Damon likes the Cubs

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Link

 

Good to hear, but his contract demands(dollars and years both) worry me.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'll like him back if he wants to sign for 2-3 years.

[Wheelimus]

Well, i'd have no problem taking him off their hands now if the price was cheap, haha, hmm, Glendon Rusch for Johnny Damon :D

[Jazz]

of course he likes the cubs, he also likes any other team in the market for a CF next year who might be willing to give him 5 yrs at 50-60 mil O.o

[katway]

of course he likes the cubs, he also likes any other team in the market for a CF next year who might be willing to give him 5 yrs at 50-60 mil O.o

 

Exactly. :wink:

[rocket]

if there is a god damon will sign with us for 2 years 20 million.

[nolanwood]

I'd pick up Damon in a hearbeat -

 

I'd much rather have him than Pierre, Dunn, etc.....

 

Give him 2 years, maybe 3 tops.....and then go from there. And I would not be the least shy of giving him big $ either - he earns it. And his defensive skills are ridiculously stellar.

[Brian]

I also heard that Carlos Beltran likes the Cubs!!!!!!!111111111

 

oops that was last season :oops:

[RedSoxNation]

Damon wants a 5 year deal and one important thing to remember is his agent is The Devil :twisted: (Scott Boras)

 

From what I have read in Boston is he is looking at a 5 year 10-12Mper year deal. The Red Sox offered him a 3 year 26M in spring training. He has said he would take a 4 year deal to stay in Boston but any other team would have to give him 5 years. :roll:

 

 

Also, don't take what Damon says as the truth as he tends to say things, that contradict himself later on.

 

Today he says he would consider playing for the Cubs, last month he said he wanted to stay on the east coast and would not consider any other team except east coast teams.

[Chocolate Milk]

I think a better title here would be "Damon likes money."

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'd pick up Damon in a hearbeat -

 

I'd much rather have him than Pierre, Dunn, etc.....

 

Give him 2 years, maybe 3 tops.....and then go from there. And I would not be the least shy of giving him big $ either - he earns it. And his defensive skills are ridiculously stellar.

 

His arm definitely isn't.

[nolanwood]

I'd pick up Damon in a hearbeat -

 

I'd much rather have him than Pierre, Dunn, etc.....

 

Give him 2 years, maybe 3 tops.....and then go from there. And I would not be the least shy of giving him big $ either - he earns it. And his defensive skills are ridiculously stellar.

 

His arm definitely isn't.

 

His arm is as good as Pierre or Hairston. And his balls out into the wall defense strongly makeup for his lack of arm power.

 

You can't have everything!! Unless of course, you're Lee :)

[CubfaninCA]

I want an leadoff man who has an obp of .450.

 

Seriously, with Boston trying to resign him and the Yankees and LA in the market for CF, the Trib will probably back off. I'd be happy w/ Pierre and signing Giles. Hendry just needs to put some pieces around Lee and ARam. Also, aren't Giles and Pierre pretty durable?? That's a rarity w/ this team.

[JC]

I'd pick up Damon in a hearbeat -

 

I'd much rather have him than Pierre, Dunn, etc.....

 

Give him 2 years, maybe 3 tops.....and then go from there. And I would not be the least shy of giving him big $ either - he earns it. And his defensive skills are ridiculously stellar.

 

His arm definitely isn't.

 

His arm is as good as Pierre or Hairston. And his balls out into the wall defense strongly makeup for his lack of arm power.

 

You can't have everything!! Unless of course, you're Lee :)

 

His arm isn't nearly as good as Hairston's, and that isn't to say Hairston even has an average arm.

 

Regardless, Pie will be in Wrigley soon. I suspect they are targeting next year now, unless Corey comes around. Giving big money to a "speed" guy on the wrong side of 30 or 4-5 years without any semblence of an arm when the only close OFers in the system worth a darn play the same position would be silly.

[nolanwood]

I'd pick up Damon in a hearbeat -

 

I'd much rather have him than Pierre, Dunn, etc.....

 

Give him 2 years, maybe 3 tops.....and then go from there. And I would not be the least shy of giving him big $ either - he earns it. And his defensive skills are ridiculously stellar.

 

His arm definitely isn't.

 

His arm is as good as Pierre or Hairston. And his balls out into the wall defense strongly makeup for his lack of arm power.

 

You can't have everything!! Unless of course, you're Lee :)

 

His arm isn't nearly as good as Hairston's, and that isn't to say Hairston even has an average arm.

 

Regardless, Pie will be in Wrigley soon. I suspect they are targeting next year now, unless Corey comes around. Giving big money to a "speed" guy on the wrong side of 30 or 4-5 years without any semblence of an arm when the only close OFers in the system worth a darn play the same position would be silly.

 

 

Then, please tell me you're solution to our struggling outfield, if I may inquire? Also, would be nice to incorporate a leadoff batter as well. I'm all for Walker taking the leadoff spot if need be, but who hits 2nd? Bringing Pie up too soon sounds like a major risk to me - havent we learned from that nonsense already?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

FWIW, Damon isn't that great away from Fenway. Definitely not 3-4 years, 8-10 million per good.

[HoopsCubs]

Link

 

Good to hear, but his contract demands(dollars and years both) worry me.

 

100% Unequivocal Unadulterated Posturing.

 

I don't blame him, mind you - it's his walk year and all, and he should say anything to raise the stakes especially when he's in a large media market that has a team with high payroll.

 

Hey, the Red Sox are playing in Anaheim in 3 weeks. Any doubt we'll get to hear about how great the Dodger fans are, and how thrilling it would be to play in Chavez Ravine and what an honor it would be to wear Dodger Blue? Another team with a lot of money to spend and an offense that could use some spark.

[UK1679666180]

Then, please tell me you're solution to our struggling outfield, if I may inquire? Also, would be nice to incorporate a leadoff batter as well. I'm all for Walker taking the leadoff spot if need be, but who hits 2nd? Bringing Pie up too soon sounds like a major risk to me - havent we learned from that nonsense already?

 

Like you said Walker could handle leadoff without any difficulties unless someone believes speed is a requirement to hit leadoff, I sure don't.

 

The Cubs will have holes in their OF (possibly all 3) and SS. There's plenty of opportunity to not overspend for Damon's services and still get a 1/2 type of hitter. I agree w/JC that spending 4 years at 10 mil per is spending too much for one player under the Cubs' budget as well as every other team except the Red Sox or Yankees.

Edited July 22, 2005 by UK

[RedSoxNation]

FWIW, Damon isn't that great away from Fenway. Definitely not 3-4 years, 8-10 million per good.

 

Sure, his number at home are better than his road numbers but his road numbers are pretty damn good.

 

Johnny Damon

Home

AB 170

H 63

ADV .371

OBP .419

HR 2

RBI 20

BB 15

SB 5

2B 15

3B 2

 

Away

AB 213

H 67

ADV .315

OBP .351

HR 3

RBI 25

BB 13

SB 5

2B 12

3B 3

[mjued926]

Then, please tell me you're solution to our struggling outfield, if I may inquire? Also, would be nice to incorporate a leadoff batter as well. I'm all for Walker taking the leadoff spot if need be, but who hits 2nd? Bringing Pie up too soon sounds like a major risk to me - havent we learned from that nonsense already?

 

Like you said Walker could handle leadoff without any difficulties unless someone believes speed is a requirement to hit leadoff, I sure don't.

 

The Cubs have will have holes in their OF (possibly all 3) and SS. There's plenty of opportunity to not overspend for Damon's services and still get a 1/2 type of hitter. I agree w/JC that spending 4 years at 10 mil per is spending too much for one player under the Cubs' budget as well as every other team except the Red Sox or Yankees.

 

The Cubs are going to have money to spend this offseason and lots of it. Why not sign him to a 4 year deal, the guy is producing better than he has ever done the last 2 years. He may not steal bases like he used to, but Baker's teams don't steal bases anyway. And if in a few years his defense is a liability in CF we always have PIe to move into the spot and shift Damon over to LF or RF.

[UK1679666180]

The Cubs are going to have money to spend this offseason and lots of it. Why not sign him to a 4 year deal, the guy is producing better than he has ever done the last 2 years. He may not steal bases like he used to, but Baker's teams don't steal bases anyway. And if in a few years his defense is a liability in CF we always have PIe to move into the spot and shift Damon over to LF or RF.

 

The reason you don't sign him is that he isn't likely going to be worth his next contract, regardless of how much money the Cubs have, you don't overpay for players unless you're Boston or the Yankees.

 

Even though I'm not very supportive of going after Giles based on his age, I'd rather see the Cubs go after him under assumption that it'll require less years and money per than Damon, b/c I believe Giles will be more productive under a shorter timeframe and cheaper. Whomever signs Damon will likely overspend for him, even by free agency standards.

[JC]

Then, please tell me you're solution to our struggling outfield, if I may inquire? Also, would be nice to incorporate a leadoff batter as well. I'm all for Walker taking the leadoff spot if need be, but who hits 2nd? Bringing Pie up too soon sounds like a major risk to me - havent we learned from that nonsense already?

 

Without question, the corner outfield will be a difficult question to address next year. Without trying to rehash an old argument, I blame the organization for not being more forward thinking when other options were available. But, that is just crying over spilt milk.

 

The think not to do is compound the problem by needlessly spending in an area that has a greater likelihood of being filled from within. Though many people have written him off, Patterson is still a CF option. Then, there is presence of Pie who certainly has more people than just those within the organization talking.

 

IMO, you can't have Damon in center and Pie at a corner for several reasons, one of which would be a striking lack of OF power. I think Pie will develop into 15-20 homer power, but not for a while. He will take his lumps early on, likely finding his stroke and utilizing his speed at the outset of his ML career.

 

So, where does that put the outfield for 2006? Heck if I know. Some people here clamor for Brian Giles. His age seems detrimental to me. Hendry should find a way to pry a Cincy OFer sometime during the off season, but there is little question he needs to look into the trade market. The FA class stinks, and a forward looking organization would have recognized that and resigned themselves to trading some young pitching for some young hitting.

 

Thus, Damon doesn't solve anything. He merely clogs perhaps the only OF spot that is replaceable by the Cubs, at a premium penny to boot. He is a nice player, one I suspect will re-sign with the BoSox. But, he simply doesn't have a reasonable place with the Cubs.

[JC]

The Cubs are going to have money to spend this offseason and lots of it. Why not sign him to a 4 year deal, the guy is producing better than he has ever done the last 2 years. He may not steal bases like he used to, but Baker's teams don't steal bases anyway. And if in a few years his defense is a liability in CF we always have PIe to move into the spot and shift Damon over to LF or RF.

 

I'm not sure the Cubs are going to have lots of money to spend. I think Wood, Lee and ARam all have escalating contracts. Z will get his raise. In the meantime, we still have OF and SS questions, along with the bullpen to worry about. The Trib has to be frustrated with the return on this year's investment, making a return to $100M payroll far from a foregone conclusion.

 

As far as shifting Damon to LF or RF because of his decreased defense, that likely coincides with a decrease in speed. One could then argue that such a decrease in speed would affect him adversely from the offensive side, too, making him that much less desireable, while still forking over $10M/year.

 

Then, you have to deal with the fact that you have nearly zero power coming from a traditional power position. That would suck.

 

Finally, just because he is producing better now than he has the previous two years doesn't make it persuasive to sign him. See also, Adrian Beltre.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

Damon goes where Michelle Damon wants him to go. She's demands even more attention than Rockstar Johnny (she has her own show on NESN). I felt like he would end up with the Mets after this season, but that was before the Beltran acquisition.

 

I think he will stay with Boston.

[USSoccer]

The Cubs are going to have money to spend this offseason and lots of it. Why not sign him to a 4 year deal, the guy is producing better than he has ever done the last 2 years. He may not steal bases like he used to, but Baker's teams don't steal bases anyway. And if in a few years his defense is a liability in CF we always have PIe to move into the spot and shift Damon over to LF or RF.

 

I'm not sure the Cubs are going to have lots of money to spend. I think Wood, Lee and ARam all have escalating contracts. Z will get his raise. In the meantime, we still have OF and SS questions, along with the bullpen to worry about. The Trib has to be frustrated with the return on this year's investment, making a return to $100M payroll far from a foregone conclusion.

 

As far as shifting Damon to LF or RF because of his decreased defense, that likely coincides with a decrease in speed. One could then argue that such a decrease in speed would affect him adversely from the offensive side, too, making him that much less desireable, while still forking over $10M/year.

 

Then, you have to deal with the fact that you have nearly zero power coming from a traditional power position. That would suck.

 

Finally, just because he is producing better now than he has the previous two years doesn't make it persuasive to sign him. See also, Adrian Beltre.

 

Given that the FA class for this offseason is bloody terrible, I would not be averse to resigning Burnitz at a reasonable price to fill RF, provided we aren't able to aquire a better option via trade.

 

Damon isn't the answer, as JC pointed out accurately. Also, as he pointed out, were in this bind mostly because CPatt hasn't lived up to the expectations the club had, and because the club didn't figure on the drastic decline of Sosa.

 

It will be interesting to see if Murton shows enough the rest of the year to be a viable option for LF in 2006, everyday.