7:15pm: Morosi and Ken Rosenthal at FOX Sports provide another Damon update, writing that the Tigers' offer to the outfielder could be worth up to about $7.5MM, with some of it deferred. They acknowledge that it's anyone's guess where the 36-year-old lands, suggesting that the Rays and Braves could still be under-the-radar players for Damon.
5:36pm: Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that, according to Dombrowski, Williams' comments will not affect the Tigers' approach to Damon.
5:00pm: Let's not rule the White Sox out completely. Williams told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that Damon has until Sunday morning to take the team's last offer.
4:27pm: Williams told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune that Damon and Boras were willing to be creative (Twitter link). Ultimately, Williams says "the total dollars and cents didn't make sense" for the White Sox.
3:41pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that Scott Boras wants two things from the Tigers. First, he's asking them to remove all deferred money from the one-year $7MM deal they have offered. Second, he wants the Tigers to add a second year (Twitter links).
3:26pm: The White Sox have pulled their offer to Damon, reports Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. White Sox GM Kenny Williams said he had to withdraw it.
"It became clear to us in our recent negotiations that the money that we were offering was not going to be good enough for Johnny at this time," Williams said.
Williams said the White Sox are "very much interested in" Damon. Levine hears that the White Sox offered him $6MM. Levine's sources tell him that the Tigers never offered a two-year deal; they have only offered a one-year $7MM contract.
9:29am: Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski went public with his interest in Johnny Damon yesterday, confirming to Patrick Zier of the Lakeland Ledger that he's offered Damon a contract. Dombrowski would not discuss the particulars of the offer, though a source of Zier's "would be very surprised if it's for more than one year."
As you know, Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald finds the White Sox an unlikely landing spot for Damon given GM Kenny Williams' plan to "talk about this on Sunday."
ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to one executive involved in Damon talks in recent months who said, "There is so much BS out there, and [I] don't want to contribute to it."
This is an awful lot of hype for a guy who really isn’t very good.
It does give you an idea of how desperate these two teams are, the Sox will probably be one of the worst offensive teams again this year and are bad enough that a guy like Damon is a huge difference maker for them.
Damon isn’t the great player that he once was, but he’s still a pretty damn good player. He would be a huge difference maker for both the Sox and the Tigers, not because they are bad teams, but because they both have particular holes that he would fill perfectly.
Actually, he is coming off his best offensive season according to OPS+. It’s his defense that appears to have declined, and is limiting his value.
Correct, which is why as a White Sox fan, I still see him going to Detroit because he is going to be playing the field most every day. I can’t see him wanting to go to Chicago for less money and a near full-time DH role, even though I don’t think he really wants to be in Detroit.
if Damon signs here, don’t count on him being in the OF almost everyday either. He’ll slpit that role with our other non-throwing player, Carlos Guillen who will whine if Damon is in LF everyday. Look for him to share the DH role between himself Carlos and Maggs and look for Ryan Raburn to be out there in either LF RF or CF, often
Which is why he would DH for the Sox.
Look at his home/road splits.
Home: .279/.382/.533/.915/136 OPS+
Away: .284/.349/.446/.795/117 OPS+
He’s lucky any team is interested in him. Look at his hit chart for further proof. Only 1 of his 17 HRs at Yankee stadium didn’t go to straight RF.
mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.…
His 2009 stats are a creation of new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are the only team who would have gotten their money’s worth out of signing him.
I think the hot stove hype contributes to the soap opera. We all love the rumors and Damon is one of the few big names out there left, so for some reason we care. You are right though, we are talking about a 1-2yr $5-$7M contract. You’d think with all the hype it would be a 5 yr $100M contract. Johnny Damon is now our Brittany Spears. And next week we’ll have a new one.
what nonsense, Damon is coming off of one of his best offensive seasons
hes not good so go back to the yankees, i mean yankees can drop winn and thames
Damon clearly must be realizing his “value” isnt quite what Boras had envisioned… Hopefully Damon now understands it wasn’t that the Yankees didn’t value his production enough to offer him only a “low-ball” deal, but rather they were offering him the exact market price for his services at 2yrs/14 mil.. Unless he signs for more, he’ll regret not sucking it up and remaining a Yankee.
This is the problem with 35+ yr old DH/1B/corner outfielders… they’re out of style with GMs, who value defense, youth, and cost over big names who can swing a bat (Dye, Delgado, Matsui, Big Papi (if he wasn’t still under contract), etc.) This all started when Bonds couldn’t find work for league minimum… really opened up GMs’ eyes to what they were willing to pay for
Thank god the yanks got out of this mess!
In the words of the old Emerson, Lake, and Palmer song: “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.”
Maybe the reason Kenny Williams wont discuss it until sunday is because they gave Damon a deadline. The Yankees should hop back in at the last minute.
No more “lift clean and replace” for Tiger.
More like no more “leaving the phone lying around”
//ESPN’s Buster Olney spoke to one executive involved in Damon talks in recent months who said, “There is so much BS out there, and [I] don’t want to contribute to it.//
Probably the best thing I’ve heard out of all the Damon drama. 😛
Waiting to see the Cavaliers in on this at this point.
Olney follows by asking Boras about Damon, who replies,
“There’s so much BS out there, and I’d absolutely love to contribute.”
Who?
Whatta ya know, alot of the same junk we have heard for the last two weeks. And what I really don’t understand is a few of the sportswriters in Chicago. Why does “I will discuss this Sunday” mean that the Tigers are the favorite to sign him? Is Scott Gregor always such a moron with his assumptions, someone in Chicago let me know? I hope Damon realizes that with all the hype that Boras has caused, the microscope will be on him even that much more and if he gets off to a bad start, I really feel for him. I also wonder if the timing of Dave Dombrowski coming out and admitting that the organization has indeed made an offer has something to do with luring him one way or the other. I have never actually heard DD say anything about an offer before it actually gets signed, so maybe this is a ploy or a hard stance to get Damon to make up his mind. But just like everything else with this BS soap opera, I will just say “who the **** knows!!!”
Not really that familiar with Gregor but i really think he is just guessing and his logic really doesn’t add up. I tend to agree with your thesis that Damon hasn’t decided one way or another.
He said he was just guessing. To his credit he was the only one who got any statement from Williams.
I’m still under the assumption that Detroit will probably throw briefcases of money at him and sign him but the assumptions that alot of the Chicago/Detroit writers have thrown out there really makes me wonder about the shotty quality of their work. From KW saying he’ll talk about it on Sunday to a empty locker at the Tigers spring training facility they have basically made one ridiculous assumption after another and they write like a bunch of giddy fans/failed insiders instead of professional reporters.
Behind the veteran leadership of Phil Rogers, the baseball reporters of Chicago publications are a sorry bunch, particularly so for White Sox fans. The Daily Herald is typically not a source of breaking White Sox news.
Johnny/Scott B have to be holding out for the absolute best contract they can get. MLB really has two markets; Yanks/Red Sox/LA teams/Cubs and then everyone else. Once the Yanks passed on Damon, and the others mentioned don’t have a need; no one else is going to pay more than $10 million a season for a 36 year old who hit 285 last season. Even if he did hit more than 20 homers, that was in the new stadium. Don’t feel sorry for the guy, he is a millionaire many times over just trying to do the best he can at the ned of his career. If he was a lifelong Yankee like Jeter he would have received the offer he wanted even though as is obvious there is no market for him at the salary level he is used to. We won’t have this issue with Jeter next winter, because even though he will also be a 36 year old at the end of his career with no market for his services at his salary demands, the Yanks will grossly overpay him and they will all live happily ever after.
Nobody was going to give 10 million a year as Boras is finding out. Also baseball markets are defined by big market, middle market, and small market, not five clubs and everybody else. Also your big market list is a bit short.
the only reason he fits on the white sox is to add another left handed bat wth some pop that the sox need. Although I would bet anyone a full season of Jones as DH/OF would offer more home runs than a full season of damon not in the wind tunnel known as Yankee Stadium. Dont get me wrong it would be cool to see damon in a white sox uni. I think he could be a productive hitter and if anything a nice stop gap for Jordan Danks to be ready enough to move Carlos to full time DH but the more i think about it I would rather see the 10 time glod gloves former home run champ in Jones as the DH than Damon. Remember The dodgers are paying jones 18 mill to not play for them and Kenny is paying only 500K…Jones said he wants to fight for a starting job and i saw a recent pic of the guy he lost a ton of weight and might, just might get a starting stop and more Juan to DH….Sorry Johnny if this was 2 months ago then heck yeah be a white sox player…but not any more….AND the only reason teh sox had one of the worst offenses last year was injuries and the decline of JD and thome which was expected, thats what happens when guys get old
You really think the ghost of Andruw Jones would outperform Damon…..REALLY??? Not to mention, yes Johnny hit a lot of home runs at Yankee Stadium last year but your ball park isn’t exactly Petco. And why would the 10 gold gloves matter if you want him to DH. He is a joke of his former self. All you have to do is throw a cupcake or a slider 2 feet off the plate and he flails at it. He’s done. And what do you expect him to say? I’m living off my former reputation to get major league deals and i don’t want to really get a starting job? Of course he’s going to say he wants to fight for a job. And if you want to discount what Damon did in NY, how come Andruw playing in a much better hitters park in Texas gets the benefit of the doubt? And you realize if the reason your offense was bad last year was because of the decline of Dye and Thome, then it’s going to be much worse without them in it at all and giving the AB’s to Pierre and Jones. Not wanting Johnny Damon is ok if you don’t like the soap opera but not wanting him because you want Andruw Jones to get the bulk of AB’s is ridiculous. And what nobody seems to realize is Damon can still steal you 25-30 bases on top of 15-20 hrs. The reason he stole less last year was he was in the 2hole because Jeter grounds into too many double plays and they left the hole for Teixeira and didn’t want to run when Tex Arod could easily drive him in with a HR or double. He didn’t lose a step and didn’t get caught all of last year.
Just sign the 1-yr 7mill deal and get this over already. The Tigers won’t need him next year with Jackson, Wilken, and Casper Wells.
In a perfect world the best thing that could happen is that Damon not get an offer from any team and have to sit out the whole season while Boras eats a big fat piece of humble pie.
Damon, say hello to the Tigers or the Braves.
Sorry to break it to you but the Braves have been out of it for a while.
I want the proof that says Braves are out of it.
the only proof that I am gonna accept is when they introduce him and you see him and his goofy smile holding a jersey up
I liked the Damon addition to the braves for maybe $2-3 mil, but nothing more than that. He’s not worth $5mil to an NL club. Boras has also taken all teams out of the bidding except for the Tigers. No reason why they would have to offer a second year. Let him retire
good grief, what a joke….give him the extra 1 million Kenny
Right, why I never get too excited for a potential free agent signing that’s been picked up by the media, Kenny rarely if ever gets his man in these situations.
Scott Boras should also want his players to be happy. If he did, Damon would already be a Yankee.
Atta boy Johnny – there’s always work at the post office!
Scott Boras must be high.
Personally, I think Tigers should lower their offer, because Braves aren’t going to raise theirs. Damon should be offered 5-6 million plus incentives, about 2 million in deferred money.
Boras is smoking crack. Simple as that.
is boras really in any position to be commanding what he wants? lol
I still dont understand why the Tigers would trade a younger, faster, cheaper outfielder who plays good defense and 20HR pop only to sign an older, slower, more expensive outfielder with 20HR pop who cant throw.
Because Granderson would cost more money in the long run where Damon would cost money for one year.
Hopefully the plan is to have Damon for 2010 only and then use the money freed up by trading Granderson to sign Carl Crawford to play LF next season and beyond. Then again, they probably could have done that without trading Granderson. Anyway, I bet Dombrowski just soured on Granderson’s hitting vs. lefties — and realized that he and Edwin Jackson were the only two major trade chips he had that were expendable. And to be fair, Dumbo got a nice haul for those guys, theoretically.
You are absolutley right. I think that with Mags, Laird, Inge, Everett, Damon (possibly), Bonderman, Willis, Robertson, and Seay’s contracts coming off the books, they will be able to spend a ton of money. Crawford, V-Mart, Werth, Lee, Lilly, Beckett, Arroyo, Qualls…They could easily get 3 of those players/pitchers.
Yeah, that would be amazing. I do worry that they’ll let Maggs’ option vest — keeps me up at night!
Concerning Maggs: (my Tiger by the way)
1)Tigers are in contention Maggs plays well & they let him vest
2)Maggs plays well, team not so hot, They let a team grab him that is in contention
3) Maggs sucks, Tigers suck and he’s gone before the 2k10 season is done, (All Star break perhaps?)
I’m thinking Vmart doesnt reach free agency and gets something worked out to stay in Boston. Besides Arroyo I’d love to see any of those guys on the Tigers
With spacious Comerica Park, Arroyo would do well on the Tigers. A change of leagues wouldn’t hurt either.
I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for people to comprehend that the Tigers aren’t trading Granderson for Damon.
Boras, as well as he’d done in past years, has been flat out incompetent this hot stove season. He seems to be living in the past when he could manipulate the market and owners into overpaying. He hasn’t come to grips with the facts of todays economy and how it will relate to his players. Plus his sleazy ways are even more off putting in these market conditions. Yes, these are millionaires and they don’t truly relate to the real economy the rest of us are living in, but they have to realize the days of huge raises for everyone every year are things of the past.
Boras didn’t have much of a problem getting the Cardinals to bid against themselves for Holliday.
I’ve seen this statement so many times and it’s false! The Cardinals offered multiple contracts at one time and told him to pick what he wanted. They knew what they could spend and they didn’t budge off that number. He chose the longer contract with deferred money. They never “bid” against themselves
WELL said….. Boras is living in the past…. (pardon me Jethro Tull)… Last year I heard Borass on XM with his bed buddy Kevin (when I was a manager) Kennedy. Borass stated that there was NO problems with the banking industry etc etc… ummm ok… now he is finding out that teams are low balling him, just like he got them to bid on themselves. YES he did good for a decent outfielder in Holliday, but he has screwed his other clients big time. Damons numbers were inflated by the new Yankee stadium. He can’t play defense much anymore, and he is not what GMS look for in a DH… Borass has overplayed his hand AGAIN this offseason…
Boras and Damon have no leverage. Dombrowski would be an idiot to give into Boras’ most recent demands.
The reason by the Tigers have leverage in this, if Boras threatens retirement, Boras gets no money, and if he threatens to go to a different league, when he gets back, Damon’s value has diminished a lot, so Boras would be lucky to get 2 million out of any team. Braves aren’t raising their offer, and the only other team that made Boras and Damon have leverage, just left.
Let’s see if I have this right…
Now that there aren’t any other serious competing offers for his client, Boras wants the Tigers to raise their offer?
This is where all of these situations end up, where Boras ALMOST looks like a fool, then some team blinks and makes an offer to his liking.
Here is to hoping he has egg on his face this time around.
Nice job by the ChiSox to pull their offer and not contribute to the madness.
Joke after joke after joke after joke! I thought Kenny Williams was going to talk about this on Sunday, what happened there? You know something, the only person, agent, sports writer or organization that has stayed honest and quiet throughout this whole thing has been Dave Dombrowski. Maybe if the Tigers had sent out a few recruiters like the White Sox did then we would already have him signed and delivered. Does anyone who is reading this ever remember of such a sad or more pathetic episode in free agency than this? I am a huge Tigers and baseball fan and this by far goes well beyond anything I have ever seen as far as sorry marketing, shady ploys, AWFUL sportswriting and most of all, the worst representation by an agent that has ever been known to sports all together, not just baseball! Any anyone who says the same old line that I hear “This is just an agent who is good at their job” is full of it. Now he is giving the Tigers 2 things that MUST happen? Remove the offer DD and see what happens. He is demanding a 2-year deal when there was never one to begin with besides the one that he created to spur the White Sox in this race? Sox fans should be bent due to the fact that you were used just to make the Tigers organization explore the 2 year option and also to make sure that there was no defered money. Go play in San Diego or Colorado Johnny!!!
Sunday is when the Sox open camp, that’s what he meant by “I’ll talk about this on Sunday”. He usually talks to the media that Sunday anyhow.
If Boras keeps this b/s up then the Tigers are gonna pull their offer and that will only leave the Braves and their 4 mil with 2 deferred left. And I’d like to see Boras try to convince Frank Wren to raise his offer. Frank learned his lesson last year about bad contracts.
Also, the PR Wing of Boras, Inc (also known as Jon Heyman) should be weighing in any time now… like clockwork.
That is exactly right!!! That is something that should not be lost in all of this. This may be the worst case of sports journalism that I have ever seen the last few weeks!! Where the hell is Mitch Album when he is needed! Detroit and Chicago sportswriters have been guessing and second guessing and misleading throughout this whole thing and they need to step back and take a look at someone like Peter Gammons. You don’t hear that guy ever rush out some BS story, but when he does have something come out, I can almost always without question know that it is true as gold. So to the sportswriters of these two great cities, work on your craft fellas, cause sportswriting is more than just who gets there first! Fact is always more important than speed and getting it right rather than guesstamating is always respected more by us true sportsfans!
To be fair, Gammons can also be a mouthpiece more than he used to be, but I truly enjoy his thoughts.
Team front offices, agents and players all use the media to position which is why I try to take information shared with a grain of salt.
If you think about this hard enough, it looks like a tactic by Williams. Boras is digging his own hole right now. By demanding these things to Detroit with absolutely no other suitors, it could annoy the Tigers. The deal can still be back on the table for Damon and the White Sox if the Tigers decide to forget about it, which can happen.
Also, it appears that the 2 year $14 million deal was never a reality, just a bunch of BS. Plus, the $7 million that was rumored for Damon also had deferred money in it, it wasn’t straight up. In addition, if Damon prefers Chicago and Detroit does not pony up whatever Boras just mentioned, Damon could always go play for the Sox at $6 million.
You get all of this with just about every Boras client out there. It’s such a hassle. No wonder teams hate dealing with the guy. He’s like the bad shopper in the market who goes to 5 different places to compare prices and bargains with every one of them.
The Tigers would be fools to add another year. Has a Boras client ever taken less money?
No, because that would mean less money for Boras…
The guy’s a greedy douchebag.
I think it’s more like Kenny looking in the mirror and thinking “this mutt used me again” just like way back with Arod. “I knew better, I knew better, I knew better”.
The White Sox don’t play in bidding wars. That’s just how it is.
No, you’re wrong.
I think you hit the nail on the head, things may not be over between the Sox and Damon. It is obvious he doesn’t want to go to Detroit considering they have a bigger offer on the table and he still hasn’t taken it. I bet Kenny is hoping Boras completely alienates Detroit so the Sox can sweep in.
But whats crazy is that Boras has never been this way with the Tigers. They are one of the very few organizations that actually haven’t had any issues with Boras at all. The list of clients that have signed since 03 is astounding, names such as Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, Bobby Seay, Jeff Larish, Zach Miner, Gerald Laird, Edwin Jackson, etc. And now with this seasons off season moves, even the likes of Max Scherzer and 1st round pick Jacob Turner. So we have dealt with him numerous times, but its never gone like this!
I agree. I know Boras is a d-bag, but he’s always had a good relationship with the Tiger’s Brass. That’s why it leads me to believe that this is more Damon than Boras. I am beginning to think Johnny is somewhat of a prima-donna. I do not however look for the Tigers to lower their offer nor do I think Boras will get anymore out of them than what’s already been offered. I look for Damon to show up in Lakeland when Tiger’s have their first full squad work out, Next Friday (I think). I am sick over it. Makes us look weak.
Absolutely weak. No need to give in…
I am just wondering how much Damon is going to have to “take it” in order to preserve Scott Boras’s reputation.
I thought KW said he wasn’t going to talk about it until Sunday. Why is he talking about it to Levine today?
Unreal. One of the 3 teams actually interested in him withdraws their offer, and Damon/Boras are still making demands to the Tigers? Unbelievable, I just want this guy to get lost. I do not want to see him in a Tigers uniform for 2 years.
He’s gonna sign with the Braves. No wait the Tigers want him. No wait the White Sox want him. No wait it’s now definitly the Tigers. No wait, there’s no way he’ll go to Detroit. But no, Chicago’s offer isn’t enough. Wait no, the Tigers offer is insufficient. Wait here comes the White Sox with a last minute bid. But wait… if you act now we’ll throw in a second sham-wow and offer free shipping!
Ok Holliday, Bay, Lackey, and Figgins are relatively simple negotiations by comparison.
Will this be decided before Monday? Either team could benefit from this, but for Ryan Raburn’s sake, I will pick he chooses Chicago. Who knows at this point
I can’t believe Bor”ass” is still making demands at this point. I hope Detroit and Atlanta both pull their offers and he ends up playing for some independent team next year and is never heard from again.
This is too stupid for the tigers, getting into a bidding war against themselves. The worst part is, damon might end up getting what he wanted at the beginning of the offseason. 7.5 with a little bit deferred? That’s a terrible deal, give him 4 million and dont go a penny higher.
If Damon has no other options but the Tigers now it would make more sense for them to lower their offer or give him a deadline and then the value drops. Seems like Tigers have control of negotiations now.
Big surprise Dombrowski takes his reported 7 million dollar deal and adds more cash to sweeten the deal when the Sox seem they’ll only go as high as 6. The guy needs to remove the blindfold as he traded/lets go experianced players to bring in players suited for the future and then turns right around and offers Johnny Damon more money to come play in a canyon where he’ll likely offer some decent offense and play absolutely awful defense at Comerica.
I’m extremely disappointed the White Sox haven’t addressed their deficiencies on offense however at least I’m able to smile thinking about the Tigers bringing in a ‘win-now’ type player while simultaneously shelling out tens of millions to Willis/Bonderman/Robertson/Ordonez/Guillen.
First of all, those huge contracts come off the books next year and from what I am hearing Bonderman is looking damn good and Ordonez is coming into this spring in the best shape of his life. From the picture I saw of him earlier this week I can tell you he looks fantastic! And with Damon, his signing is not just a “win-now” situation. Whether he has a rubber arm now or not, he used to be a fantastic defender and has played on several winners and is a club house leader so he will be very helpful with a lot of the younger studs on this team. Whether Damon signs this year or not, this year is going to be a work-in-progress regardless. We have rookies with HUGE potential starting at 2nd and CF and also have players that are going to get there first chance at serious playing time that have a ton of potential as well (Raburn, Avila, Wilkin Ramirez, etc). If all goes well this year, which I assume it will be atleast a .500 year no matter what Michelle, I mean Johnny Damon does, next year will be amazing in D-Town. I know Mike Illitch and that $57M + that is coming off the books will be put right back into the team, because he is a baseball fan and wants to win every single year. We have Verlander signed long term, Porcello and Scherzer that are young with huge arms, and a bullpen FULL of power arms (Ryan Perry, Daniel Schlereth, Cody Satterwight, Robbie Weinherdt, and finally a healthy Joel Zumaya along with Velverde) and for the 1st time in forever a bunch of talent on the farm, so no matter what Damon and Boras do, we are going to be set. As a matter of fact, let him sign in Chicago so we can laugh all year as the White Sox play catch up in the AL Central. You have a fantastic pitching staff and absolutely NO OFFENSE, so you need this 36 year old more than we do, thats for sure. Konerko, Quentin and Peavy will be on the DL by June and that outfield minus Dye will be lucky to hit as many HR’s as Dye hit last year combined. You all better pray that Beckham doesn’t have a sophomore slump and that Ramirez actually shows up this year, cause thats about all the pop you got. Good luck!!
“Konerko, Quentin and Peavy will be on the DL by June and that outfield minus Dye will be lucky to hit as many HR’s as Dye hit last year combined. You all better pray that Beckham doesn’t have a sophomore slump and that Ramirez actually shows up this year, cause thats about all the pop you got. ” such spite and wishful thinking…I guess one wild card birth in the last ten years does that to you
Its not about 1 wild card birth in 10 years, its about what’s what. How do you feel about your offense this year? Tell me how the Sox will score their runs? If there is anything to be excited about, then rather than critisize my “wishful thinking”, tell me about all the things you are looking forward to this year! I do understand enough about the game that if you are out of the running for the playoffs you will give at bats to younger players and back ups. But do you see Juan Pierre, Mark Kotsay and Andrew Jones as a solution to your offensive woes? I can tell you from 1st hand experience that the injury that Carlos Quentin suffered from all last year is very difficult to get rid of and lingers for years, not months. I am not a young, dumb fan that babbles off without any knowledge. I just really want to hear what your opinions are on how exactly you think you will win with that offense. Do tell
the white sox will win with a very balanced lineup, something that they had success with in 05 in case you missed it…for the first time in a while they actually have a lineup that ozzie can do something with. while the 05 white sox did hit 200hrs, they were not solely a power team, they ran the bases, got the bunts down, and were great at getting runners home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. they also did not have a player hit .300 while they only had one guy (Konerko) get 100 rbis. this season, while having what could and should be the BEST staff pitching staff (starters AND relievers) in the league, they should also have a formidable lineup that compares to 05. quentin, konerko, rios, ramirez, beckham and teahen could all hit in the 15-20 hr range at the least. i dont know about you, but thats pretty solid to me. as for quentin’s injury and your supposed “first hand experience,” i am pretty sure that he is a major league baseball player, so therefore im pretty sure that he probably has better resources available to him to heal quicker and get to full strength a hell of a lot easier than you. i dont understand why people keep thinking the white sox have such a weak offense when they have could have one of the better lineups in the AL…so, to answer your question, that is how the sox will not only score, but win this season
Her ya go – Beckham, Rios, Quentin, Konerko will provide more than enough pop. We will have a faster, more athletic club than the last two years. We will have the best rotation in the Division, and perhaps best setup man in baseball (Thorton)and two great closers.
Maybe you’re just an old dumb fan…or Kwame Kilpatrick.
What an absolute moron, would expect nothing different from Sox fans.
Oh, you mean like reason, instead of some delusional diatribe you posted?
Yes I am thoroughly impressed with Austin Jackson and his .759 OPS in the minor leagues, on top of that Konerko, Quentin and Peavy will go on the DL this year while Bonderman and his 13 starts in the past two years “looks damn good”? We’re also supposed to miss Jermaine Dye and his .173/.293/.297 that he put up after the all-star break? Take off your googles and put down the kool-aid as being a Tigers fan and mocking an offense that threw away ABs to Chris Getz, Dewayne Wise, Josh Fields, and Jermaine “2nd half implosion” Dye and yet ended up will extremely similar year end numbers to the Tigers is hilarious.
Funny….dtownwarrior has somehow has ingested the same type of peyote ingested by Jim Hendry…How’d that Sports Illustrated cover last year workout for you? Or game163 last year?
Enjoy your smack talk while you can…until the season starts.
& on top of this why are articles being reported about the white sox pulling their offers and yet waiting until Sunday to allow Damon to make up his mind. I realize their has been some preschool level reporting throughout this entire ordeal but can these ‘writers’ put 2 and 2 together?
Damon is really not that good, the only reason he had one of his best offensive seasons last year is because he played at Yankee stadium. Jeez Juan Pierre might have hit 10 home runs there.
lol Detroit is offering way more than anyone else and still hasn’t agreed to a deal with them, he truly wants no part of Detroit.
The way this is going either the Tigers are bidding against the Tigers or Johnny Damon and Boras are doing everything humanly possible to play some place else.
Prediction: Damon caves and plays for the Tigers and says in his press conference something to the effect of “I wanted to play here all along” cough BS!
“First, he’s asking them to remove all deferred money from the one-year $7MM deal they have offered. Second, he wants the Tigers to add a second year.”
Third, he wants a pony.
haha, even if he plays the outfield on a pony he’s still gonna stink defensively. The fact is, for all the runs he produces with his bat, he gives a lot back with his terrible throwing arm and horrible range! 7 Million Guaranteed!??! That’s just nuts!
And a unicorn, deferred…
He also wants them to move out of Detroit.
Mark Bowman still seems to think that he might end up on the Braves. I’m sure they’ll have the story on here within the hour. I really just don’t know. Boras is asking way too much from the Tigers and they will eventually pull their offer and what does he have left? A team that he has expressed genuine interest in playing for and a 4 mil contract with half deferred. And if the same jerk who chastised me for not having any sources about Damon wanting to play for the Braves comments on this, you may find that source on Bowman’s blog 11:45 pm 10/19/10.
I would still love to see the Giants somehow pull this move off. adding a legit leadoff hitter would the give them a pretty respectable lineup
“3:41pm: ESPN.com’s Buster Olney hears that Scott Boras wants two things from the Tigers. First, he’s asking them to remove all deferred money from the one-year $7MM deal they have offered. Second, he wants the Tigers to add a second year.”
+++++++++++++++
ROFL at the Tigers, Damon in Detroit will be an amusement to watch, what you are getting over a season outside of his .915 / .795 – Home/Away OPS splits at Yankee Stadium is a
.280-.285 AVG, 15 HR, 65 RBI’s, combine that with his dreadful arm and range on defense in the Detroit Outfield, Yikes.
Any more demands he has for Detroit, maybe a leer jet to fly him home to Florida after every game.
Ironic to hear this guy offering demands to Detroit when he has turned into a bootlicker this offseason with that sleazeball agent of his.
I won’t boo him when he comes to Yankee Stadium, but lets just say I won’t cheer him either like I would Matsui.
This guy is going to Tampa Bay or Atlanta. He wants to be close to home and Chicago and Detroit are no where near home. He will probably get a deal for 1 year 5-6 million from either the Braves or the Rays. The Rays have an advantage in my eyes, because I believe he would like the opportunity to play against the Yankees and the Red Sox! All that being said, I don’t think he is worth all the hype at his age, when you have other veteran outfielders out there.
I personally think Damon would fit right in with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. 297 feet down the right field line in Meiji Jingu Stadium should really help out his offensive numbers. And b/c they finished 22 games back of the Giants, it looks like the Swallows could use the offensive force that is Johnny Damon. Oh wait, do they play DHs in the JBL? Well, he should be able to play a shallow RF. With a RF wall @ 335 ft, if it goes over his head, it’s probably a HR.
I think Kenny played this very well. Drive up Damon’s price, make a competitor overpay, and get out. Leaving the “we remain interested” comment just gives the Tigers something to think about.
I agree, plus he helped dispel the rumors about the tigers’ 2 year offer
MLB TV just reported the Tigers are the “lone suitor” for Damon. So if he decides NOT to sign here, he may just be out of a job all together. (which would be fine with me) Bet he wishes he’d signed that contract with the Yankees now… I know I wish he’d done that. Big difference from what he can do in a band box to what his capabilities might be at Comerica (in an Old English D). We have the Largest OF in the AL, a far cry from that bandbox called Yankee Stadium.