Braves make offer to Damon
by drumzalicious on Feb 10, 2010 1:15 PM EST
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PrintOther two tweets@ajcbraves Braves' interest in Damon has increased; they made
initial 1-yr offer (amount unknown) in recent days and had Chipper Jones contact him.
@ajcbraves Chipper wouldn't confirm team had him call
Damon, but said JD "Would make us a deeper team ... give us a legit leadoff hitter w/ some exp."@ajcbraves Damon and Boras haven't backed off from demand
for two-year deal; Boras says he already has at least one 2-yr offer but won't name team.
Eh so it looks like the team might be seriously considering Damon after not much interest this whole offseason. Hopefully they dont do the 2nd year or if they do make the 2nd year a club option.
What the big deal about this would be is that if Damon was here that kind of could point in the direction that the team will take the patient approach with Heyward. I mean he could still start opening day and we trade one of Melky/Diaz but I seriously doubt they would do that unless Heyward had a MONSTER spring training.
I guess that would project our lineup to be like this
Damon LF
Prado 2B
Chip 3B
Glaus 1B
McCann/McLouth
Escobar SS
McCann/McLouth
Diaz/Cabrera RF
Pitcher
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Sounds good at one year
Any thought that if we got Damon, McLouth might be expendable?
He and Freeman plus two minor league arms would make a pretty strong package for some stud first baseman like Adrian Gonzales.
by playertobenamedlate on Feb 10, 2010 1:25 PM EST reply actions
ok so.
If we are signing Damon why would we trade our Center Fielder? the whole point is to move Nate down in the lineup.
2nd . . . We have Glaus at 1B and Freeman will be ready by next year so why trade for Adrian Gonzalez?
by drumzalicious on Feb 10, 2010 1:48 PM EST up reply actions
What does Damon have to do with McLouth?
Damon certainly can’t play center at this point in his career. Signing him, would, however, make Diaz expendable. I don’t know how much we would get for Diaz, however.
Additionally, that would not be much of a package for Adrian Gonzalez...
…McLouth is getting paid more than Adrian Gonzalez, does not hit as well, and is under contract for the same amount of time. So, for starters, the Padres wouldn’t want him. Even if they did, he is so far below Gonzalez in value, a couple of minor league arms, even our best ones, wouldn’t be enough.
I don't understand...
…why things would have changed in the last few days. Barring an injury to Heyward, Diaz, McLouth, or Melky, I don’t see any need to add a sixth or seventh person who can play the outfield to this roster. I just don’t see the point in picking up Damon. He was pretty good once upon a time, but those days are long gone.
He’s posted a .305/.384/.505 – .889 OPS vs RHP in his last two seasons in 876 PAs.
The man hits RHP, so you can’t say he isn’t an upgrade over Melky or Diaz vs RHP in left.
A Damon/Diaz platoon is basically like having a .900 OPS guy in LF. Is that worth what we’re paying those two?
Q: If on-base pct is so important then why don't they put it on the scoreboard? -Failcoeur
A: Because the Braves don't want to show their fans how bad you suck.
I see that, but I just don’t believe he’ll be capable of continuing those kinds of slash stats against unfamiliar pitchers while simultaneously moving from playing 81 games at a hitter’s park to 81 games at a pitcher’s park. I know, I know, his home/road splits aren’t horrible, and I also recognize that the Diaz/Damon platoon would potentially give us pretty good production out of left field. I simply don’t believe that the difference between a Diaz/Damon platoon is millions of dollars better than a Diaz/Melky platoon.
by kidnarcolepsy on Feb 10, 2010 10:56 PM EST up reply actions
Sign Damon----Trade Melky?
Assuming Damon would get about the same that Melky is getting 3 million….Why not just sign Damon, a guy that has consistently had a 350-360 obp for the past 7 years
Do you guys really think Diaz could be consistently good? Lets get Damon.
Melky really has nothing to do with this.
Melky is the fourth OF, Damon would not replace him. If you think Diaz won’t cut it, it would make sense to sign Damon and trade Diaz. But it wouldn’t make sense to sign Damon and trade Melky because Diaz would not make a good fourth OF—-he can play left, but can’t play center and plays right very poorly.
Diaz played center some last year?
I wouldn’t mind giving up some defense to get the best bats in the game.
by Braves Biceps on Feb 10, 2010 10:02 PM EST up reply actions
Then why do you want Damon?
"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."
by justincredubil02 on Feb 10, 2010 10:47 PM EST up reply actions
Diaz played maybe a game or two in center.
And no, you don’t want to give up that much defense. If you get 20 extra runs with the bat and give up 25 with the glove, that isn’t so good.
0% chance McCann hits 7th in any lineup for the rest of his career
MATT DIAZ IS THE F**K*NG MAN.
They made me change my signature...
I wish this would go away, but it won't.
But if we actually got the guy for a year at $2MM, I don’t think I could complain. Unless of course, he performed terribly and Bobby wouldn’t bench him.
"Baseball is the only major sport that appears backwards in a mirror." ~George Carlin
by FineHamAbounds on Feb 11, 2010 12:22 AM EST reply actions
Agreed
The question is if we signed Damon at 2 mil, how much money would we save down the road by holding Heyward in the minors for 2 months without any worries. Damon could also play some first from time to time, think he did with the Yankees. I like him leading off and letting McLouth down to utilize his power hitting behind McCann and Escobar. Gives us more power lower in the lineup. He would have to play all the time though, I thinks its stupid to have a rotating leadoff hitter. That being said, I don’t think the Tigers will let him sign for that little when they need him more.
Which would be more attractive to Damon? 2 years – 5-6M or 1 year – 2M (2M Defer.)
I’m not trying to state anything, just asking for opinions. I know he wants 2 years, but would he want 2 low paying years or 1 low paying year with an opportunity to seek higher pay next season.
"Hey Fat Kid...the monster is right behind you! RUNNNN!!" -The Host
by bwellnjonesco on Feb 11, 2010 8:58 AM EST up reply actions
Why would Damon sign with ANY team that would be platooning him. If he signs with the Braves, I think (unfortunately) that he is being promised a starting position. That means that 20of these three (Melky, Matty or Hinske) are gone and Heyward will sit in Gwinett crushing AAA pitching until the September roster expansion.
There is nothing about this scenario that I like.
by I Saw Buzz Beaned on Feb 11, 2010 11:21 AM EST up reply actions
Damon has played a total of 11.1 Innings at 1B...
…in his 15 year career, without any starts at 1B. So, no, unless he has been working on it, he probably won’t play there for us. I also don’t see how he lets us keep Heyward in the minors without worry—-Damon plays left field, not right field, and the same with Diaz (yes, he tried it last year and proved he is a left fielder). It’s still Melky/Hinske in right if we keep Heyward down for a while.
I like Diaz as much as anybody. But I’m not ready to name him Mr. All Star quite yet. Isn’t everybody here a big proponent of “sample size”? Did the few games Diaz hit right handers well last year really warrant NOT getting a legitimate leadoff hitting veteran on the cheap?
That's the multi-million dollar question.
Is Damon worth $4 or $5 million or whatever it would take to sign him more than Diaz? If you think yes, then signing Damon makes sense. If not, then it doesn’t.
I've been anti-Damon
Worse signings are available. We need a lead off hitter, <$4 mil isn’t bad for a proven, “professional” lead off guy. He has a noodle arm, but so does Diaz. Though Diaz is not as much a noodle as Damon’s. Here’s the strange part…if Diaz gets traded, with Damon probably gone after 1 year, do we forget about trading Nate as his salary increases. With Diaz gone…
McLouth-lf-6.5
Schafer-cf-0.4
Heyward-rf-0.4
Cabrera-4th-~4.5
…looks pretty good for 2011. That outfield would cost about $12 mil depending on Melky’s salary, almost exactly the same as Damon@4, McLouth@4.5, Melky#3.1 and Heyward@0.4. I’d really hate to see Diaz go, but that outfield is mighty versatile.
Maybe the Tigers nab Damon and we don’t have to worry about it. We have a pretty good outfield now, and Schafer in the pipeline. But, if we sign Damon, it’s not all bad either.
Diaz probably has the strongest arm of any of our potential starting OFers.
Damon is a “proven” leadoff hitter, sure. But he didn’t hit leadoff for the Yanks last season, he hit 2. That, to me, indicates that his skills are in decline.
Also, the key to a good leadoff guy is his OBP – Damon’s OBP would rank 8th on the current roster of Atlanta Braves.
"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."
by justincredubil02 on Feb 11, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions
agree and disagree
Diaz arm ain’t much, and I consider Heyward a “potential starting OFer”. Assuming McCann, Glaus, Chipper, Escobar and Prado will not lead off, Damon’s career .355 is higher than McLouth’s career .342, Melky’s .331 and below Diaz .358. Melky as 4th OF probably doesn’t matter, but Nate as potential leadoff certainly does.
<$4 mil isn’t bad for a proven, "professional"
Funny, I remember a similar statement being said last year in regards to Garrett Anderson. Now before you jump all over me I realize Johnny Damon is no GA, I’m merely pointing out how ridiculous statements like “veteran presence” and “professional hitter” really are.
You aren’t the czar of typographic emphasis
they are the words to soothe fans who dont dig deep into stats
by drumzalicious on Feb 11, 2010 2:47 PM EST up reply actions
I don't know if it really matters about $4 million...
…as MLBTR is reporting that the Tigers may offer up to $7 million.
Professional
I wasn’t around last year, but I’ve read several posts about the “professional” hitter GA was. Couldn’t resist adding that for Damon. I don’t have the sarcasm font worked out yet.
TIGERS!!!
MLBtraderumors says Tigers willing to top the Braves offer, offering $4.5 mil
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