The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- Heyman believes the Yankees would not go beyond one year and $6MM to re-sign Johnny Damon. On MLB Home Plate Boras said Damon "would just have to move forward," while not faulting the Yankees for sticking to a budget. Heyman suggests four alternatives for Damon: the Giants, Mariners, Braves, and Angels. The Angels would be a tough fit barring a Juan Rivera trade, as their outfield and DH spots are full. The problem with the Braves is that they're approaching their payroll limit.
- Despite a report that the Cardinals probably can't afford Miguel Tejada, Heyman sees them as the best fit. Heyman's $8MM idea seems too pricey though.
- The Mets debated offering Joel Pineiro a two-year, $15MM Jason Marquis special, but at this point Pineiro seems to be seeking Randy Wolf's three-year, $29.75MM deal. MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone sees the team landing Jon Garland instead.
- Heymans says the Mets "seem serious about sticking with an offer of one year and a vesting option" for Bengie Molina. However, Cerrone "gets the feeling the Mets might have a two-year deal on the table."
I like Damon in Seattle to play in LF. If Damon can be had at 1YR/6M that is. The M’s need more offense; and a line-up starting with RF Ichiro L, 3B Figgins S and LF Damon L would be fun to watch. Damon and Bradley can split time between LF and DH.
If Damon wouldn’t stay in NY for 1yr/$6M, why would he take the same in Seattle?
Damon is a terrible fit with any of the four teams mentioned but especially Seattle. He is a terrible defender w/ an arm that would miss the cutoff man. Factor his age and cost it makes even less sense. But more importantly, LF is taken by Saunders/Bradley and DH is taken by Bradley/Griffey. There is 0 chance he plays 1b, especially if Kotchman is acquired. Griffey is just the clubhouse tickler and pinch hitter w/ Bradley primarily the DH saving his health. If Saunders is not the starter then Langerhans or Patterson have the job. Yes, if the M’s spend more it will be on pitching but not on LF.
Damon can cross the Braves off the list after the Hinskie signing
Yeah, unless he’ll take about 1.5M on a one year deal then I would say he could cross us off his list. He won’t take that obviously so he will be headed elsewere.
Mariners need a power hitter. A line up of Ichiro, Figgings and Damon, will get you a tons of hits, but where is the power type hitter who hits 3,4 or 5. Their 1B won’t hit for power their SS either. Right now the only one who can hit beyond 20HR is Bradley.
I have to disagree. In 09 2B Lopez slugged 25HR. Ichiro L, Figgins S, Damon L, Bradley S, Lopez R is a good example of a potential line-up that would put up some quick numbers. This nice thing in addition to that is this team has top of the line defense and pitching in Felix and Lee that will keep a lead more often than not.
So Lopez is your clean up hitter? A line-up with potential means nothing when you are facing a line-up like the Yanks or the Phillies if you get to the WS against them. You need more than slap hitters
I forgot about Lopez
Isn’t it a little early to be discussing how the M’s would fare against the Yanks or Phills? How about they manage to score more runs than they give up first. Then we can begin to talk about match-ups in the post-season.
don’t forget lopez but the mariners don’t have anyone after felix and lee in the rotation.
I’m not a believer that Griffey will magically return to form, but in really bad shape last year Griffey hit 19 HRs. Lopez has increased his HR output every year since entering the league, and finished with 25 last year. Personally I don’t think they need a bunch of 25 HR guys with the defense, pitching, and OBP they’ve been working on putting together, but none-the-less, I don’t think Bradley is the only guy who can hit 20 HRs.
Not sure that Damon is a good fit, but I suppose I wouldn’t hate the deal if they signed him.
I don’t think Griffey is going to get the chance to match his 19HR in 2010. He will be coming off the bench as a pinch hitter most of the season with occasional spot starts at DH.
A Damon, Bradley and Lopez sequence would provide ample production to bring home Ichiro and Figgins from anywhere on the bases.
Hard to say with Griffey. I know the plan is to use him sparingly, but if he gets hot, how does a manager avoid temptation to get him in there against every RHP?
Agreed on the Damon/ Bradley/ Lopez opinion.
No, I think they should keep on their track of elite defenders at every spot to support their two-headed monster and the rest of their rotation so they can just use their speed and OBP guys to create enough runs to win alot of games.
I mean these UZR/150s would (if they signed Winn for instense) be just plain sick:
1. Figgins 3B 18.8
2. Ichiro RF 11.3
3. Gutierrez CF 27.1
4. Lopez 2B 1.5
5. Bradley/Griffey DH(some LF) NULL
6. Kotchman 1B 11.1
7. Winn LF 20.1
8. Wilson SS 20.4
9. Johnson/FA C NULL
I mean good grief, they would have three players in the 20s, three in the 10s, and one who is at least slightly above average with two that don’t get UZRs. I know this team would be near the bottom in OPS and power numbers but it would be offset by one of the best defensive teams in decades, at team that can run and a really good pitching staff.
Exactly, they play in a pitchers park and might as well maximize the defensive value of the team, since the park suits it.
Granted I’m not too impressed once you get past Felix and Lee the dropoff is pretty huge to
RyanRowland-Smith
Ian Snell
Doug Fister/Jason Vargas
Rowland-Smith is a solid pitcher with that defense behind them but yeah they should get one more starter.
At this point, how about Lowe + 9MM over the next 3 years to the M’s as yet another salary dump, and Bravos pick up Damon…
Bengie deserves a better contract than that.
Despite the fact that we had Scheinder last year Bengie’s sub 300 OBP is just gross. Plus he’s at that age for catchers.
I think that Damon fits best with the Giants according to their needs. But of the Mariners, Braves and Angels the Mariners are the next best fit.
The Braves have said they won’t be going after big names from here on out and the Angels have Abreu, Hunter and Rivera with Matsui (Who still wants to play “D”) at DH.
Gotta wonder how Damon feels about playing second fiddle to Holliday for Boras’s time. Its gonna cost him a crap load of money. Probably at least 10 million
Were there teams lined up for Damon before? I just think the market is pretty soft for LF/DH types. Abreu was overpaid by the Angels and he is a very similar player to Damon. I bet Damon gets within a million or 2 of Abreu’s deal. Can’t see him falling all the way down to $6m/year.
What did Abreu get last year? The Giants are the only dancing partner left.
2 year 19 million
Nope signed for 09 season at 1 yr 6.5 million
Damon would be a solid leadoff hitter, but no way he hits 24 HR’s in ATT
Just me making thing up here. But if the Mariners could get a guy like Prince Fielder, them we could be really talking about a run producing line-up
Pineiro for 2 years 16m he will not make more than that
Let’s just put it this way, wherever Damon goes he isn’t getting 4 for 42, 3 for 39, 2 for 26, 1 for 13, etc.
Boy Boras sure whispered him sweet nothings about his worth.
Baseball is changing back to more emphasis on pitching and defense and teams just can’t swallow up a defensive player like Damon, especially if you are in pitchers parks like
Safeco
Turner Field
AT&T Park
all those teams rely on pitching and the last thing they want is weak defense, that defeats the purpose.
Being so dominant offensively the Yankees could afford Damon’s defense in the outfield day after day after day. But having acquired Granderson for CF, they are more than content to let Gardner play LF and maybe pick up a Reed Johnson and go with
Jeter
Nick Johnson
Teixeira
Arod
Posada
Granderson
Cano
Swisher
Gardner/Reed Johnson or some other platoon player.
Gardner plays terrific defense and with his speed will cover a lot of ground along with Granderson in CF, as well as everytime Gardner gets on base it is a bonus because he will be running to move into scoring position with Jeter and Johnson coming up at the top of the order. Gardner only had 248 at bats, but had 26 steals and caught just 5 times. He could easily reach the mid 40’s if he improves as a full time player.
That from your #9 hitter is not too shabby, with your best hitters coming up behind him.
The Yanks absolutely gave Damon and Boras a chance to sign but what were they suppose to do? Sit around and wait for them to decide while all the other alternatives sign elsewhere, like Matsui did?
I don’t see how any of the four teams mentioned are real options for Damon.
Giants just signed Uribe and it’s been speculated that Uribe will play 3B and they’ll switch DeRosa to LF.
M’s have Gutts, Ichiro, Bradley, Griffey and Saunders in the mix between the OF and DH spot.
Angels have the DH spot filled with Matsui and Rivera, Abreu, Hunter and GMJ in the OF. Some might argue that Rivera can be just as productive as Damon, despite the poor OBP, because he might be a little bit better defensively in LF (despite being allergic to the ground (see game against Boston where he refused to dive for a ball that dropped in 2 ft away from him).
Braves might be an option but there seem unwilling to spend more money right now.
Yankees; Just sign him already! 1yr $7.5M, then sign Nady and Wang.
yanks won’t take risk on wang or nady they should sign David DeJesus
Ted Williams was the greatest hitter to ever live and he barely hit any homeruns. This isn’t football where power always prevails, small ball is just as capable of bringing home the W.
————–
Uhhhh, yeah.. He “only” averaged 31 hrs a year for 17 seasons. He would’ve hit close to 700 if he hadn’t missed 5 years fighting in WWII and the Korean War.
jaja, he even hit 43H HR in one season. We are not talking about who is great or not, its about having a balance line-up
say word 78
I’m a mariners fan but I’d have to say you guys are being a little too optimistic about Milton Bradley’s power potential. He’s had one year with 20+ homers and that was in Texas(hitters park). I’d say 16-19 home runs is probably more likely, which is all right. I like him in LF
I wonder if Heyman has to file a certain number of stories/posts whether or not they make any sense. He’s been claiming that the Braves would be in on every free agent OF and they’ve showed only modest interest in Damon. With Hinkse in the fold, the Braves are probably out of the running for anybody. And as Tim pointed out, Damon really wouldn’t have a spot in Anaheim unless the Angels made a deal.
Damon may be a better player than Melky or Juan Rivera. Even so, just because Damon is better doesn’t mean that a team with lesser players is likely to sign him.
Even IF the Angels deal Rivera, there still is the 10MM man Gary Matthews Jr. The Angels depth chart in the outfield is crazy. Outside of Rivera, Hunter, and Abreu, you have Matthews, guys like Evans who is out of options, and Willits. Why sign a guy, just sign a guy?
Damon will not be an Angel.
wow. for a top-flight team, the Angels have accumulated an ugly outfield. two athletic guys, both getting old, one that can’t hit. one nice B-level guy that doesn’t do much to lift this team. and two guys that can still rake but will have the UZR-world calculating new levels of negative.
Damon would be a great fit in SEA. He could play some LF, some DH & even 1B a little bit. But, it seems like SEA might be done spending other than a middle of the road SP from the sounds of things.
Changing lanes, I read Matthew Cerrone’s take on the Mets’ search for a #2 starter, and his speculation that the Mets will probably end up signing Jon Garland. He pretty much describes this as a default option since the demands of the remaining free agents are somewhat excessive, and transactions for Zambrano, Harang or Arroyo apparently would entail unacceptable additional demands on the Mets’ resources. While I understand Garland’s appeal in terms of innings and durability, to me what signing him would accomplish would be to add another #4 or #5 starter to the Mets’ already extensive collection, and in the end…they STILL would not have addressed their need for a #2 starter. Sure, I understand the need for stability, but without some kind of impact arm to bolster Johan, I doubt the addition of Garland would mean much.
I would like a Damon, Bradley, Griffey rotation. When Bradley is in LF, Damon is at DH, or when Damon is in LF, Bradley is at DH, or when Damon is in LF, Griffey is DH, or when Bradley is in LF, Griffey is DH. I’d like that alot:
Ichiro
Figgins
Damon
Bradley
Lopez
Griffey
Wilson
Kotchman
Moore
The idea of Tejada coming to St. Louis has been thrown around quite a few times this offseason. While I admit it would be an intriguing move, i dont know if we could afford him. I know that we had around 30mil. to play with this offseason, 7.5 to Penny, and 17 to Holliday, but also arbitration and pay raises to other players. You would figure that the Cards still have around 3-4 million to play with. I doubt Tejada would accept that but he is getting older, has few options, and few years left to win a championship. Maybe he should consider signing for less to give him a good shot at winning a WS. Still not sold on Freese at 3rd yet, which is why i would definetly look into Tejada if I was the Cards.
The idea of Tejada coming to St. Louis has been thrown around quite a few times this offseason. While I admit it would be an intriguing move, i dont know if we could afford him. I know that we had around 30mil. to play with this offseason, 7.5 to Penny, and 17 to Holliday, but also arbitration and pay raises to other players. You would figure that the Cards still have around 3-4 million to play with. I doubt Tejada would accept that but he is getting older, has few options, and few years left to win a championship. Maybe he should consider signing for less to give him a good shot at winning a WS. Still not sold on Freese at 3rd yet, which is why i would definetly look into Tejada if I was the Cards.
I believe, the fact the Yankees always fly under the radar, Damon will once again be a Yankee, a 1 year deal worth 7mil with incentives to reach a potential 9 or 10 mil deal, after the 1 year contract is up, look for Carl Crawford to be manning left field for the Yanks in 2011…….
I believe, with the Yankees always capable of flying under the radar, Damon will sign with the Yankees for a 1 yr deal worth 7 mil with incentives that could bring a total package earnings to 9 or 10 mil, the figure Damon’s or should I say Boras has been trying for this entire off season.
After the 1 yr deal is done, look for Carl Crawford to be manning left field for the Yankees in 2011………….