An Open Letter to Johnny Damon

[EEich]

I did do my research... the Red Sox never got the option to match because they alienated Damon so much with the low-ball offers and talk about trading for Jeremy Reed... .

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by EEich

I did do my research... the Red Sox never got the option to match because they alienated Damon so much with the low-ball offers and talk about trading for Jeremy Reed... .

That's sheer speculation, which goes to my point - it's debatable. To call a thread foolish because you don't agree with a debatable premise is, well, ...

FWIW, I think you are wrong. He left because he knew that Steinbrenner would pay him more than anyone else could afford to. He's a decent bat with an average arm. $40 million isn't lowball for that - nobody outside NY would offer him that much. The fact that they did, doesn't mean he's worth it or that the Sox offer was lowball.

He's an upgrade for the Stankees - no argument there. But he's another sign of what's wrong with FA in baseball.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by EEich

I did do my research... the Red Sox never got the option to match because they alienated Damon so much with the low-ball offers and talk about trading for Jeremy Reed... .

Boras and Lucchino have a tumultuous relationship and Boras was idiotically seeking a 7 year deal for a guy is 32.
The Sox make an initial offer of 40 over 4 and never hear back from them? That's called being disloyal. The deserved to at least know what the heck was going on. The only reason this happened is that Boras and Lucchino don't get along and Damon just did whatever his agent said without regard for loyalty. I doubt the Sox would have matched but the disloyalty cries would far more muted had he given them oppotunity.