Johnny Damon is still unemployed, and after no negotiations were made with the Yankees, agent Scott Boras is pounding the pavement to find the free agent a contract. Last week, the Yankees signed Randy Winn and eliminated the need for Damon. The two finaglers are now looking to the Detroit Tigers, in the hopes that the Motor City is more willing to speak their language, MLB.com reports.
If you believe Boras, playing for the Tigers would fulfill a lifelong dream for Damon.
"Detroit has a good team, it has a manager he likes," Boras told the Detroit Free Press. "And the fact is, he thinks he can win there. He thinks he can provide a dramatic contribution to make the team very different than it is right now."
The Tigers were rumored to have mutual interest in the free agent, but general manager Dave Dombrowski has disputed that claim, MLB.com reports.
Even if the Tigers were interested in the ex-Yankee, haven't we learned by now that the love of the game is not enough for these two?
Rewind to several weeks ago. Damon said he'd love to stay in the Empire State. Unfortunately, this love did not come for free, and Boras and Damon tested the depth of the New York Yankees' pockets. Damon did not love the original two-year, $14 million offer, and on the flip side, the Yankees did not love him enough to comply with his price tag.
The Tigers still have holes in the top of their batting order after losing outfielder Curtis Granderson and second baseman Placido Polanco. The left-handed Damon could be a viable replacement, especially since Comerica Park is advantageous for left-handed hitters. He batted second for the Yankees last season for 143 games and hit .282 with 24 home runs, 82 RBIs and 107 runs. At Comerica Park, Damon has a .363 career batting average and .961 OPS.
There has been a lot of talk about Damon's value to different league's organizations. Most of it is coming from Boras himself.
"A lot of teams are going to reach out to Johnny Damon and a lot of teams waited to reach out to Johnny Damon until they knew Johnny was not returning to the Yankees," Boras told MLB.com.
The scare tactics the agent has used in the past aren’t working so well this winter. But until Boras and Damon budge or a team is willing to use up their payroll on the veteran player, the campaign trail blazes on.
Teams that Damon has targeted such as the Tigers or Blue Jays may be more willing to negotiate when he and his agent have snapped out of their fantasy realm where teams agree to sign 36-year-old ballplayers for three to four years. Sure, Damon has two championship titles under his belt and is strong at bat, but is his defense good enough for his asking value?
