Damon Come and Me Wanna Go Home
Hey, Mr. Tallyman. Tally up that contract.
Four years, $52 Million? Well, Cashman did say that he wasn't trying to reduce payroll as much as he was trying to spend more wisely.
On the surface, $13M/yr is a very good deal for 2006. It's a acceptable risk for 2007. It might start looking worse in 2008. By 2009 we might be back to a Bernie Williams-esque albatross of a contract.
I sincerely doubt Damon will be the Yankees centerfielder for the next 4 years. Two, maybe three tops. He'll be a left fielder, or have to learn to play first (because I can't imagine Jason Giambi playing the remainder of his contract with the Yankees and not becoming the full time DH eventually).
Does this improve the team in the short term? Absolutely. I almost get the impression that the Yankees viewed Damon as a fallback option, but planned on acquiring someone like Wilkerson, or Rowand, or Michaels. Damon may have been viewed as the last chance to avoid having to hear Bob Shepherd intone on a daily basis: "Now batting, the Centahfieldah, numbah eight-teen, Bubba Crosby. Numbah eight-teen."
This said, would I have preferred to sign Damon instead of trading Wang/Cano/Hughes/Duncan for an average-at-best ML centerfielder? Absolutely.
Enjoy the draft pick, Red Sox. The way the mass wish to exodus out of Boston is continuing (Epstein, Damon, Wells, Ramirez, Mueller) you're probably going to need it.
Finally, Ronald Blum - I have no idea who you are. You may very well be a very nice man. However, you don't know anything about baseball and I have to assume you got your job at the Associated Press because your uncle owns a newspaper or something:
Damon, Yankees reach preliminary agreement on $52 million, four-year contract
Damon, Yankees reach preliminary agreement on $52 million, four-year contractBy RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
December 21, 2005 NEW YORK (AP) -- Johnny Damon gives the Yankees their first big-time leadoff hitter since Chuck Knoblauch was at the top of the order a half-decade ago -- an era when New York won three straight World Series titles and four consecutive AL pennants. |
I'm not going to - again - detail once more why Jeter's a much better leadoff hitter than Damon, because I've been
over it multiple times. (While I was against the signing then (and still am in principle now) the market has dried up on other options and the asking price came down.)
For the record, Mr. Blum, I didn't get past your first paragraph because after reading that utter nonsense, why continue?
The best news here is that we can all look forward to a Lupica column tomorrow extolling what a genius he is. Hooray!
Here's an item nobody wants: Sox fans
don't want a Yankee, Yankee fans don't
want to see a Red Sox uniform. Maybe
Michelle Damon can buy up the rest
of them.
Labels: insecure mean-spirited busybodies, johnny damon, lupica
posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 12:59 AM
3
comments
3 Comments:
I am completely sickened by this deal. I would rather have Crosby.
he's better than bernie
maybe a baby bomber a la tabata will be rushed, i mean ready, to replace him when he falls off that cliff
and anon, everybody's better than bernie. except maybe ruben sierra.
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