaya (if healthy)
Weinhardt
Schlereth
Galarraga or Bonnine
lol
I’m not a GM, this is just my idea. I’m not saying it would all work. This is just what I would try to do. I’m happy with it. Lets see you do better.
simmer down, i laughed because its completely unrealistic not because its bad idea.
Except even if the Tigers offer $20M to Crawford, the Yankees will come in with $22M (at least). If they decide they’re in on him, they’ll pay whatever it takes.
Problem is, the Yankees want Cliff Lee more than they do Crawford. With Pettite and Vazquez possibly leaving next year, they will go after Lee hard, and Lee wants to go there. Texas will be in the mix, as well as a few others but I fully expect the Yanks to win. Problem is, he won’t come cheap. Lee will try to get upwards of 20-22 million a year. Crawford will probably also command a 20+ million a year salary. No way the yanks will be able to add both.
It’s unlikely that they’ll be able to add both, but not out of the question. The Yankees are printing money thanks to YES Network. That’s why I said “If they decide they’re in on him”. I hope you’re right, though. I’d love to see Crawford in a Tigers uniform.
Another problem, who do you boot out to make room for Crawford? Gardner, Swisher, or Granderson? The obvious answer is Granderson but he won’t like that. No way does Grandy, as nice of a guy as he is, accept a bench role. He is a starting player on pretty much any other team. If they get Crawford, they would have to trade Granderson.
Yes, there are roadblocks, but the Yankees would move Granderson, Gardner, or Swisher to make a run at Crawford. They were ready to move Vazquez if the Cliff Lee deal went through.
Wouldn’t it be Ironic if they moved Granderson back to Detroit? LOL
I think it matters more that it’s possible Damon could be a type A. Salary doesn’t really mean anything here (it’s going to be like 1 million left for this year).
A straight out release could be less likely because of this possibility (of course the team would need to offer arbitration).
Now it could be possible, depending on the wording in the contract. Wouldn’t that be something if Detroit can hand him over and does. I’m sure the report of him not wanting to go back will be refuted soon.
Highly, highly unlikely that the language in the contract specifies “trade” only. The typical language in the CBA as well as in contracts uses the word “assign” which refers to trades or waivers.
Yes, I obviously read that it’s not likely. I just threw out the scenario if he had to go to Boston. Since it’s already been reported that he didn’t want to.
Well if they can hand over his contract then this could be a better deal for the Red Sox and not because they’d save a prospect. First of all any trade with Boston would at most bring in a C prospect, a long shot. We’re not talking about the Sox giving up someone like Kelly or a lower prospect like Exposito. Secondly, if he doesn’t want another season in Boston, he’d be more inclined to decline an arb offer. In other words, free draft pick.
Exactly, we’re talking maybe David Renfroe, and I wouldn’t go much higher than that.
Just because Renfroe hasn’t had a great start to his pro career does not make him someone you’ll sell low on.
NO TRADE CLAUSE, IMPACT ON WAIVERS
From Maury Brown’s Bizofbaseball.com
“A player with a no-trade clause who is claimed on Major League waivers must be pulled back if the player’s no-trade clause allows him to block a deal to the claiming club. However, the player may waive the no-trade clause and join the claiming club.”
Generally speaking, these clauses use the language “assigned to another club”, which would include a trade or waivers. The exception for waivers would basically have to be carved out, or the contract would have to specify “trade” rather than the usual language.
This is classic.. I hope Damon gets what he deserves and the fans of Boston eat him alive hahaha.
Eh? Epstein has the ability to make some of the strangest moves. Not saying they all don’t work out, but wow, that guy sure makes you scratch your head at times.
This is hardly a head scratcher. Blocking the Yanks
Keep telling yourself that…Doesn’t matter, Damon will be on the DL by Friday after Beltre tackles him in LF. Season is almost up and Beltre needs to keep that streak alive.
Ok then. I guess that makes sense
This is payback! He ‘betrayed’ the sox faithful, now his no trade clause doesn’t block waiver claims, so they bring him back and air him out to dry!!! hahaha amazing
ps.. i don’t actually believe this, i know it was a block
The problem the Sox face now is they claimed the wrong player. Its apparent this is to block the Rays and not so much the yanks. It’s clear the Rays will go after Manny, so ultimately, I am not sure what the Red Sox just accomplished by doing this.
They blocked Damon from going to the T Rays.
Theo is aware of the fact that Manny has a NTC as well. He ain’t goin back to Beantown!
but the dodgers could award him to the red sox as a salary dump.
they can’t do that in most cases. A “no trade clause” almost always uses the language in the CBA, which would prohibit “assigning” the contract to another club, and that covers a trade or a waiver claim.
Love this either way, the Red Sox are done and this blocks the Rays from getting him. Thanks Theo!
Go right on ahead and take him
Tigers would want something back in return. This isn’t just a salary dump. They have a crap load of $ coming off the books. 1.8m isn’t going to alter their offseason plans greatly.
Makes sense for the Sox to place a claim on Damon to block Yanks and Rays from getting him. I don’t think they expect to get him for nothing… that is, if they even want him back, which I doubt.
If he goes, it will be a straight salary dump.
Yup. I’ll take that 1.8 mil or whatever we save to just get rid of him. Knew it was a bad idea from the start. Didn’t help whatsoever. See ya JD.
Damon’s already stopped shaving.
He shaved his head!
Damon quote from Jason Beck at MLB.com
“”The only reason why I would be considering it is to help out this team in the future,” Damon said. “I love the Tigers organization and I love the fact that they’re up-front and honest. If somehow they can get a good prospect back, a player that can help this team in the future, it would be beneficial for them.”
That tells me that the Tigers were the only team interested in Damon last winter, and he doesn’t see many options next winter, either.
By saying that he’s really making himself look well, and he’ll be able to find a job easily this offseason if him and Boras come down to earth and accept a realistic contract.
HAHAHA.
didn’t mean to like that. “Yeah, I’ll go play for those guys, but ONLY if it helps the team I’m leaving”… oh man lol. guy’s ridiculous.
Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles who cares..
This is really interesting. Damon and the Tigers just left NY this week. The Yankee fans gave him a great ovation and treated him nicely during the 4 game series, in which he took and number of swipes at Boston, the fans and the media there during several interviews. I’m sure it was to curry favor with the NY fans, but if he does go back to Beantown, I wonder how he’s going to spin it.
I think if he were traded back to Boston, he’d do what all the players do and put a positive spin on everything. “It’s really exciting to be back in Boston. I really enjoyed my time playing with two other teams, but it’s great to be back in the city where I have so many wonderful memories.” Bingo. Done.
As a red sox fan, I find this hilarious. But I don’t think they placed the claim to block Damon from going to NYY or TBD. I think they placed the claim because they genuinely want him to play left field so very close to Adrian Beltre. And then boston fans can relish the sweet sweet revenge when Damon’s ribs are cracked and he’s out for the season. And at his age, he might call it a career. At least they’d be using Beltre the injury machine to their advantage.
I think that Damon’s agent, Mr. Boras, is checking out the situation with Boston’s front office as we speak. JD wants to know if their interest is genuine, what role he’d play in Boston, and whether they really want him or were just moving to block the Rays.
Now, what do you do when Manny hits the wire?
Needless to say, Manny wouldn’t go back to Boston anyway, but would they put in a claim just to block New York or the T Rays?
I’d leave Manny alone. TB wouldn’t take on the remainder of his contract – he’d essentially have to be given to TB for free for TB to have any interest in him. And LA values Manny much more than “free” so I don’t think it would happen. And as far as I know, NYY has almost no interest in a right-handed, aging bat that can’t play the outfield. Manny doesn’t need his ribs kicked in by Beltre anyway. He just doesn’t have the kind of range that might permeate Beltre’s, so there’s really no issue.
Apparently, the Rays were interested in Manny at the deadline. No telling whether they’ll get this close again for a while, with Crawford and Pena leaving this winter. They may take the plunge.
Perhaps, but I think the White Sox are far more likely to make a claim on Manny, and the RS may just let the WS do their job for them.
Someone cue up “Jesus Walks”
Olney on Twitter believes Damon will probably accept a deal to Boston suggesting in fact his friends are trying to convince him to go to Boston. Whether that means his Detroit teammates want him out, the old crew from Boston wants him back, his trophy wife is sick of Detroit, or Olney is simply pulling this out of thin air… well whatever.
I don’t know if Boston’s interest is genuine outside of blocking Tampa Bay from getting him (no chance he would have reached the Yanks). They might do the same with Ramirez knowing 100% that he would never come back to Boston.
I just don’t understand why Theo would want Benedict Damon back?!?!?! What’s next, will they put in a claim for Manny this week also?!?!?!
He can’t field, can’t throw, can’t hit for power, is no longer a SB threat…should I continue?
He is best suited for a DH role and I’m pretty sure Papi has dibs on that gig for the rest of the year…at least.
He isn’t a much better hitter than Nava or Kalish and Darnell platoons well with those guys vs. LHP…dude mashes lefties.
This move makes ZERO sense, unless he was merely trying to block him from going to a competitor.
Being a Yankee fan, it surprises me that the Red Sox were willing to make a move like this. They must be aware that the fans are going to heckle him like it’s nobody’s business just because he played for a team that the Red Sox fans hate the most. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple of days
Damon’s post-game interview was interesting. It definitely sounds to me like he’s still bitter towards the Boston front office over how they handled contract negotiations in ’05 and that he’s leaning towards staying in Detroit.