The Orioles appear to have some interest in Johnny Damon, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Luke Scott's deal with the Rays likely means Damon won't return to Tampa Bay, but the Orioles might have room for the designated hitter.
Damon, 38, is just 277 career hits away from 3,000, so the milestone is within reach. He hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 29 doubles in 582 plate appearances as the Rays' DH in 2011. Relative to the league as a whole, he hit well (110 OPS+), but DHs averaged a better batting line this past season: .265/.340/.429. It's worth noting Damon has played in at least 140 games every season since 1996.
I examined Damon's free agent stock in November, concluding that another modest one-year deal is likely. This is the first public indication that a team other than the Rays has interest in Damon. A return to the Athletics could also be possible in my opinion. As Heyman pointed out on Twitter yesterday, Damon is 'nomad' spelled backwards, which is appropriate for a player who's about to join his fourth team in as many seasons.
Rays are the best fit bit Baltimore isn’t a bad fit either.
other than the fact that he bats left handed its a terrible fit.
The orioles need to stop signing old FA DH’s to 1 year deals. Let Davis DH. He sucks in the field but has potential with the bat. Needs to settle down and take some more pitches, but the power is there to be a legit DH.
Have Reynolds DH, Davis at 1st, and get a 3b who can actually play the field.
You think Davis sucks in the field? Wow.
yes.
You think Davis sucks in the field? Wow.
I do. Am I wrong?
maybe.
I really hope this does not happen. If we were to go down the 1 year over the hill DH again I’d rather just resign Vlad, at least he is fun to watch at the plate swinging at pitches in the dirt… and we wonder why we suck year after year
yeah, i hope this is just heyman blowing smoke
I wonder if donning an orioles jersey has ‘been a dream of his’?
Used to really like johnny—not so much anymore. He can’t seem to ever leave a team without pissing off their fanbase and organization.
Why waste the money – he’s pretty much done
I give three thoughts on this
((((((((((((NULL)))))))))
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Also, there’s a rumor going around for Oriole Fan Fest, I am starting it BTW, that Scott Boras is getting a table so O’s fans can talk baseball and thank him for his service. I mean he’s really helped out the Orioles cause since the day he became an agent, so why not?
PS This is in no way a reflection as stated by the author on MLB TR’s, it has everything to do with the Orioles and their brand of propaganda before such events such as Fan Fest! Floating bologna rumors has been happening since 2000.
I didnt think about that. Werent we linked to Matt Holiday before fan fest 2 years ago?
The Orioles are a joke. They should be offloading guys like Guthrie, Markakis, Jones, Hardy, Reynolds, etc, and rebuilding, not going out and wasting money on older players. They vastly overrated Markakis and Jones and made a huge mistake in having them be the core foundation for the future. Now they’re too stubborn to admit they set themselves back by 10 years in doing so. Sorry, Orioles, but you’re never going to win anything with a bunch of B-level players.
You are a joke LarsChunks, we dont need people like you on our post then you call Jones Markakis ,and the rest of the team jokes you are not right,and when I see your name i will not read it go find annother team we dont need fans like You you have a reason to complain about mangerment, but leave the players out of it enough talking to you I am though talking
I guess this means next year the Jays will be signing Damon to complete the AL East tour.
Johnny… We have to go back (to Oakland)
Ill advised. As we all know, it’ll just end with him getting stabbed to death by an old guy suffering from hair loss.
Damon put up some pretty decent numbers for the Rays last season. He hit .261 with 17 HR and 73 RBI. He’s definitely an option if you need a left-handed bat, but he should be an added piece to a team that’s in the playoff hunt, not a team that needs a serious rebuild like the Orioles.
Doubt Damon goes there. He wants to win.
He’s kind of out luck there. Are there any legit contenders left still looking for a DH that can’t OPS over .750?
If I knew Damon would be put up similar numbers to last year, I wouldn’t so against this. I believe he is due for a pretty bad decline and what better place to take that step than to come to Baltimore.
I hope Duquette is not stupid.
Beggars, even if they are Boras clients, can’t be choosers. Ryan Madson just dramatically demonstrated that.
If the Orioles offer Damon a contract, even for a disappointing amount, how can he turn it down? He’ll get at bats in a hitter friendly park, get more than half way to 3,000 if he stays healthy, which he normally does. He also won’t make trouble.
Damon may be NOMAD spelled backwards. NOMAD and BORAS CLIENT go together too.
I think he’ll do very well in that bandbox. And, he’ll get the chance to spoil games for 3 ex-teams who are contending, something he LOVES to do.
If that’s his primary goal, he should probably sign with the Jays instead so he can sign with the Orioles next year once the new WC is implemented so he can play spoiler for the only team in the AL East with no shot at the playoffs.
I have thought all off season that Damon would be a great fit for the A’s. Not just for his gamer attitude and passable on field contribution, but they will be fielding a very young team and a clubhouse leader like that guy would really help them.
Iwould take Damon he has a bat he has been in the playoffs we can use a vet. on this team we missed out on Luke dont miss out on Damon,we need his head we need his bat we can use him and now