Damon signs with Yanks

[RWhitney014]

Bottom line though.....From starters, to middle relief, to closer.......the Yanks have the best pitching in the AL East.

Boston has no bullpen or closer and are hoping Schilling can return to his old form. He MIGHT be washed up. Baltimore has nothing. Tampa has nothing. Toronto has a little pitching but nothing special and not as good as the Yanks pitching.

I'm not going to start analyzing the pitching in the AL East since I don't care at this point, but the way this team is constructed, the division championship obviously isn't the goal. The White Sox have better pitching. The Indians could. The Athletics do. The Angels might. These are all teams to be concerned about, because they're more complete than New York right now. Of course, if Steinbrenner gets a bug up a particular orifice for Barry Zito and decides that he'll trade whomever to get him, you might have a different story.

 

[MikeO]

I'm not going to start analyzing the pitching in the AL East since I don't care at this point, but the way this team is constructed, the division championship obviously isn't the goal. The White Sox have better pitching. The Indians could. The Athletics do. The Angels might. These are all teams to be concerned about, because they're more complete than New York right now. Of course, if Steinbrenner gets a bug up a particular orifice for Barry Zito and decides that he'll trade whomever to get him, you might have a different story.

Of course the White Sox have better pitching. As do the A's and maybe LA and whoever else. There is no trade or free agent move for NY that will change that.

Bottom line, I don't HATE NY's pitching staff. I like its depth, I like the bullpen more now than last year and I am not down on the starters.

 

[GreenMonster]

:sidelol:

Lupica is a Yankee hater? Maybe that's why I like him so much. Georgie stole the heart of our team? Last time I checked, Big Papi was still on the Red Sox roster.

I'm not trying to convince myself we're better off, yet. If the front office makes a few good moves, why can't we be better off without Damon?

13 million is a bargain? Only from you dude, that's asinine.

It might be bad for 1 year but in year 3 when Damon is 35, playing 120 games a year or less, batting .285, and still doing naked pullups in the lockerroom, the Sox will be able to spend 8million on a new younger Damon like player and another 5 for pitching. Teams like the Sox have to look into the future instead of using million dollar bandaids each year to keep the dream alive. Will I miss Johnny Damon next year, you bet, but I am not bitter about not giving a player of his age/talent a contract over 50million for 4 years. When money is not a problem you make that move in a heartbeat.

 

[phunwin]

I'm not going to start analyzing the pitching in the AL East since I don't care at this point, but the way this team is constructed, the division championship obviously isn't the goal. The White Sox have better pitching. The Indians could. The Athletics do. The Angels might. These are all teams to be concerned about, because they're more complete than New York right now. Of course, if Steinbrenner gets a bug up a particular orifice for Barry Zito and decides that he'll trade whomever to get him, you might have a different story.

The Yanks would almost certainly have to start the bidding at Robinson Cano and Chien Ming-Wang before even getting Billy Beane's attention. And I don't see them doing that.

 

[finswin56]

The Yanks would almost certainly have to start the bidding at Robinson Cano and Chien Ming-Wang before even getting Billy Beane's attention. And I don't see them doing that.

I don't see a Zito trade in the Yanks future. You're right about the starting point for the NYY. I thought the Yankees decided to finally back away from continually giving away their prospects.

 

[PressCoverage]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, I don't know, but the media is KILLING the Red Sox for their lacadasical approach towards Damon, but I just don't see it. It's almost universally agreed upon that the guy is being vastly overpaid by the Yankees, and is there anyone who would have given him 5 years? I'd like to see that team step forward.

vastly overpaid? they don't know the meaning of the term... how can a player be "overpaid" when the owner and his ventures have bottomless pockets? ... what do they care?... it's all about gamesmanship and sticking it to the team to the north...

he'll be a productive player for them, no doubt... but the moneyroduction ratio just does not apply to one team in all of professional sports... because money doesn't matter to the Yankees' brass...

 

[PressCoverage]

It might be bad for 1 year but in year 3 when Damon is 35, playing 120 games a year or less, batting .285, and still doing naked pullups in the lockerroom, the Sox will be able to spend 8million on a new younger Damon like player and another 5 for pitching. Teams like the Sox have to look into the future instead of using million dollar bandaids each year to keep the dream alive. Will I miss Johnny Damon next year, you bet, but I am not bitter about not giving a player of his age/talent a contract over 50million for 4 years. When money is not a problem you make that move in a heartbeat.

true... and this is great... but then, the Yankees will just go out and purchase that next player as soon as his contract is up...

 

[finswin56]

I think the biggest part of this story is the report that Damon didn't even bother letting the Red Sox brass counter offer. That says a lot about what direction that relationship went.

 

[FIN-IN-RI]

I think the biggest part of this story is the report that Damon didn't even bother letting the Red Sox brass counter offer. That says a lot about what direction that relationship went.

The Red Sox weren't going to counter-offer..

 

[FIN-IN-RI]

Wells, Arroyo, and Clement could all be gone very soon.

I don't know why Red Sox fans are upset with Damon leaving..........all we have heard is how good that MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM is. Well, call them up and lets see how good they are!

It is pretty damn good and you will see that for yourself in time but the fact remains that with holes at CF, 1B and SS the expectiation that our farm sysem can take each spot over with average to above average production is fruitless..

Besides, the strength of the Sox farm system is in the pitching.

 

[finswin56]

The Red Sox weren't going to counter-offer..

Maybe, but why would their brass complain to the media about it? Why not just denounce the contract? Obviously, they are trying to save face w/ the fans. If I were ownership, I wouldn't even mention Damon not trying to get a counter offer, I would just let the fans know I was going to be fiscally responsible, and that Damon wasn't worth that kind of money.
Their actions don't lead me to the conclusion that they wouldn't have tried to counter. I just think the Sox were trying to squeeze Damon.

 

[FinsNYanksFan13]

vastly overpaid? they don't know the meaning of the term... how can a player be "overpaid" when the owner and his ventures have bottomless pockets? ... what do they care?... it's all about gamesmanship and sticking it to the team to the north...

he'll be a productive player for them, no doubt... but the moneyroduction ratio just does not apply to one team in all of professional sports... because money doesn't matter to the Yankees' brass...

:cry::cry::cry::cry:

 

[Ray Finkle]

I love all the "he's selling out!" and "it's symbolism!" whining about Damon shaving his beard and cutting his hair (perpetrated, yet again, by the cosmically untalented Dan Shanoff). They have a dress code, for crying out loud, what's wrong with that? If I showed up to my office looking like Jesus, I'd probably get canned. And don't bother me with the "pro athletes operate in a different world" crap, I'm aware of that. But it's a business, and George the Tyrant would be the first to tell you that.

It's the fact that before Damon grew out his hair and grew a beard no one gave a damn about him. He was just a normal player in Boston, the fans liked him because he was on the team but didn't think twice about him. Once he grew the hair and beard he became a god (no pun intended) for some reason, maybe because it got a lot of the female fans into it. He was the most popular Red Sox the past two years.

The thing with Damon is is that in Boston he would have been a god still however in NY he'll be just another player (maybe even less if he doesn't perform). NY is Jeter's city, town, state, whatever. Damon won't be marketable without his look. Damon is just too stupid to realize that if he stayed in Boston for 4 years for 40 mill he would probably make more than his 4 years for 52 mill in NY because of endorsements etc. Also NY has one of the worst tax states (one of the reasons why when Arod was talking about signing with the Mets in 2000/2001 he wanted more than 252 mill that Texas was offering because of all the taxes he'd have to pay).

 

[Ray Finkle]

Wells, Arroyo, and Clement could all be gone very soon.

I don't know why Red Sox fans are upset with Damon leaving..........all we have heard is how good that MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM is. Well, call them up and lets see how good they are!

We do have a good minor league system however the F.O. isn't about to rush a player and bring them up out of panic and have them turn into a Melky Cabrerra or Sean Henn. Remember those guys?

The Sox main OF prospects: Murphy, Moss, Ellisbury are about another year or two away from making the roster. I had heard that if Murphy does well in the minors he could be brought up by July though. Who knows.

Personally I'd rather sign a no name and stick them in the OF for a year rather than bring up the kids too early and ruin them like Melky or Henn, if of course the kids in the Sox system are the real deal.

 

[Ray Finkle]

It doens't change the fact that Georgie stole the HEART of your team and the face of your franchise, and once again you Red Sox fans are left with egg on your faces!

Yes George did steal the face of the franchise and it will hurt this year, no doubt about it. But you don't know about the next 3 years, nor do I. After all Damon could turn into Bernie Williams of 2005. You never know. I have said a million times on this site that I'd take Damon back for 3 years 30 million MAX. And even then I didn't like giving him the 3rd year. The guy broke down big time at the end of the year. He was a shell of his 1st half self, which many writers were saying he deserved serious MVP thought at the time. He plays hard but gets hurt and plays hurt a lot too, which I respect but he hurt the team being out in CF and batting towards the end of the year with his bad shoulder.

Also I wouldn't use the "Red Sox fans are left with egg on your faces" thing. Last time the Yankees "stole" a player from us it was Arod and we all know what happened that year.