Poor Johnny Damon

Poor Johnny Damon made the most of his talent and parlayed that into a $111 million career. But when asked about PEDs recently mostly whined about his career being over. Also reported in the same post was that Damon said that the 2009 title with the Yankees might now be tainted (in response to the Alex Rodriguez news). Well, give back your ring and World Series share, Johnny, and perhaps the 2004 ring and share too since that team featured Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, both of whom were busted too.

Damon was a lot of fun to watch during his career and provided a lot of good memories. Too bad he cannot be content being able to afford those chickens gold-plated roosts and retire with a little bit of grace.

Why I Can't Help Loving Manny Ramirez

I've tried. I really have. I've tried to hate Manny Ramirez. I've tried to disavow my feelings for him. But I just can't. Every time I've tried to put him away as a joke, a freak, a quitter, a child or a cheater, he keeps popping back up onto my mouth as a smile. The funny thing is, the smile on my lips is the same smile that you so often see on Manny. It's like we are all in on the same big joke. And maybe we are. Manny Ramirez is like our Peter Pan. He probably leads us places we ought not to go, but we are always glad we made the trip.

Last year was a difficult year to love Manny because Manny wasn't Manny. He was quiet and so was his bat. There was no drive in his swings. There were no results. There was no drama. There were whispers that he was done. His bat was slow. He probably quit again on the Dodgers just like he had with the Red Sox. He was supposed to save the White Sox who had paid for letting Jim Thome go. But he was just a singles hitter for the White Sox. He failed in big situations. The White Sox sunk out of the race. So this is the end of Manny Ramirez?

Then the off season was upon us and everybody was signing except for Manny and Vlad. Vlad probably wants two years and too much money. That's probably kept him off the merry-go-round. But Manny wasn't signed because there was doubt he had anything left AND because he's always had...umm...issues. But there were other stories. There was one that he was hurt much of last year and an off season rehab has him in great shape. He showed up in Tampa minus 12 pounds and looking great. Could Manny have something left to offer? Can the Manny circus ride into town again with the elephants trumpeting and the tall men on stilts juggling their way through the town commons? Just the possibility is enough to wet the whistle of the man crush again.

And how fitting is it that he signed in tandem with Johnny Damon in Tampa? The two are so incredibly linked to the Red Sox of 2004...the Red Sox that finally beat the curse and allowed old men in Boston to die happy. Anyone who thinks that 2004 team would have won without Manny or without Johnny is crazy. With Manny, it was all about fear. The pitchers were just plain scared to face him. He remains one of the smartest hitters on earth. You don't think the pitchers know that? There is no way David Ortiz becomes Big Papi without Ramirez. And Damon just finds a way to beat you. He did it with the Red Sox in 2004 and the Yankees in 2009. And now they are together again. And what a show they put on in the press conference yesterday! Yes, the circus has arrived in Tampa.

And you know what? This could actually be a world class triumph of front office genius on the part of the Bay Rays. Both Manny and Johnny could have that one last good year to cap their careers. With Manny only DHing and Damon having some versitility, the Bay Rays could get lots of production from both players, more production by far than what the Bay Rays are paying for the two champions. And that will be a switch with Manny.

Why a switch? Well, one of the biggest secrets in baseball is that Manny has only twice out performed his contract since 2001. Sure, he had some big years, but with his defense (or lack therein), he made lots of money and he only twice earned it. Once was nearly on the nose (2002) and the other was 2008 when he blew his salary away. Every other year, he's performed under his salary level. It is an ironic switch that he is now probably vastly underpaid for what the Rays will get out of him. Manny chose the Bay Rays despite his saying that others were offering more (kind of doubting that). So now one of the greatest right-handed hitters of this generation is playing for less than Edgar Renteria and Jeff Francoeur. Maybe that is a bit of poetic justice. At least some will view it that way.

But what we love about Manny is the unexpected. He is the most enigmatic player of our times. He is just as apt to smile child-like as he is to turn churlish. We all think he's just one big kid playing in his own sandbox. His mere presence in the majors gives more entertainment value than just about anyone else. And perhaps I am just naive, but I don't believe that his hitting over the years has been PED aided. He's just an amazing talent, an amazing talent that has always beaten to a different drummer.

I've tried. I really have. But I just can't. I just love the guy. I hope he hits 40 homers and drives in 100 runs. I can't help myself.

Market Thinning for Manny, Vlad and Damon

Now that Jim Thome has signed with the Twins, the market is getting extremely tight for guys like Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon and Russell Branyon. Unless the Rangers trade Michael Young (which seems unlikely), their DH position is taken. That leaves us with Tampa, perhaps Toronto and perhaps the Angels. How will this all shake out?

The Angels won't go back to Vlad. That would be an admission that they shouldn't have given up on him in the first place. They won't do that. They are already a somewhat old team and Vlad slows them down even more. Johnny Damon seems to make the most sense as he can switch off with Bobby Abreu at DH and left field and both stay fresh. They are both terrible left fielders anyway, so either one won't matter.

It seems ungainly for Manny to go to Toronto. Not that Toronto isn't a great place. It's just so far north for Manny. The Fan can see the Blue Jays adding someone like Branyon who will be cheaper. The Fan had to laugh at "TaoofStieb" one of Toronto's best bloggers. His tweet was a take off of how many players have been talked about as possibly going to Toronto. Tao has a new "meme" with such a statement where you simply fill in the blanks. Hilarious.

Manny's best fit seems to be the Bay Rays. Florida seems to be the only glamor state he hasn't played in yet. The team seems loose enough to take him on and they have a very smart manager there that can make the best use of him. If the Bay Rays don't sign Manny, they could opt for Vlad as he still has pop.

Either way, it seems that somebody isn't going to get signed. Teams have shown a hesitancy to go with lumbering DHs these days and are looking for the position to be more flexible. Vlad and Manny are pretty much one dimensional these days. Branyon can play first reasonably well, but who needs a first baseman? Branyon could head back to Seattle for Round Three. Though it would be cool, just for interest sake to see Branyon play for yet a different team so he can keep his streak of hitting homers for every team he's played for, no matter how short that has happened to be.

The Yankees need a right handed bat, but Manny seems like a stretch. They will probably opt for someone like Andruw Jones. But the market is tight and if some of these guys want to play in 2011, they better start scrambling.

Glut of First Base/DH Free Agents

It's probably not a good year to be a free agent this year if you are a first baseman or DH. The pond is full of those types of ducks. The list? Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena, Johnny Damon, Lance Berkman, Manny Ramirez, Lyle Overbay, Aubrey Huff, Jorge Cantu, Russell Branyon, Hideki Matsui, Marcus Thames, Troy Glaus, Adam LaRoche, Derrek Lee, Ty Wigginton and Adam Dunn. Obviously, Damon and Ramirez are more known as outfielders, but Damon could probably survive in left field for a couple of dozen games. Manny could not.

That's seventeen players who need to find a job among thirty teams. It seems pretty reasonable that Huff will re-sign with the Giants, so the Fan will leave him out of this conversation. Cantu, Glaus and Thames will be considered role players. The Fan is tempted to put LaRoche in that category, but won't for now. So that brings us down to thirteen to consider as starter types in this position. As the Fan mentioned yesterday, all of the value of these players has to be generated by their bats. Few analysts give first baseman any brownie (or WAR) points for playing first and certainly there are none for playing DH.

Saying all of that, let's take a look at each of the remaining thirteen and rate and rank them and perhaps even make a suggestion or two about which teams they may end up with:

1. Johnny Damon: Surprised? Yeah. Understood. But at 37, Damon still provides flexibility. He can play left, first or DH. Damon can still steal a base for you (22 of 24 the last two years) and hit an occasional dinger. He would be worth a one year deal at $12 to $14. Angels? Tigers?

2. Lance Berkman: Berkman really doesn't want to DH. But he's been a first baseman for a long time and won't hurt you too badly there. Teams shouldn't give up on batting him right handed. The Fan still thinks he has a good year in him. One year deal at $12 to $14 with options.

3. Lyle Overbay: This ranking is surprising the writer as much as you probably. But Overbay is perhaps the best fielder of the bunch at first, has some pop and will give you 70 or more walks a year. Useless against lefty pitchers though. Tampa Bay?

4. Paul Konerko: Last year feels more like an outlier than anything else. It would seem improbable for Konerko to match it. But his problem is that he will want to command the dollars such a year would bring. But at 35, he still may have a couple of valuable seasons left in him. He really isn't much of a first baseman any more but he can play there if that's what you need. He would be an asset for Tampa Bay, but it's doubtful they will spend that kind of money he will want.

5. Derrek Lee: Lee is the same age as Konerko but didn't have the kind of year Konerko did. He looks much older. It wouldn't seem wise to move Lee to the AL, but after watching that World Series, perhaps we have to stop thinking of the AL as the dominant league, eh?

6. Adam Dunn: Dunn is one of the youngest of the bunch, but he plays old. He's slower than a mule and he wasn't disastrous at first base, but he isn't great either. It's also troubling that his walks, long one of his staples, were way down this past year. But he still hit his 38 homers, no? He is another bat that could help the Bay Rays. He would be a perfect fit for them.

7. Carlos Pena: Pena has had two awful seasons in a row. But it really seems like if he had a chance to work with a really good batting coach, he could come back in a big way. His power is still there. He's still a tremendous fielding first baseman. And, best of all, he could be a major bargain for somebody. The Fan doesn't think Tampa Bay should re-sign him as he is in too much of a rut there.

8. Jim Thome: The Twins certainly got their money's worth with Thome last year. He can still hit the ball a mile and can still get his fair share of walks. But golly, the guy has to slow down some time. Shown a willingness to play for peanuts.

9. Adam LaRoche: He may be rated too far down this list. Had a serviceable year last year with 25 homers with 100 ribbies. But this Fan just can't get past the strikeouts. 172 last year is just intolerable. And his power may have been inflated by playing in Arizona for half his games.

10. Ty Wiggintin: Wigginton, by all accounts, is a good egg and a great teammate. His willingness to keep trying hard despite his team's struggles early last year say a lot about the type of player he is. But he's simply a marginal talent who, if put in the right place, could have an Aubrey Huff type season.

11. Vladmir Guerrero: Vlad had a great half of a season last year, but really looked ancient in the second half and in the post season. He can only DH which limits his options. He just might have another league average season in him before he heads to the Hall of Fame. It's too bad that the carpet in Montreal ruined so many legs of so many great players.

12. Hideki Matsui: Matsui had a marginal season for the Angels. This Fan feels he is done as a productive major league hitter. He is a proud man who has done great things in his career. Can you see him being a marginal player somewhere for peanuts? This Fan can't.

12. Russell Branyon: Good golly, can he play for another team? He probably will. His power will always get him a cheap look with someone.

13. Manny Ramirez: Wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Sorry. He can ride off into the Barry Bonds sunset.

The first six on this list may get close to what they want for money. But the rest will be scrambling for jobs and it wouldn't be a surprise if a third of this list wasn't signed by the opening of Spring Training. Life goes on.

Damon Won't Go to Boston

Despite having David Ortiz and Jason Varitek sing their best rendition of, "Please Come to Boston," Damon decided to stay with the Tigers. The Red Sox claimed Damon on waivers and Damon had a contractual option to decline such a move. The Tigers were no doubt trying to dump a little money now that they are out of the race, but they are the ones who wrote the contract that allowed Damon to make this decision. More power to him. In the end, Damon decided to stay where he was happy.

It probably didn't help the Red Sox' cause that they are a real long shot to make the playoffs at this point. You can't count them out of course because there is a month of baseball left including a lot of head to head games with the Yankees and the Bay Rays. Perhaps Damon also knew that you can never really go home again. What occurred during 2004 was a once in a lifetime thing with the Red Sox. It was a special time and place and you are never going to be able to replace that experience by going back and trying to recreate it.

There are many who state that Damon is a couple more seasons away from gaining enough counting stats to be Hall of Fame material. While he may get those counting stats, it gets more improbable every year as the teams he is playing for have been playing him less and less. Boston for example, already had a DH in David Ortiz, so Damon couldn't take that option. It even seems a little less probable that Damon would have fared much better in left field that what the Red Sox are already throwing out there every night. Damon is probably more eligible for the Hall of Very Good than the Hall of Fame. He's been a tremendous player and has helped every team he has played for. But was he ever close to being the best player in his league? No. Was he ever considered close to the best at his position? No. He's been great, but not great enough.

His most likely comparison is Paul Molitor. Both had speed. Both were liabilities in the field. But Molitor was the much better player and was among the league leaders many times in offensive categories. Damon just isn't that kind of player. But, at the same time, you can perfectly understand the Red Sox wanting him. He is, by all accounts, a great teammate. He has a knack for delivering at the key moments when a team really needs such a moment. He provided that for the Yankees in the post season last year. He provided that for the Red Sox in 2004. He's a pro and he knows what to do. He would have helped the Red Sox.

But the reward possibilities just weren't enough for Damon to consider uprooting himself and his family in the middle of the season. He calls Miguel Cabrera the best hitter he's ever seen (Damon played with Manny in his prime you'll remember). He wants to watch Cabrera for a full season. He's having fun in Detroit. He wants to stay there. The Tigers gave him that right. Let's hope it all works out for all of them.

Working the Math on the Granderson Deal

About 39% of the season has been completed and it seemed time to take a look at where we stand on the big trade that sent Granderson to the Yankees for Austin Jackson with Ian Kennedy going to the Diamondbacks as part of the three part deal. The Fan wants to preface this conversation with two things. First, the Fan is going to attempt to use math to figure this out. Thirty years ago, that would have been a good idea. But at the Fan's age, the math has to be suspected. Secondly, the Fan isn't going to discuss the Arizona side of the deal but will only consider two things, how did this deal affect the Yankees and the Tigers. Oh, one other thing. The Fan is also going to consider Damon signing with the Tigers opening a spot for Gardner as a trade: Gardner for Damon. Seems to make sense anyway.

So here's how it looks to date:

The Yankees' side:

Curtis Granderson will make 5.5 million this year. His current WAR gives him a current value this season of 3.9 million. With 61% of the season to go, his projected value for the season would be 10.02 million. But Granderson missed a big chunk of time. So you have to figure that in to the year's projection. If Granderson had played without missing any time, his current value would be 6.3 million. So, to give him an accurate year projection, he would be worth 13.79 million (16.19-(6.3-3.9)). Got that?

Brett Gardner will make .425 million this year and has a current value of 6.4 million giving him a year's projection of 16.45 million. The Fan doesn't see any reason why his current performance will diminish over the season. In fact, if he loses any at the plate, he'll gain it in the field where he should improve as the season goes along.

Chan Ho Park. Chan Ho Park? Yeah, the Fan is submitting that Park is Phil Coke's replacement. Yeah, he isn't a lefty, but he covers pretty much the same role that Coke did. Park is making 1.2 million this year and his current value comes to a negative number. Due to a poor start and some time lost, he's sitting with a value of -1.9 million. But Park has been decent of late and if he gets into his 2009 groove, he should finish around 3 million in value or about half of what he was worth last year. That wasn't exactly scientific, but it is what it is.

The Tigers' side

Austin Jackson is making the minimum this season or $400,000. His current value sits at 7.6 million which projects to a season value of 19.83 million. Many believe he will come down quite a bit at the plate as the season progresses, but though he has been in a slump of late that seems to bear out that belief, we'll keep the year's projection as is for now. This is just a first look, right? We'll update this as the year goes along.

Johnny Damon is making 8.0 million this season and so far has a value of 5.9. That should give him a yearly projection of 15.40 million. There are two comments about this. First, Damon is now pretty much a full time DH. Boesch is playing left most days. So part of Damon's current value comes from time played in left, where he has a 1.0 rating as a fielder. This tempted the Fan to devalue Damon's projection, but perhaps the Tigers will figure out that Damon is actually a better fielder (as of now) than Boesch who is scoring in the negative numbers in value. Plus, Damon really hasn't had one of his hot streaks at the plate yet. So the Fan will leave the projection as is.

Phil Coke is making .425 million this year and is sitting with a current value of 1.5 million. That gives him a yearly projection of 3.9 million. That sounds reasonable.

To recap all of this, the Yankees tab for the three players listed is 7.15 million in salary this year. Detroit's tab for the three players listed is 8.83 million. The Yankees dollar projection for the year (based on what the Fan hopes is good math) is 33.24 million or 4.64 million in value for every million spent. Detroit's projected value for the three players is 39.14 million or 4.43 million of value for every million spent.

This trade is much closer than it appears for this season. The Yankees are getting better value for the dollars spent, but the Tigers are getting the higher total value. This, of course, gets blown all to hell when Granderson's salary increases next year and Austin Jackson is still making just a few bucks over base. But for this year, at first glance, the trade is working out for both teams and buck for buck is pretty close. We will certainly revisit this from time to time.

The other wildcard here is the loss of Ian Kennedy to the Diamonbacks. Kennedy is making .435 million and is sitting at a value of 2.8 million, giving him a projection of 7.09 million for the year. If you throw him together with the Tigers' former Yankees, then the value per million spent jumps to 4.99 million and way past the value the Yankees are currently paying per million. But the Fan is pretty sure the Yankees are just as happy with Phil Hughes as their starter instead of Kennedy, right?

Notes from the Yankees - Marlins Game

Had a chance to watch the Marlins and the Yankees on the Florida Sports Network. It was nice to see where the Marlins play again. The Fan has fond memories of seeing a game there on his fortieth birthday. The Marlins will get a new ballpark, which apparently is much needed, but memories will remain rooted in their current yard.


The first note from the game is that Josh Johnson is really, really good. He seems to be a ground ball pitcher that really throws hard. His fastball was consistently around 96 and his final pitch was a 97 MPH beauty. Plus, he has a nasty slider that busts left handed batters inside and has them swing consistently at what is basically a ball inside. It was easy to see why Johnson is so successful. After watching the game, he might be in the top five pitchers in the National League.


The slider showed a lack of proper scouting by the Yankees. It seems that video of Johnson's starts would pick up that he gets a lot of outs on that inside pitch. If the Yankees had scouted properly, they would have had a plan to lay off that pitch and force Johnson into honest strikes.


The Marlins on the other hand, showed great scouting, particularly on how they played Derek Jeter. Jeter hit several balls up the middle that would have been hits against most teams. But the Marlins bunched him toward the middle and turned those hits into several double plays in the last two days.


It just goes to show how the Yankees field a better team, but always have inferior braintrust. It's the same reason why they cannot stay with the Red Sox who always outthink them and have since 2004. If the Yankees put as much emphasis in thinking as they do in players, they would be unstoppable.

The next thing about watching the game was a reminder of just how much Tommy Hutton annoys as an announcer. The Fan hated listening to him when he did Blue Jays games and he hasn't improved with time as he now calls the Marlins' games. It's not just that he is a "homer" for the Marlins. Most team announcers are homers. It's just that his way of reading into everything the Marlins' players do with some sort of mawkish babble grinds up the insides of anyone listening.

For example, before the Marlins' closer came out to pitch the ninth, Hutton prattled on about how if the stuggling closer could do well against the Yankees in that situation, it could turn his season around. In another example, he went on about how Bonafacio--who has truly proved that he is not a valid major league ball player--could be a powerful force if he learned to bunt and take a walk. Well, duh and shoot us. But the point is that he can't and won't and still gets thrown out on steal attempts when he does get on.

Hutton is to announcing what Sweet N. Low is to coffee.

Dan Uggla should be in the minors or in the outfield. He is not a very good second baseman. Nor is he hitting that well. Uggla has been okay in the past three years because half of his hits have been for extra bases. But his comical errors in the All Star Game were not flukes.

The Yankees blew a golden opportunity in the eighth inning with Jeter up and Gardner on second and A-Rod on first. Jeter first tried to bunt and was thrown a ball. The second pitch, the runners tried a double-steal and Jeter fouled it up by fouling it off. Gardner had already stolen second. There were no outs at the time. Jeter then tries to bunt again and does a terrible job (which is surprising really) and fouls it off. Now he has two strikes. To the Fan, the obvious move was to get Gardner to third one way or another. They should have had him running with A-Rod trailing him to second. Then, when Jeter grounded up the middle, the double-play might not have been and Gardner might have scored.

Gardner should be starting in games against right handers. The Fan has said it before, the tandem of Gardner and Cabrera against righties would be much more effective in the field and in the lineup than Cabrera and Swisher. You'd get better fielding and much more pressure on teams on the basepaths.

Johnny Damon really blew this game. How he did not catch the liner by Cantu is beyond belief. And then he had a pathetic swing in a big situation. He really cost the team in this game.