Joel Sherman of the New York Post says Scott Boras "sounded as if he wants a three- or four-year deal for Johnny Damon" in comments made yesterday. Sherman also questions Boras' willingness to take less than the $13MM salary Damon made the last four years. Such demands would take the Yanks out of the mix for Damon's services, no matter what Boras says about his client's gene pool.
Boras' Damon comments don't mean much, until one team actually emerges that is willing to guarantee three years. Last year Boras somehow got us talking about ten years for Mark Teixeira and five for Manny Ramirez, so it's customary to aim higher than reality. But, Sherman says the Yankees "might not want to offer Damon even a two-year deal," and that does seem possible on the open market. In a blog post, Sherman recommends a two-year, $26MM agreement between Damon and the Yankees. He adds that the Yankees do not want to offer arbitration to Damon.
Meanwhile, Sherman tweets a comment from Hideki Matsui's agent Arn Tellem that suggests Matsui wants to play for another three years. How many contracts that will take, we're not sure yet. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News surveyed more than six GMs about Matsui, and all agreed that he cannot play the outfield.
The Japanese media was all over the GM Meetings in Chicago, and Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along their Matsui rumors. Specifically, there might be interest from the Red Sox and Angels as a Plan B. Also, this is weird…the Huffington Post commissioned Tellem to write a sales pitch for Matsui.
