Tigers Sign Damon - 1 yr, 8 mil; NTC

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I don't.

 

The AL Central will be Sox vs Detroit this year. IMO, with the loss of the Twins 10th player, their home record isn't going to be as stocked with free wins anymore.

I'd like to agree with you, but they're the Twins. They're always there. Always.

 

Besides, the Twins of 2010 look more like the older Sox teams than they do themselves. They should adjust to their new park just fine.

[Y2HH]

I'd like to agree with you, but they're the Twins. They're always there. Always.

 

Besides, the Twins of 2010 look more like the older Sox teams than they do themselves. They should adjust to their new park just fine.

 

Again, I say...no matter how well they adjust to the new park, they HAD, undeniably, the greatest homefield advantage in baseball and now they no longer do.

 

No matter how well they adjust to the new park, the advantage they had will never be quite as drastic as it was.

 

...and IMO, they were "always there...always" because of where they played. I repeat, their single greatest advantage over the Central is now gone.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Y2HH

[WCSox]

I disagree. I think Damon being on this team could be the difference between the Sox or the Twins winning the division.

 

Even if you believe that, Damon isn't going to propel the Sox to a pennant and the Sox aren't going to want him for more than one year. Looking at the big picture, Damon isn't all that valuable.

 

If the Sox surprise during the first half and look like they can actually compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, etc., guys like Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez will likely be available. Both are higher-impact players than Damon and the Sox have enough young talent to trade for them.

 

[Y2HH]

Even if you believe that, Damon isn't going to propel the Sox to a pennant and the Sox aren't going to want him for more than one year. Looking at the big picture, Damon isn't all that valuable.

 

If the Sox surprise during the first half and look like they can actually compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, etc., guys like Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez will likely be available. Both are higher-impact players than Damon and the Sox have enough young talent to trade for them.

 

Damon is valuable because of his consistent bat, his ability to get on base.

[fathom]

Even if you believe that, Damon isn't going to propel the Sox to a pennant and the Sox aren't going to want him for more than one year. Looking at the big picture, Damon isn't all that valuable.

 

If the Sox surprise during the first half and look like they can actually compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, etc., guys like Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez will likely be available. Both are higher-impact players than Damon and the Sox have enough young talent to trade for them.

 

You'd also have to give up a fortune to get those guys (we have some young talent, but if we trade those, our farm system would be beyond empty). Crawford's going to be looking for a huge contract, and in a few seasons, Gonzalez is easily looking at top 10 money. Why not just sign Damon and keep the few prospects we have left?

[fathom]

...and IMO, they were "always there...always" because of where they played. I repeat, their single greatest advantage over the Central is now gone.

 

Their single greatest advantage now is that they have 2 of the best hitters in all of baseball.

[flavum]

I think Scot Gregor is way off base with his speculation that Damon is going to Detroit because Kenny won't talk until Sunday.

 

No. It just means Kenny doesn't want to talk to you before Damon decides, and he'll talk to you on Sunday when camp opens....you know, like he does every year.

 

 

[Y2HH]

Their single greatest advantage now is that they have 2 of the best hitters in all of baseball.

 

I guess we'll see now that they're Domeless.

[Chisoxfn]

I'll say again, I don't believe for 1 second that Damon would turn down a couple million extra dollars because he doesn't want to play in Detroit, if they were truly offering more.

Sure he would. He knows that is out there and he can try to get another place where he wants to play and has a better shot of winning and do well. Plus, seriously, Detroit is an absolute s***-hole. I wouldn't leave my current job to move to Detroit, even if they offered to double my salary.

[Chisoxfn]

That might be a Soxtalk first? Having the 1st post and the 1000th post?

Nah, lots of the game threads get up to 1000 posts.

[Pants Rowland]

Agreed, i don't think a press conference on the day Pitchers and Catchers report means anything more then a press conference on the day that Pitchers and Catchers report.

 

On that note, is it Kenny's style to allude to a conversation about a player that signs with someone other than the Sox? He will bark with disgruntled ex-players in the press, but the subject matter of his media dialogue is almost exclusively the White Sox and their players, not the opposition.

 

I have a hunch the Sox have been kicking the tires on Damon for a lot longer than anyone realizes. I wouldn't be surprised if Damon/Boras suppressed an early offer from the Sox that they thought was too low and started the public campaign to go to Detroit right around that time. There are so many scenarios we can imagine, but I think all three players in this game have been holding the most important cards very close to the vest and leaked a lot of misinformation for strategic purposes only.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Again, I say...no matter how well they adjust to the new park, they HAD, undeniably, the greatest homefield advantage in baseball and now they no longer do.

 

No matter how well they adjust to the new park, the advantage they had will never be quite as drastic as it was.

 

...and IMO, they were "always there...always" because of where they played. I repeat, their single greatest advantage over the Central is now gone.

I agree with the top part, that they had the greatest home field advantage in baseball. I definitely agree with that.

 

However, look at the Twins vs. Sox and compare. One organization constantly builds teams that fit their ballpark, the other does not. Look at the Twins of 2010 and the Sox of 2010. The Sox need to be in the f***ing Metrodrome and the Twins are the ones that should be playing in the Cell...

 

...which brings me to my next point. The Twins can out-slug the Sox in the Sox own home park. Maybe the home field advantage for the Twins drops off overall, but they're still going to have an advantage over us no matter where we play in terms of offense. The Twins' offense will work in both places and yet that Juan Pierre s*** isn't going to work in either.

[Chisoxfn]

This is more of a buzzkill than Buzz Killington.

Guys, his quote says he'll talk about it on Sunday. Does anyone think that might mean that is probably the latest the thing will slide too and at that point the Sox will walk away. I don't see anything about how that means he's going to the Tigers or anything along those lines.

[Chisoxfn]

Given that Sunday is the day that pitchers and catchers report, it seems likely that the press conference was scheduled some time ago and has little or nothing to do with Damon. That seems to suggest that either Kenny expects nothing to happen by then, or that he's given up on Damon.

Or he doesn't want to talk about it, so he's blowing reporters off adn saying he'll talk about things on Sunday. He's not gonig to say, yes we are negotiating (That would be dumb). And if we weren't negotiating, he would have said, that ship has sailed.

[ThunderBolt]

Either way KW was going to talk on Sunday. Now, we just have the time table. I don't buy this as being a damning statement about Damon.

[Chisoxfn]

I think Scot Gregor is way off base with his speculation that Damon is going to Detroit because Kenny won't talk until Sunday.

 

No. It just means Kenny doesn't want to talk to you before Damon decides, and he'll talk to you on Sunday when camp opens....you know, like he does every year.

Gregor is talking out of his f***ing ass. There is absolutely no inside information going to his speculation.

 

People, relax. The Sox have a good shot, but as always, when you are offering a bit less, you never know.

[WCSox]

Kenny was willing to go 5/$75M with Hunter, so Rios isn't a problem.

 

As over-paid as he may be, Hunter is much more accomplished and consistent than Rios, and thus is a much safer bet to produce.

 

Rios is talented as all hell and a signature KW-type acquisition. The contract will turn out to be a bargain if Rios can do what Kenny thinks he'll do, and I'm definitely trusting Kenny on this one.

 

There's no question that Rios has the talent, but I don't like all of these rumors about his work ethic. He's declined over the past three seasons and was an absolute failure at the plate in Chicago last year. Of course, I expect Rios to rebound, but to what extent? It's far from a lock that he'll return to his '06 and '07 numbers. And even if he gets back to his '08 numbers, he's still overpaid in this market. Kenny gambled on a bad contract. I (obviously) hope that it works out, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Besides, Kenny is only in this spot now because, like an idiot, he worked backwards through the offseason, addressing the smallest areas of need first and waiting until the very last minute to try to plug the biggest hole on the team. If we have $4.5M now, then why the f*** couldn't we afford Matsui at $6.5M back in December? I'd rather have Matsui anyway. Kenny f***ed up this year. Hopefully he learns from this and goes back to being awesome again.

 

Kenny had a crapload of holes to fill this off-season and spent like drunken politician last summer, so it's not that surprising that he rounded the lineup out with cheap options like Teahen and Vizquel, took a low-risk gamble on Jones, and got a good contact-hitting/base-stealing LF in Pierre at half of his (bad) contract price. I don't think that's necessarily a "backwards" way to fill a roster. I can understand why Kenny wouldn't want to pay $6.5M for Matsui, but I'm still baffled by his decision to not bring Thome back at the $1.5M or whatever it was that he got from MIN. THAT was not a smart move.

 

Overall, though, Kenny's mindset is probably this: "We spent a s***-ton of money on high-priced veteran talent over the past four years and have a one division title (barely) and a whopping one playoff victory to show for it. Last year's team was a major disappointment and was over-crowded with aging dinosaurs who didn't produce and took up way too much payroll. Why, then, would I want to over-pay for good-but-not-great-and-overpriced players on the decline, like Matsui and Damon? Especially when my team is already teetering on a $100M payroll and I committed $100M to Peavy and Rios just 6 months ago? We don't have the luxury of having a stud at every position. If we have to skimp on DH for the time being, so be it. If this team shows some spark and looks like it can compete it June, I'll consider trading for a high-impact player like Crawford or Adrian Gonzalez. Until then, I don't see a reason to over-pay for declining talent to go 79-83 again."

 

[Kyyle23]

Especially when my team is already teetering on a $100M payroll and I committed $100M to Peavy and Rios just 6 months ago? We don't have the luxury of having a stud at every position. If we have to skimp on DH for the time being, so be it. If this team shows some spark and looks like it can compete it June, I'll consider trading for a high-impact player like Crawford or Adrian Gonzalez. Until then, I don't see a reason to over-pay for declining talent to go 79-83 again."

 

 

Amen

[hogan873]

Nah, lots of the game threads get up to 1000 posts.

Oh, I know that. What I meant was that the thread starter had the 1st and 1000th post.

[bmags]

So you aren't willing to spend 4-5 million on a high OBP guy (which we lack), but are willing to waste a 100 million dollar roster with the best pitching staff on paper since 06 just so you can spend all of the pieces of our future for a rental player at the deadline.

[Kyyle23]

So you aren't willing to spend 4-5 million on a high OBP guy (which we lack), but are willing to waste a 100 million dollar roster with the best pitching staff on paper since 06 just so you can spend all of the pieces of our future for a rental player at the deadline.

 

AGon wouldnt be a rental

[hogan873]

If nothing else, the quote by KW will give this thread the opportunity to reach 2000 posts.

 

Kidding aside, I don't necessarily think that KW is saying the Tigers are going to sign him. However, it does put a damper on the mood a bit. Someone said earlier that this could be his way of saying "No comment", and I'm inclined to agree. News may pop up this afternoon that Damon has signed (although I doubt it), and KW may not speak formally until Sunday.

[bmags]

AGon wouldnt be a rental

 

And I guarantee that if A. Gonzalez is available, having johnny damon on our roster is not going to prevent us from getting him.

[Texsox]

I wonder why I just don't get too high or low before it happens. I've kind of stopped projecting lineups until position players report.

[everafan]

Their single greatest advantage now is that they have 2 of the best hitters in all of baseball.

 

The greatest 2? Mauer and who else? Please don't tell me Morneau. He's good but far from great and even farther from one of the best hitters in baseball.