Anyhow, since Damon has a no-trade clause involving the Sox, he has the right to reject going back to Beantown. And so far, he has said he's "leaning toward" staying with Detroit, also saying, "My gut and everything else tells me Detroit’s the place for me."
Now, did the Red Sox really want Damon back, or did they want to prevent him from being dealt to Tampa Bay? Peter Gammons is reporting this on Twitter:
"Tigers explained to Damon Boston didn't claim to block, they want him. Tampa didn't even claimed him"Very interesting! Unfortunately, while I hope Damon does the right thing and spurns Boston, I'm afraid he is going to go back there. I wrote on Facebook yesterday that a competitive player like him would want to be in a pennant race. A Sox fan friend was surprised to hear me think that the Sox were still in the pennant race. I said that they were like the villain in a horror movie -- you could never count them out!
Anyhow, I'm not going to be happy to see Damon wearing Boston red again, but I'm not going to boo him the way Sox fans did when he went to the Yankees. If only Brian Cashman had done the right thing in the first place and re-signed Damon this winter, none of this would be an issue.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
5 comments:
It absolutely was to block the Yanks and Rays. Both teams did have interest but neither could claim him given their position in the standings. That's the way the waivers work - teams with the worse record get first dibs.
It would be a good thing for the Tigers if he went. Even though his teammates want him to stay, his departure would take 1.8MM$ off the Tiger payroll, and potentially (albeit unlikely) bring in a prospect should another team offer arbitration. Not to mention for Damon, he'd have a better chance to get the playoffs (Baseball Prospectus has the Sox's chances at 21% compared with the tigers who are in single digits).
Why is it such a bad thing if he goes back there? He's not having a particularly good season and if he played outfield there, that would hurt them more than it'd help them. Frankly, I don't care where he goes as long as it's not back in pinstripes. He's not quite washed up, but given his salary, he's very over priced for his production.
Now Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that Manny Ramirez is going to the South Side of Chicago. Well, that's one way to get him to change his socks. And U.S. Cellular Field isn't a bad hitters' park. Certainly, it's a better one than Dodger Stadium, and a lot better than the old Comiskey Park.
But Rosenthal isn't exactly always right. In fact, you could call him Peter Gammons Jr... but Gammons would probably sue for defamation of character!
"I said that they were like the villain in a horror movie -- you could never count them out!"
Ever since the horror movie in 2004, I will NEVER COUNT THEM OUT!!
Interesting analogy. I consider "Fever Pitch" to be a horror movie.
The U.S. version, anyway. The original British version, with Colin Firth as a fanatic fan of Arsenal Football Club, is a better film, although Ruth Gemmell isn't nearly as cute as Drew Barrymore and Highbury doesn't get the spectacular shots that Fenway got.
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