Always Dirty

...and Ortiz is getting $6m.

CL Platano

<~~~going to Modell's to buy a Damon jersey

GreenMonster

I don't think he was worth 13M... But now that he's gone, lets see if the 2 headed monster has a back up plan for center field...

JimmyCarter

Brandon Moss?

phipark

I can only imagine what he'll get once his contract is up.

GreenMonster

A one-way ticket to new york

phipark

Seems to be the trend for the "sell-outs." Let's hope he's not one, for himself and the league.

esCarbonie

dude dont be naive...

the Sox management blew this one... they offered him dogshit relative to the rest of the market -- Furcal got $13M per... Damon is arguably the best at what he does.. 13M is not a lot by any means, ESPECIALLY when they let him go to another team for a 4 YEAR DEAL...

Sox management has NO leg to stand on here... they cant assume everyone is going to give them an enormous hometown discount when the truth is they can afford to pay a lot more... it would be excusable if the yanks overpaid, or gave him more years, but they didnt do either... The sox offered damon dog shit at first, and were flirting with other CF's all the while claiming that bringing johnny back was 'Priority no. 1' yeah flipping right...

they tried to call Boras' bluff and they blew it... dont be mad at Damon. he took a huge raise and left a club that didnt pursue him like they should have...

over and over the Red Sox let guys leave over crappy principles... they have a flawed system of assessing a players value...

everyone loves to immediately blame the player, but thats horseshit in this case.

esCarbonie

they didnt think anything... they apparently never saw it coming... they blew it. its not your money... 13M for 4 years is nothing for that franchise to pay the premier CF in the game and their self-admitted catalyst. come on now dont be a company man

Always Dirty

I think you're way off on this - Damon is not the best at what he does. He's great with a bat, but a liability in the field. He is no Ichiro. Not even close. And the consensus seems to be that the Yankees overpaid.

Always Dirty

And we have every right to be mad at Damon - he's in charge and the agent works for him. He's a sellout because he went to the Yankees. Had he gone elsewhere I wouldn't be calling him that. He chased a couple of extra bucks right into the Yankee dugout - if that isn't fucking selling out I don't know what it. We'll have to deal with all the apologists for him running around, like yourself and all the women calling into WEEI, but it's my belief that he should be branded a traitor for what he did.

NightShredder

I think his salary is a bit high. If you look at it from N.Y.'s point of view they got a deal. Last year they paid Williams $12.5 and their numbers aren't even close. Damon's signing really doesn't raise their payroll much at all.

Always Dirty

It's high for the rest of the market, but not NY. Having their own little market perspective is the reason why their lineup now has 8 potential allstars in it.

esCarbonie

its more about the years than the salary per year, you know this... These days GM's would rather pay more per year than get locked up into extra years... so thats accepted...

THere is NO WAY you can tell me the Sox thought 4/40 would hold up... no way.... but they stood pat anyway because they thought boras was bluffing, or for some other stupid reason...

my man might not have a rocket for an arm but he gets to everything, plays just about every Flipping day, heals fast and plays well when even when he is banged up.. mad durable. he stole 20 bases for a team that never runs. his speed is great.


Im not necessarily trying to talk him up as gods gift to baseball, just saying that the blame is on the Sox, they underestimated his value and it burned them.

they also have to think of the effect this has on other players in the future... their confidence in the front office... it cant help at all.

Always Dirty

Good points. My question is did Boras give the Sox a chance to counter NY's offer or was it a done deal?

esCarbonie

in total value its not an obscene amount relative to a lot of other guys deals this year... adrian beltre got overpaid, damon did not

JimmyCarter

Or the Yanks overestimated his value - I know plenty of angry New York fans right now.

Alan Embree anyone?

NightShredder

According to Damon he spoke to them and Francona personally and they still did not raise their offer. According to ESPN radio the Yanks played this one beautifully. They sat on the sidelines until Boras' demand of years came down to what they would be confortable with. Once his demands went from 7, 6, to 5 years management and players from N.Y. courted Damon and gave him a 4 yr/$48 mil offer. Then yesterday they called up and raised it with the condition that Damon make his decision by midnight. According to Damon he warned BoSox that this was getting serious and they didn't believe him because of the Yanks initial disinterest.

esCarbonie

apparently not... on XM, the Globe writers who talked to lucchino last night said he didnt even know damon had signed- until they called to ask him about it.

what boras might have done is go back to the sox and asked them again to improve their offer, without mentioning the yanks. and when the sox refused he played hardball... Damon told Tito they needed to move if it was going to get done, and apparently they didnt heed him..

I have to give the yanks credit they played it right. they told him all along, come talk to us if you can agree to 4 years, then we'll make an offer... he did, they did, and poof. cashman made the offer and said we need to know by midnight or else we have to move on. the rest is history

why couldnt boston do business like that

esCarbonie

^ didnt see taht nightshredder, sorry to repeat

NightShredder

I am not sure if Damon specifically told management that it was the Yanks, but who else would throw that kind of money around? They had to assume N.Y. was "playing the field". I think they just didn't believe Damon when he told them he had a bigger offer on the table.

mc_yanzo

Booing. The guy is a fucking sellout.

gocubsgo55

[NOTE; I tried editing the message, but I took too long and it timed out. Here's the edited original]

AD, its really fun reading your responses . It reminds me of a Rambo or Seagal fighting 20 Soviet soldiers off

as for the racist comments, that came out of nowhere. Needless and immature in my opinion. As a young Chicagoan and die-hard Cubs fan, would like to apologize on our behalf, and let you know that was a very White Sox thing to do. Sorry.

FYI; YES, we are miserable, and YES, we hate our team's crappiness. But hey, we LOVE our team and a sudden WS coming from a team who has a fanbase that hates our team more than they love theirs is not going to change ANY of us.

In a city where 1 of every 5 fans is a Sox fan, I live on the North Side, where 1 of every 10 fans is a Sox fan. My main buddies are all Sox fans. I was there when the room erupted after the final out, and the champaign sprayed all over. I was there when they were the only people running around the neighborhood in absolute craziness. I gave them the updates on the team's trip back here, from my house, while they were celebrating on the South Side. Words cannot describe how much it hurts to know that the way things are going, I will never get to experience that. What's my point? My point is, please, don't let one dumber Cubs fan give you a sudden lean on Cub fans, please .

As for the JD thing, I really liked Damon, but this was just wrong. After saying that it'd be totally wrong to go to the Yankees? I am curious to know though, BoSox fans, will you guys be applauding or booing him when the Yanks visit Fenway?

esCarbonie

I'd boo lucchino before I booed damon.

GreenMonster

You miss Theo too, don't you

NightShredder

Sellout? Would anyone here take less money from your company or firm that doesn't appreciate you as much as another company that is willing to pay you more $. That is just smart business IMO. Actions speak louder than words. The BoSox management didn't make Damon feel like they wanted him back. They said they wanted him back, but did not offer the cash a player like Damon deserves at the same time courting other CFs. Keep in mind they offered Varetek and Rentiera (spelling?) the same 4 yr/$40 mil as they did Damon. Do those guys mean the same to the organization as Damon? IMO

CL Platano

I agreed with you till the Varitek comment. He was the team captain not as valuable as Damon but captain nonetheless. Varitek gets his money on respect and Renteria on luck, but they should of shown more respect to Damon IMO..Not complaining though Red Sox loss Yankee gain.

CL Platano

I'm sure Damon is a Red Sox at heart but he always knew Steinbrenner wanted him since he came into the league

GIBSON6594

Varitek is more valuable to the Sox than Damon.

I think people had a perception of Damon of being a good guy with a caring attitude. Turns out he is more selfish and conceded. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean 80% of the players in MLB are that way. We just weren't expecting it from Damon.

esCarbonie

damon is going to wreck shop in yankee stadium

GIBSON6594

He is a great player, but I don't get the gonna be great at Yankee Stadium thing. In 4 years playing regular season games at Yankee stadium, he has 313 at bats during which he has hit .287, 6 HR's, and 39 RBI's. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...&type=batting3

those are decent numbers, but not the numbers of a guy who is going to wreck shop IMO

Chr8808

iTrader: (1)

He's overrated, maybe worth only 9MM, 11MM max.

Yumcha

Giants and Angels swap: SF acquires Finley, Alfonzo to Angels...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Yumcha

And...the Yanks owe $34M in luxury taxes.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5188654

Scottman111

I think the Angels got the shaft on that deal talent wise. Finley has a few good years left in him but Alfonso is just washed up IMO.

I guess it's all a money thing in the end though...

Scottman111

Oh and the Reds have seriously been talking about getting Arroyo so I'll put my money on him being their #1 priority.

Hopefully he doesn't turn into an Eric Milton on us though

CL Platano

You have to keep in mind those are numbers against the league's better pitching staff during that period except for 2005..So hitting .287 against Mussina, Clemens, El Duque, Contreras, Pettite and others isn't nothing to frown on.

GreenMonster

He talked about that in the interview on WEEI radio last night... and how he had thought with the lefty specialist Mike Myers signing with the Yanks, he would be tough to face... Now being on the same team as Myers, he won't have to face him either.

I'm really starting to think the Red Sox are "packing it in"... Dropping payroll to increase profits, since they already have brought a WS championship to Boston. Looks like they've got decent enough pitching to stay competitive, and because of the fenway faithful will still sellout all the games. I just don't know if the way the team is set up (right now), if we have any hope of finishing better then 3rd in the division (behind the yanks and the blue jays). I'm wondering if this was an ownership decision that was made prior to theo's leaving, and quite possibily one of the reasons theo left... Just throwing some ideas out there

virtualbong

I just don't understand some of the decisions that are being made.

GreenMonster

Everyone wants Arroyo... He's cheap, dependable, consistant, and can work out of the bull pen in long/short relief as needed (as he showed in the 2004 playoffs).

Better get in line with everyone else, and be prepared to give up alot for him, 'cause Arroyo's on a lot of teams wish list... I'm saying this, and the sox will probably deal him for a case of beer, a carton of cigarettes, and a player to be named later

I'm bitter now, as I just don't see a plan developing from the baseball management team on the sox

edit: and if I read the phrase "Arroyo traded for cash considerations" I swear I'm going to drive to boston and shoot someone