Detroit Tigers Officially Ink Johnny Damon

I would like to personally thank Detroit Tigers’ GM Dave Dombrowski. I am not a Tigers fan, so I am not thanking him for bringing Johnny Damon to Detroit.

I am thanking him for signing Damon so I don’t have to read one more rumor about the ex-Yankee signing with a team again this offseason. I honestly couldn’t take it anymore.

Everyday it was something different with Damon. He is going to sign here, there, this team is interested, blah, blah, blah. This is Johnny Damon we are taking about, not Albert Pujols.

It was driving me crazy.

So as you know by now by simply reading the first three paragraphs of this post, Damon has signed a deal with the Tigers. As first reported by Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown , Damon signed a one-year, $8 million contract with Detroit. There is no deferred money involved in the contract.

This signing caps off what has been a very odd offseason for the Tigers. First they were poor, then they found money, and now they have found even more money.

Now that all the dust has settled and all the smoke has cleared, I am starting to get the sense that the Tigers were never poor in the first place. I actually now believe Dombrowski and the Tigers organization soured on Curtis Granderson.

I believe the Tigers looked at his poor lefty-righty splits and his mediocre defense over the last couple of years and thought this was the start of a decline. I really feel now the money angle was just a front, so the Tigers could get max value for Granderson.

That is the only explanation I can think of since they were able to sign Jose Valverde and Damon after they traded Granderson.

So what does Damon do for the Tigers? First, Damon will allow Jim Leyland to move Carlos Guillen to DH. Guillen only played in 81 games last year, so maybe a move to DH will keep him healthy for 2010.

This move also takes some pressure off of the rookie Austin Jackson. Leland was planning on putting Jackson in the leadoff spot to start the season. Now with Damon on board, perhaps Leland can move Jackson down in the order to take away some of that pressure.

Of course, this move comes with its concerns as well.

Damon’s home and road splits last year are legendary. He hit 17 of his 24 home runs at home and had an OPS 120 points higher at the new Yankee Stadium than he did on the road. You know things are going well at home when they name a section in home run territory (Damon’s Deck) after you.

I expect Damon’s average and OBP to be as usual in 2010, but he will suffer a severe power outage. Look for him to hit between 10-15 home runs, not 20-25.

I also wonder how Damon’s defense (or lack there of) will play in Comerica Park. Damon was awful defensively at Yankee Stadium (-9.2 UZR) which plays like my old studio apartment in New York City. Now he will go to Comerica, where he will have a lot more ground to cover.

With Damon in left and Magglio Ordonez in right, Jackson better have his running shoes on.

Damon has a career .288 average with 207 home runs, 2,425 hits, 95 triples, 374 stolen bases, and a .355 OBP in 15 seasons with the Kansas City Royals, Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees.

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