A Look At Johnny Damon’s Free Agency

January 28, 2010 on 9:02 am | In Memorabilia, Baseball |

Even in the midst of a national recession, it’s possible nobody has cost themselves more in the past three months than Johnny Damon. Damon, who was both a fan favorite and must-have sports autograph for Red Sox merchandise collectors in Boston, left the Bay State for the rival team in the Bronx back in 2005. After three seasons marred with injuries and questions about his durability, Damon delivered a career year in 2009 for the eventual world champion Yankees, hitting .282 with 24 home runs. He earned a career-high $13 million and had high hopes for the 2010 offseason.

How quickly times can change.

Even after having a great year patrolling left field for the Bronx Bombers, the Yankees reportedly offered Damon a two-year deal worth just over $14 million in mid-December. He, through his agent Scott Boras, rejected the deal in hopes of both more money and a guaranteed third year, either by holding out with the Yankees or bringing in more teams. Boras likely pointed the need for an outfield bat like Damon’s in San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Queens and even (gulp) Boston. The 36-year old, as evidenced by any glance on the back of his baseball cards, has no problem relocating every few winters.

With Kansas City, Oakland, Boston and now seemingly New York in his rear-view window, the question arises: What’s next for Johnny Damon?

After spurning the Yankees’ initial offer, Damon and Boras went on to watch the Mets fill their outfield shortcomings with Jason Bay and Gary Matthews Jr., the Giants spend their remaining loot on re-signing Bengie Molina, the Red Sox signing Mike Cameron and arguably the saltiest slap in the face: the Oakland Athletics spending $10 million to bring in Ben Sheets and his delicate pitching elbow.

Still, there remained a possibly for Damon to return to the Bronx and police left field.

Until yesterday.

The Yankees made it abundantly clear they were moving on without Damon yesterday, signing veteran outfielder Randy Winn to a one-year, $2 million deal. With Spring Training already on the horizon, the odds of Johnny Damon signing for anywhere north of $2 million seems obscenely unlikely.