According to Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves can “afford to sign” the 36-year old outfielder “if they could do a one- or two-year deal for well below $10 mill per, and perhaps closer to $7-8 mill per season if it’s a two-year deal” (trading Melky Cabrera could also allow such a deal). Essentially, the Braves could look to offer Damon the same multiyear deal the Yankees had proposed to him earlier this winter, prior to signing Nick Johnson. O’Brien believes that Damon would “seriously consider it” since he has not “received better offers yet,” and because “he’s told some people he’d like to play for the Braves, who train near his Orlando home.”
If Damon’s price is in the $7-8 million range, as outlined by O’Brien, I don’t believe that the Yankees will pursue him. However, if his price drops even further — $6-5 million per year — then there could be renewed interest from Brian Cashman and co. A one-year contract around $10 million may entice the team, as well, though I doubt Damon could receive $10 million from New York. It’s interesting to see the way in which Damon’s market has played out this winter. While he’s certainly worth more than $6-5 million per year, assuming his production is close to 2009, his overall value has been dictated by fundamental market forces like supply and demand rather than his established skill set. Thus, the Braves, Giants, or maybe even the Yankees could obtain a Beltre-like bargain by signing the currently homeless left fielder.
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
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5 Responses to For Damon, Atlanta a fit?
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TIQ IQ
I have to admit, I feel kind of bad for Damon (for as much as anyone can actually feel bad for a man coming off a 52 million dollar deal, lol). He clearly overplayed his hand, as have numerous ballplayers, but he deserves better. Johnny Damon is coming off of two highly productive seasons, and outside of one real rough month last year, was one of the teams better hitters.
Would still love to get him back. I actually think the fact that the Sox are going over budget to bring in their players plays into Damon’s corner. No, Cashman won’t overreact (nor should he, as the Yankees are the superior team and should not make moves just because any other certain team did), but it might make ownership bump up their budget by 2 or 3 million. For example, an offer of 1 year 9 million sounds a lot better then a 1 year 6 million (Also, as a therapist, I can attest that if they made the offer 8.95 instead of 9, they would be more likely to accept as people react to that form of price manipulation all the time).
I feel bad too. He should be getting better offers than he has, and has gotten a rep for being entirely a product of the ballpark, which isnt true.
He definitely deserves more than Abreu. Doesn’t look like he’ll get it, though. He should have signed quickly. I feel bad for the guy, but at the same time, it’s mainly his own fault. The writing was pretty much on the wall a few months ago. He wasn’t going to get anything close to $13M per year.
Completely agreed. Owners look to take advantage of players all the time, and I think that’s whats going on now. It’s much the same as Abreu; yes, he played bad D, but Abreu proved that a 5 million dollar contract was WAY under what he was worth. Damon will have a similar ending I believe.
Agree with you completely about Abreu, yet Bobby DID sign on for $5mm. Some of these older declining guys need to get realistic about the financial situation they face or we will see some early retirements. I wouldn’t mind seeing Johnny back for 1 year but he isn’t anybodys long term solution in the outfield and he needs to recognize that fact. He needs to weigh the humiliation factor of signing back cheaply against the positive of maybe repeating as champs.