BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Johnny Damon says he has interest in returning to Tigers

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Johnny Damon says he has interest in returning to Tigers

“He’s a true ________”

Johnny Damon is open to the possibility of returning to the Detroit Tigers.

“I have interest knowing that I loved playing there and they are a team built to win,” Damon told the Free Press in a text message today.

Damon, a free agent, appears to be among the leading candidates to replace designated hitter Victor Martinez, whom the Tigers expect to miss the season because of a torn ligament in his knee.

Damon signed with the Tigers at the outset of spring training in 2010. That season, working primarily at designated hitter, he hit .271 with eight homers and 51 RBIs. The Tigers didn’t try to re-sign him last off-season, instead going for a big run producer at DH. That was Martinez.

...Damon, who will be 38 next season, is 277 hits shy of 3,000 for his career. He is widely regarded as one of the best teammates and clubhouse leaders in baseball.

Repoz Posted: January 24, 2012 at 02:03 PM | 43 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: tigers

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: January 24, 2012 at 03:20 PM (#4044381)

The "I really like Detroit stuff" tactic worked once. Why not again?

2. Heinie Mantush (Krusty) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 03:57 PM (#4044428)

Yahoo's Tim Brown is reporting that the Tigers are close to a 9 year deal with Prince Fielder.

3. Dan Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:01 PM (#4044436)

If the Fielder deal is true, holy ####!

4. jmurph Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:04 PM (#4044438)

Wow. The lesson, as always: Boras is pretty good at his job.

5. Chip Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:06 PM (#4044440)

Heyman says it's 9 years, $214M.

6. Chip Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:08 PM (#4044441)

Heyman says it's 9 years, $214M.

7. Derb Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:09 PM (#4044445)

I can't access Twitter from work, but I have to imagine that's a cruel, cruel joke.

On the Damon front, I wouldn't be opposed to bringing him back.

8. Every Inge Counts Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:10 PM (#4044447)

Holy crap....I thought about Prince Fielder as a Tiger but not quite like that. We are going to be paying a #### ton of money to a DH...

9. cardinal Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:10 PM (#4044448)

I guess Miguel Cabrera can play a position besides first base, then. He'd better be able to by 2013, anyway.

10. jmurph Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:10 PM (#4044450)

Wow again. With the standard caveat that it's not always this simple, what the heck was the 2nd best offer? Man that's a lot of years and money.

11. Juan V Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:11 PM (#4044451)

How do Prince and Cabrera split time in the field then?

12. SugarBear Blanks

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:12 PM (#4044456)

Wow.

13. Bitter Mouse Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:12 PM (#4044457)

Every year we hear "Not this time, Boras has gone too far" and every year he brings home the bags of ca$h. Dude can in fact do his job and is likely worth every penny.

14. Heinie Mantush (Krusty) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:14 PM (#4044459)

Does Miggy + Prince automatically become the best one-two punch in the majors?

15. Every Inge Counts Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:14 PM (#4044460)

Hell Detroit, just go out and throw so money out Cespedes while we are at it. Make this World Series or Bust for real....

16. Derb Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:15 PM (#4044464)

I'm in complete shock. I have no idea what Detroit plans on doing with Miggy and Prince once V-Mart comes back, but that's a problem for future DD to solve...

17. Vaux, A.B.D. Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:17 PM (#4044468)

Unpossible.

If true, it means that the team will be bad from 2015-2020, at least, which sucks.

18. Swedish Chef Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:17 PM (#4044470)

Wow. The lesson, as always: Boras is pretty good at his job.

I wonder what he could have got for Pujols if he had represented him.

19. Crosseyed and Painless Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:17 PM (#4044471)

Well, glad the extra $2/game I have to pay this year isn't entirely just going into the Illitch family coffers.

No idea what they'll do next year. Could trade Cabrera or Victor I guess, since their contracts now look like chump change compared to this.

20. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:18 PM (#4044472)

I've got a friend who's a huge Tigers fan that said weeks ago that he'd literally poop his pants if this happened.

This just seems... a bit extreme on Detroit's part. We're to a point where people were starting to question whether Prince would need to settle for a one-year deal and try this free agency thing again next off-season. And then, on the day one of his few remaining suitors drops out, he nets a deal that isn't too far off from what Albert got.

21. jmurph Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:19 PM (#4044475)

Every year we hear "Not this time, Boras has gone too far" and every year he brings home the bags of ca$h. Dude can in fact do his job and is likely worth every penny.

Well, to be fair, he may have lost Ryan Madson several million dollars this offseason, too.

22. The Gurus DO NOT BourbonSamurai Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:20 PM (#4044477)

Wow, Fielder gets more than Pujols? That is amazing.

23. Crosseyed and Painless Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:21 PM (#4044478)

This just seems... a bit extreme on Detroit's part. We're to a point where people were starting to question whether Prince would need to settle for a one-year deal and try this free agency thing again next off-season. And then, on the day one of his few remaining suitors drops out, he nets a deal that isn't too far off from what Albert got.

Boras + Dombrowski = BFF. I'd say it's a one-sided friendship with Boras always getting to see whatever movies he wants to see, but the Tigers stunk before Dombrowski got here so I'm willing to deal with it, especially since it's not my money.

24. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:21 PM (#4044479)

Onion headline: "Prince Fielder Catching On To Fact That Teams Take Free Agents Out To Dinner A Lot"

25. birdlives is one crazy ninja Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:24 PM (#4044486)

$23M to DH? Or does Miggy move to 3B?

26. Every Inge Counts Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:25 PM (#4044487)

Can Detroit hide Miggy in LF....

27. Kyle S at work Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:25 PM (#4044489)

miggy contract is done in 2015, have to figure they won't re-sign him now. wow indeed!

28. Derb Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:26 PM (#4044492)

Can Detroit hide Miggy in LF....

Then what do you do with Delmon Young? Trade him? Or trade Boesch? If they are thinking of putting Miggy in LF, I would trade Young for a single A reliever.

29. Harveys Wallbangers

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:29 PM (#4044499)

I can see the appeal to Prince as he is eager to show everyone he is better than his dad. Upstaging his dad in the place of his dad's greatest seasons would likely be personally satisfying.

30. birdlives is one crazy ninja Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:31 PM (#4044512)

Dave Dombrowksi on Jan. 19th.

"Of course we'd consider Prince Fielder," Detroit Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowksi said Thursday afternoon at a stop on the team's Winter Caravan.

"But realistically, it's probably not a good fit," he said.

Dombrowski said he didn't think Scott Boras, Fielder's agent, would agree to a one-year deal, and that's a problem for the Tigers.

"We anticipate Victor Martinez coming back in 2013 and playing at the level he was at last season," he said.
Later, asked if his statement should put the Prince Fielder speculation to rest, Dombrowski said he wasn't going to address any specific player.

"I would just say that the fit is really not there at this point."

31. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:32 PM (#4044514)

This could be among the worst FA signings ever.

WTf didn't they just go after Pujols?

32. Derb Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:33 PM (#4044518)

@30, Apparently a lot can change in 5 days.

Maybe Prince has agreed to DH full-time. Maybe Miggy agreed to move to third or left. I'm real curious to see how this all shakes out once it becomes official.

33. birdlives is one crazy ninja Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:36 PM (#4044535)

@30, Apparently a lot can change in 5 days.

Sure, the "fit" changed.

Maybe Prince has agreed to DH full-time.

Heyman is reporting that Prince will play 1B and Miggy will move.

34. birdlives is one crazy ninja Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:37 PM (#4044539)

This could be among the worst FA signings ever.

Worse than Howard?

35. Crosseyed and Painless Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:39 PM (#4044549)

10% of me is worried about the long-term financial ramifications for the club.

90% of me says "Screw it, win the division next couple of years and deal with the fallout later."

Of course, not my cash.

36. Vaux, A.B.D. Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:39 PM (#4044550)

WTf didn't they just go after Pujols?

That is the question of the hour.

Worse than Howard?

Howard's was an extension, not a free-agent contract.

This is a crazy, reactionary move. I have to admit, though, that the little kid in me who has the Tigers' 1992 yearbook with the photograph in it of Prince taking batting practice in Tiger Stadium is really excited.

The other thing is that Fielder isn't really that much better than Martinez. It's not that big of an upgrade to the offense. If Fielder has a year like some of the ones he's had, it's not an upgrade at all, or even a downgrade.

37. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:43 PM (#4044557)

WTf didn't they just go after Pujols?

Good point. Prince is no slouch, but Pujols is a guy capable of carrying a team of scrubs a long way. And the age thing doesn't really play, since I think it'll be a miracle if Prince isn't a sunk cost seven or eight years from now.

38. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:46 PM (#4044568)

The other thing is that Fielder isn't really that much better than Martinez. It's not that big of an upgrade to the offense. If Fielder has a year like some of the ones he's had, it's not an upgrade at all, or even a downgrade.

Don't tell Detroit fans that. They're already talking about printing out those World Series tickets in response to this signing.

39. Randy Jones

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 04:53 PM (#4044592)

The other thing is that Fielder isn't really that much better than Martinez. It's not that big of an upgrade to the offense. If Fielder has a year like some of the ones he's had, it's not an upgrade at all, or even a downgrade.

Don't tell Detroit fans that. They're already talking about printing out those World Series tickets in response to this signing.

Well, Prince is pretty much a lock to be a tremendous upgrade over Martinez for 2012...

40. birdlives is one crazy ninja Posted: January 24, 2012 at 05:02 PM (#4044614)

The other thing is that Fielder isn't really that much better than Martinez. It's not that big of an upgrade to the offense. If Fielder has a year like some of the ones he's had, it's not an upgrade at all, or even a downgrade.

If Heyman is correct and that Prince will play 1B. And Jon Morosi is correct that Miggy prepping for 3B. Isn't the proper valuation of the signing is what is difference between Prince over Miggy at 1B, Miggy over whoever Detroit had at 3B last year, and the difference between whoever the Tigers sign for DH over V-Mart? If so, this doesn't sound like a huge improvement.

41. cardsfanboy

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 05:10 PM (#4044631)

Does Miggy + Prince automatically become the best one-two punch in the majors?

Thanks to the Angels/Cardinals/Pujols, that is probably the case. Although Braun/Fielder was probably as good or better than Pujols/(Holliday/Fielder)

42. alilisd Posted: January 24, 2012 at 05:10 PM (#4044632)

Isn't the proper valuation of the signing is what is difference between Prince over Miggy at 1B, Miggy over whoever Detroit had at 3B last year, and the difference between whoever the Tigers sign for DH over V-Mart? If so, this doesn't sound like a huge improvement.

Looks like Brandon Inge and Wilson Betemit were the 3B last year; if so, I'd say Cabrera is a huge upgrade, even given his defensive shortcomings.

43. Derb Posted: January 24, 2012 at 09:35 PM (#4045025)

Does this mean that Damon to Detroit is dead? I would like to see him in Detroit more now than I would have yesterday, as odd as that sounds...

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Johnny Damon says he has interest in returning to Tigers

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

Bookmarks

Hot Topics