The Deal With Johnny Damon

Rumors are beginning to heat up around the Tigers and free agent outfielder Johnny Damon.  Damon is an All-Star and is coming off a decent season with the Yankees in 2009. 

However, he’s also a disaster in the field and is 36 years old.

Many sources are reporting that Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has approved the Tigers offering Damon a 2-year deal worth a total of $14M. 

If this deal goes through, I might throw-up. 

Besides spending all that money, it would show the league that the Tigers apparently have no plan whatsoever and want to end up like the Pistons.

Damon is a decent player and I am not against the Tigers signing him.  However, at the beginning of the free agent season, the Yankees offered Damon a 2 year deal worth $14M.  He turned them down. 

The offers then dried up. 

The market was thin for an aging outfielder who hits but doesn’t field.  That made sense. 

Early this week, the Atlanta Braves offered a Damon a one year deal worth around $4M.  That made a lot of sense. 

If the Tigers were smart, they would have offered him a one year deal worth around $5M.  That would have made a lot of sense as well.

But, here we are with the Tigers, ready to throw away some financial flexibility on a veteran.  They are the only team offering that much annual money or that many years. 

Who exactly are they bidding against?! 

For now, I’ll bite my tongue until something concrete happens.