Johnny Damon agrees to an $8 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.
The 36-year-old Damon hit .286 with 24 homers for the New York Yankees last season. He likely would bat leadoff for the Tigers, filling the void left when Detroit dealt Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.
Damon also gives Detroit a left-handed bat it needs and a veteran in the outfield, where his savvy is an asset and his arm a liability.
Among the other teams who had expressed serious interest in Damon were the White Sox, Rays and Braves. The White Sox had withdrawn their offer on Friday, a decision first reported by ESPNChicago.com.
The Tigers seem to be turning a bit into the Yankees of the 1980s. They have some good, young players, but tend to surround them with aging veterans who were good once. Damon will likely live up to the money Detroit is paying him, but given that no one else was that hot to sign Johnny, I get the feeling the Tigers over payed.
So essentially the Yankees and the Tigers wound up swapping Johnny Damon and Curtis Granderson?
@Ed: Yes, but Detroit got more than that.
So lets see-the Yankees offered him 14 million for 2 years-does anyone really believe they wouldn’t have gone to 15 or 16 million or 8 million for one year? Boras foolishly overplays his hand and now instead of playing for a team with a legitimate chance to repeat, to end your career as a Yankee,the endorsement opportunites present in NYC, the national exposure on FOX and ESPN from all the Yankee games, Johnny Damon gets to play in Detroit-probably the worst friggin city in America and a lesser team than the Yankees. And leaves a a stadium perfect for his hitting stroke.-
The city might not be so nice, but the fans sure are. He and Michelle can always cross the bridge and go to Toronto for a change of scenery.
I am sure the people are nice and I have found Midwest baseball fans to be very committed-but cmon-He should be batting 2nd for the Yanks.
Ed – if you want to look at it that way, Detroit gave up Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson for Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Daniel Schlereth, and Johnny Damon.