From Joel Sherman (NY Post):
So much for the hometown discount. The Yankees have been hoping Johnny Damon’s desire to stay a Yankee is great enough that he agrees to return on a one- or, at most, two-year contract.However, his representative, Scott Boras, hardly sounded like Damon was going to be a short-term bargain for the Yankees. Instead, he compared his client to Derek Jeter and sounded an awful lot like someone who expects a three- or four-year deal for Damon.
If that is indeed the case, then the Yankees and Damon are very likely heading for divorce this offseason. The Yankees are concerned about how Damon’s desire and body will hold up under another long-term contract plus they have overall worries about tying up too many thirtysomething players long-term and facing an aging cataclysm in around 2012-13.
Sherman goes on to say that Damon’s agent, Scott Boras, is trying to link Damon and Derek Jeter together so as to make it seem as though the two players are reliant upon each other (and, therefore, the Yankees lineup is reliant upon Johnny Damon). Thus if you lose Damon, according to Boras’ logic, Jeter’s production will suffer. Sherman also notes that Boras cited Jorge Posada’s 4-year deal as a comparable contract for Damon—Posada was given the deal when he was 36—although it’s much harder to find a good hitting catcher than it is an offensively solid yet defensively inept left fielder. That contract was signed prior to the 2008 offseason, as well, which is when the free agent market really bottomed out (just ask Bobby Abreu).
In the end, a depressed market—not Boras—will ultimately dictate Damon’s deal. If he wants too many years and too much money, you let him walk (I’m opposed to him returning at all). It shouldn’t be a hard decision given his flaws.
Related posts:
buh, bye Johnny. I hate Scott Boras!!
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The other Chris H Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I heard a week ago that he wanted a deal similar to Posada’s 4 year deal a while ago…
I’m personally glad that he wants such a big deal and that there are teams out there willing to give it to him because I don’t want the guy back in LF anyway and if he comes back everyone sees him as a LFer again.
The guy isn’t worth paying to drop balls when you could get a much cheaper player to play much better defense with any level of bat.
So we lose Jeter’s O with Damon gone? What about all those slumps he had where Jeter was putting up MVP numbers? What about the first 2 rounds of the playoffs when Jeter was fine but Damon was no where to be found on base?
No I think that losing Johnny only helps the team on defense and putting Cano in the 2nd hole in the lineup will only increase his production and value to the lineup with his ability to get on in front of Tex and Alex.
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Chris H. Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I can’t imagine Damon getting anything close to Posada’s deal. If he does, congrats to him. I think he’ll find that the market for his services isn’t all that great. He could end up being another Bobby Abreu if his demands remain as high as Boras is suggesting.
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The other Chris H Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Truthfully the contract Bobby got this year I wouldn’t give to Damon because at least in the field Bobby still has an arm and can make people stay on a base every once in a while! Johnny can’t field or throw he needs to go, I see someone giving him a deal and being super disappointed in the outcome.
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Chris H. Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
My fault, that was confusing. By saying Damon could end up being another “Bobby Abreu,” I was referring to last year, when he tried to hold out for a higher deal and then had to settle for a $5 million deal with the Angels.
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The other Chris H Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Yeah I understand what you meant… I was just adding to that by saying I wouldn’t give him the contract he got this year and Damon won’t want less than what Bobby made to stay with the Angels.
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Alex Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Boras is part of a culture in Baseball that has been pretty kind to us the past decade. I wouldn’t complain too much.
As far as a home town discount, he was basically a god in Boston and he didn’t give them a home town discount either. I really don’t expect anything more.
I like Dammon, and would love to see him back, and if we move on, that’s ok too.
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The other Chris H Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
He didn’t give Boston a “home town discount” because he could still play the outfield and his bat wasn’t in decline…. Now he is a DH who will suffer a major power outage with another ball park.
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Why are new outlets reporting the Yankee interest in retaining both Damon and Matusi? I can’t understand any scenario in which both should come back, both of them are DHs at this point and neither one deserve more than a handful of starts in the outfield (and were not even sure if Hideki can do that). At this point I would almost get rid of both of them but if you want to retain some known asset and keep 1 of them than how can you even consider Damon? He is one of the worst outfielders in the AL right now, he isn’t the worst on any given day but he isn’t far off. The guy drops balls, takes bad routes to balls, has no arm and is scared of catching the baseball on fly-outs. His bat is in decline and he can never stay healthy a full season, he has never been a DH and who knows how well he will react to not playing the field (look at Giambi). Matsui went through the whole year as the teams everyday DH in a world series run… He will only be stronger next year with his knees (you would assume and hope) and unlike Damon he would actually take a 1 year deal to stay with the team.
At this point it would almost be better to have Marlon Byrd in LF than Damon simply because he can get to more balls in the outfield, at this point Mike Cameron is a much better value to this team (because of our strong offense) than Damon is and at this point having Melky’s D in LF is almost better than Damon.
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If he doesn’t give them a home team discount its all the more reason to get Holliday or Bay for slightly more than his non-discounted price.
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The other Chris H Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Bay is a terrible defender and in his 30’s, we are trying to get younger and better on D not trade useless in the outfield for useless in the outfield…
Holliday doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either since you are signing someone to way more than Damon’s contract and for 5-7 year and most likely on the 6 year side so you are signing another player who will end up being stuck in position with a big contract towards the end of his best stuff when the contract is ending. You are also making Cabrera and Austin Jackson/Brett Gardner expendable because Holliday in LF for 6 years means one of the Gardner Jackson combo will never see playing time.
The best course of action is to get someone to replace Damon in LF with defensive prowess and for a 1-2 year deal relatively cheap who can hit later down in the lineup but play above average D in the field… After 1-2 years you will know exactly what you have with Austin Jackson and you will have a much better FA class to chose from if Austin doesn’t work out 2 years down the road.
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no discount, good bye and thanks for your contribution.
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What would we do without Boras’s BS at this time of year? There is no real news, so his comments make for great entertainment. What else would you expect him to say? In the end, the player decides, not the agent, and the market determines what the contract value will be.
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The other Chris H Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Yeah but at the same time a lot of players overvalue themselves sepecially when it comes to a player who is losing his edge and may not be willing to admit he isn’t as good as he once was so he doesn’t see the need for a pay cut.
Damon may “want to stay a Yankee) but I doubt he really cares that much about the team and more likely he just realizes he can get paid and win in NY but if he can’t get paid the guy already has 2 rings and I believe he will go with his biggest contract offer in the end.
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