Kalapse

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Feb 19, 2010 -> 01:01 AM) OK, don't shoot the messenger and I have no idea who this dude is, he looks like a scout....but here are a few tweets: An inside source to the negotiations between the ChiSox/Boras/ Johnny Damon stated that a deal is done pending physical #mlb #whitesox about 4 hours ago from web Source stated that Damon's contract with the White Sox is complex, and a healthy chunk will be based on player performance #mlb #whitesox about 4 hours ago from web http://twitter.com/Roger26N This is a pretty random source. What he is reporting may actually add up: So I'm supposed to believe that an NFL "scout" scooped EVERYONE by at least 5 hours on a baseball story involving one of the bigger names in the game and the highest profile sports agent on the planet?

QUOTE (joeynach @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 05:40 PM) Hes gonna get like at least 5 Years 75 Mil, if not 6 years 100 Mil. There is no way the sox get involved. Try 8 years, $180M if he keeps up his 2009 level of production. He's an elite talent and he'll land elite money.

I don't think people realize just how bad Aaron Rowand really is.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 18, 2010 -> 02:48 PM) not to be a downer but I think Montreal had a better team that year. Pedro martinez, John Wetteland, Larry Walker, Delino DeSheilds, Moises Alou It would have been a great World series. Given that I was only 7 years old at the time I knew very little about the 1994 team so I recently looked up the standings. The Sox were only a single game up in the division and 3.5 games up in the wild card and tied for the 3rd best record in baseball on August 10th, the Yankees and their 6 hitters with an .800+ OPS had the best record in the AL. The way Sox fans talk about this team I just assumed they were way up in the division and held the best record in the AL. Regardless of how incredible people think that team was they were barely holding on to a playoff spot with the absolutely stacked (7 hitters with an .800+ OPS) Indians right on their ass and 2 months to go, I am now convinced that Sox fans are delusional.

Ryan Sweeney

Aaron Rowand has posted a wOBA between .323 and .325 in 4 of his last 5 seasons (league average is around .330) with a ~22% K rate and his defense over the past 4 years has been a little above league average, oh and he'll turn 33 in August. He's a pretty mediocre baseball player who is now past his prime.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:40 PM) No, that wouldn't be right either, well who knows. I'm thinking more on the finance side of what a PV calculation entails. But if you gave him 4M up front with 2M deferred over the next 5 years, the value of the entire contract in todays values might be right around 4.5M. Who knows, either way, I could see this making a whole lot of sense. You're right, I misunderstood.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:36 PM) Because, due to inflation, deferred money is worth less than money paid up front. There's almost always interest added to that differed money to account for inflation, I can't think of a case where that wasn't the case.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:35 PM) So I assume the PV value is actually like a present value calculation , so maybe he gets 6M, but a few of the million are in deferred payments for the next 5 or something? Yep. Probably $4.5M salary for the 2010 season then another $2M-$2.5M over the next 3-5 seasons.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:31 PM) I don't understand the big hang-up on deferred money, especially if you're already mega-rich like Damon. If they're legally-obligated to pay you, you'll still get it. Yep, when you've already banked $100M in salary alone over the course of your career and god knows how much in endorsements you'd think waiting 3 years for the other ~$2.5M wouldn't be that big of a deal. It's likely that his hangup is based on principle.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:22 PM) How much is deffered? Damon must really not like Detroit. If the present day value is $4.5M then that means there's probably another ~$2.5M differed. $7M makes an awful lot of sense even if 36% is differed.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:43 PM) Im so sick of this crap, no player in mlb is going to draw fans solely on their name with the exception of Ichiro because he brings in the Japanese population. The only thing that will bring in fans otherwise is winning. I've actually driven up to Milwaukee 4 times over the past 3 years just to see Albert Pujols and I was at Wrigley last May watching Tim Lincecum take down the Cubs, normally I wouldn't step foot in that place but I had to see Tim Lincecum in person. Johnny Damon on the other hand? Not so much.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:24 PM) IF it happens, (big if) what is your lineup? Damon DH Beckham 2b Quentin RF Konerko 1b AJ C Rios CF Teahen 3b Ramirez SS Pierre LF Not bad, but there are those 3 righties in a row in the middle....but im ok with that my guess is that ozzie would still have pierre lead off and put damon in the middle of the order to break up the righties That is, of course, the perfect lineup given the personnel but you and I both know it would never happen. I actually like Pierre as the #9 hitter and left fielder.

So is Kate not a candidate? They didn't show her name.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 03:52 PM) Except for the fact that it's probably his last chance to land a semi-lucrative multi-year deal (he'll be 36 in June) and it's a guaranteed $14M. If Damon were to suffer a major injury this summer (like a torn ACL), he might not be able to play again until he's 38. I don't see why he didn't take the (alleged) 2/14 offer from the Yankees. ^^^ If Damon could stand taking a trip to the Bronx every day, driving into Detroit for two years isn't the worst thing in the world. If he stays healthy this year and puts up good numbers he should be able to land a multi-year deal next offseason, there's a big difference between 37 and 38 in major league baseball. If he takes that 2 year deal it'll be the last of his career, a 1 year pact worth equal annual salary sets him up for an opportunity for one last multi-year deal after proving his worth away from Yankee Stadium in 2010. Of course there are nice neighborhoods around Detroit but living in a place where the major metropolitan area is a war zone is a huge turnoff and I would understand if it were a deal breaker for his wife.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 03:23 PM) Damon's wife could have 14 Million reasons to live there for 6 months a year. Given that Johnny's already made ~$100M in his career, I'm thinking $5M-$7M and spending 1 year in Chicago/Atlanta then finding a new home for the 2011 season and another ~$5M is FAR more attractive than $14M and living in that s*** hole that is Detroit for 2 years.

Between the Twins, Tigers, Royals and Indians there's only 4 left handed starters in the AL Central as of today and none of them are particularly good (though Liriano is a wild card): Sowers, Huff, Laffey and Liriano (the 3 Indians are all on shaky ground with righties Carlos Carrasco and Mitch Talbot right in the mix as well with Talbot out of options.)

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 09:45 PM) I voted for the 2nd option, though I think "satisfied" is a bad choice of wording. I'd say I'm content with what we've got, but craving more. We can succeed with this roster, but we can also improve. Agreed.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 03:11 PM) Indeed. He has the range to play LF, but his arm is in Pods territory. Unless there are inferior options for LF, he's a DH now. That said, he'd be the the solid leadoff hitter that this team has been lacking for most of the past 3 years. In terms of pure arm strength Pods is well ahead of Damon, Johnny rivals Juan Pierre for the worst in the game.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) I was hoping for an Emmit Smith kind of one day symbolic signing. The greatest batter I've watched. 1. They'd have to clear a spot on the 40 man roster since a minor league contract really wouldn't count 2. Since anyone on the 40 man roster is considered "active" in the offseason I do believe signing him would push back his possible enshrinement date by 2 years. It really wouldn't be worth it.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 02:11 PM) espn.com's player stats say otherwise. But regardless, using the fact he DH'ed 1 time last year as a reason why he can DH this year is absurd. (I'm aware you weren't the one to bring that up) You really should use baseballreference.com for thing like this, or for most anything for that matter.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 01:00 PM) AJ DH'd last season. 1 game in mid September when we had 3 catchers on the roster. Yeah, that doesn't count.

His final game played was August 29th, 2008.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 11, 2010 -> 11:08 PM) We'll see in the next couple of years if Kent, Bagwell, Piazza, etc.. are on the report (as there have been rumors about them... though I still think Kent's clean, even though he's a complete douche.) I don't think Bagwell's getting in, even though he's never been named it's widely accepted by baseball people that he was a user that's why you haven't heard his name in 4 years. He's up for election next year and I'd say he'll get less than 40% of the vote even with his incredibly gaudy numbers.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 11, 2010 -> 10:54 PM) His attitude isn't any different from most guys who have been as productive as long as he has. Lots of these guys are proud (cocky) and tend to make excuses for their decline in productivity. Nothing new there. So what if he's whining. It just takes one team to pick him up. He's not going to be highly paid, however. He's going to have to adjust to that fact mentally. It'd suck if the team that picks him up gets a less than stellar effort from JD just because he thinks he's underpaid. I'd be surprised if he and Thome both don't wind up with some team. But it's interesting that nobody has gobbled them up yet. I still say JD wasn't that disgraceful of an outfielder, but it sure took a long time to get those long legs moving sometimes. Thome already signed with the Twins. And the #1 reason Dye isn't drawing much interest from teams is because he was an abomination of a fielder, if he were even mediocre out there he'd have a job right now. Unfortunately for him teams are starting to value defense and the word is out on JD.