macsandz

QUOTE (Sockin @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 06:37 PM) Sox gaining momentum, moving closer to landing Damon. http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/...r-to-damon.html The Sox are quoting with real confidence to multiple reporters tonight. Cowley reported " "I would be surprised if he didn't sign with us,'' And now Gonzalez give us "''I think we got a good shot to get him now,'' This is seriously out of character for anyone from the organization to speak out like this.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 04:31 PM) Damon is fun as hell to have in the clubhouse too. He's going to be a great quotes guy now that Dotel is gone. Bolt, this is not over yet. You might wanna dial down the excitement. Anything can happen in this mess...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 01:04 PM) Whatever you say. I'm sure you're right. No one will have a Damon jersey. No one will have any excitement over adding this guy. Its probably why the thread for a guy the Sox don't even have yet is almost 40 pages long on a diehard board, let alone casual fans. Its funny you mention Damon and how he wanted to stay in NY yet point to Peavy. Didn't he initially reject a trade to the White Sox. He wanted to stay with a loser. What's with the extremes? I never said "no one". I disputed your statement that a position player is always more popular then a pitcher and that Damon would be a more popular member of the Sox than Buehrle or Peavy.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:59 PM) any player that has been slurped up by ESPN for the past 6 years is going to be exciting for a fan base. Peavy has no where near the name recognition that Johnny Damon has. Damon having a greater name recognition would apply more to a national baseball fan contingent. The Sox fanbase is discriminating. That is the context in which I'm working here. If Damon signs, I think the Sox fanbase would accept him but they aren't going to embrace him like Buehrle or Peavy, IMO.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:51 PM) Guys that hit the field once every 5 days aren't as appealing to the casual fan as guys who have been in the spotlight the past 7 or 8 years. Damon has box office appeal. There is no chance Damon could or would ever be more popular as a Sox player than Buehrle. As I said, he won't even be as popular as Peavy. Jake and Beckham are the future for Sox fans. Damon is seen as a mercenary Yankees cast-off. Everyone knows he wanted to stay in NY.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:37 PM) My lineup would be: Pierre Damon Beckham Quentin Konerko Pierzynski Rios Teahen Ramirez My lineup would be: Pierre Beckham Quentin Konerko Damon Rios Pierzynski Ramirez Teahen

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:12 PM) I've been scooped that there is "alot of running around" being done in the Sox front office. They are either working on an offer, or tweaking an existing. Not suprised. The fact that JR got involved says that offer has been adjusted. I'm guessing a vesting option or extended deferrment.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 12:22 PM) Except for maybe Beckham, Damon would sell as many tickets as any White Sox player. That would be Peavy not Damon. You'll see #44 jerseys everywhere this summer. Jake is a much more appealing, intense leader than Caveman Jim Morrison would ever be here.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 10:50 PM) If you could have 1 player back on the roster that we lost via trade/FA in the past 5 years, who would it be? Contract not an issue. For me, I would say I would like Javier Vazquez back. I can't even imagine how filthy our rotation would be if we have Peavy, Buehrle, Vazquez, Danks, and Floyd with Sweaty Freddy and Hudson as our back-ups. We already have a top 3 rotation in baseball, but this would give us the obvious #1. The only thing about that is Vazquez is probably just a product of the NL and will not have close to the same year he did in '09, but even if AL self would make an excellent 3rd starter. My 2nd choice was CF Chris Young of the Diamondbacks. Interesting enough, he was the one traded for Javy Vazquez when we got him from AZ a few years ago. Chris Young had an awful 2009, that is why I didn't choose him, but he has great skills and can be a 5-tool player if he can get back to where he was in 2008. Young would take CF with Rios moving to RF, Pierre in LF, and Quentin as the DH. Dewon Day.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 09:41 PM) I wonder what source Rosenthal got his initial (the wrong one) report from about the Sox making a second offer. Hmmm. I wonder...

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 03:54 PM) I've become obsessed with the thought of Johnny Damon wearing a White Sox uniform this summer. I really think he is the perfect complement to our existing roster and would elevate us from divisional contender to World Series favorite. However, the news seems to change from day to day (and even hour to hour).....one report will say our chances are good and the next will claim he's practically a Tiger. Whats everyone's gut feeling on whether or not he's playing Ozzie Ball in the next month or two? Damon is not gonna sign with the Sox. Sorry. However, Kenny is not comfortable with this offense and he will be watching the spring and the first part of the season closely. He and JR didn't take on these contracts to finish 2nd.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 03:05 PM) If Chipper Jones is restructuring his contract to differ money then this is a direct move to get Damon his 1 Year 7 Mil deal he wants. Rumor has it Damon's wife wants nothing to do with detroit, and if the sox dont go to 6-7M while the braves do, then we will be a brave for 2010. Damon's wife could have 14 Million reasons to live there for 6 months a year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) If DH'ing keeps Quentin healthy most of the season, I would say rotation is a good thing IMO. Quentin doing what he can do is better than pretty much all of the primary DH's out there. Yo Rock. Any insights on if Damon may sign with the Sox?

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 09:54 PM) I'm not convinced KW is interested. Unfortunately I'm not sure we'll ever know the truth. If Kenny wasn't interested he'd waste zero time making that public so as to undermine Boras' leverage.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 09:51 PM) More likely KW gave Boras an offer and said take it or leave it. This latest report is Boras trying to get the Tigers to up thier offer to either get the Tigers to bid against themselves or see if KW blinks. This ^ Kenny is not gonna blink. I think the Sox offered $4M (maybe + $2M deferred). That's the best they are gonna do. Damon is gonna get his $7M from DET.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 09:42 PM) How do we know they are negotiating with Boras? Heyman is a good reporter but we don't know that he was right on this. More likely Boras was leaking that to get the Tigers to bid against themselves. ANd it seems to be working if 2 yr/14 mil is true. More than Heyman reported the Sox involvement. I listened to an interview with Kenny over the weekend and while he didn't comment on where the negotiations stood, he didn't deny that they are active. He would have shot that down in a second if there was no offer. In a second.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 09:26 PM) Yah, I gotta be honest. I don't think the Sox want Damon. THey want to go with their rotating DH bulls*** with Jones and Kotsay. I think Oz really likes Kotsay and KW wants to show Jones was a miracle super smart pickup. I just hope Ozzie is held accountable when it fails miserably. The Sox are not going to negotiate with Boras if they didn't want Damon.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 09:05 PM) Sounds like Damon is closing in on signing with the Tigers http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/MLB-offseason-buzz-012010 No it doesn't. It sounds like "Though the sides have exchanged proposals, a deal is not yet imminent."

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 06:26 PM) Please tell me we arent calling Juan Pierre "Juan Dog" that is uncreative and stupid. It's not THAT bad. - He's wearing Lance Johnson's old jersey.

QUOTE (scenario @ Feb 13, 2010 -> 03:21 PM) I'm beginning to believe the Tigers 2-year offer is nothing more than a rumor started by Boras' people to try and create competition (and improve the offers) for Damon. I wouldn't be surprised if KW thinks the same thing. Bingo.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Feb 13, 2010 -> 12:02 PM) KW was on talking baseball this morning I missed the Damon talk but one point that was brought up is the rotating DH is to used to get favorable matchups. The first caller had a good point. Good teams dictate the matchups, bad teams try to make them as favorable as they can. KW said the rotating DH is used to rest guys from the field while still keeping their bats in the lineup. " Good teams dictate the matchups, bad teams try to make them as favorable as they can." That strategy works in terms of facing a bullpen, but your starting lineup is based on who is starting against you. It is a reactionary concept. You can't force a matchup against your lineup. It's not ike the opposition has a "pinch pitcher" you are gonna force them into starting because of the card to took to the ump before first pitch.

FYI - Damon is crashing in Hawaii right now and he's not gonna decide on either offer until next week.

BTW, multiple sources are reporting the Sox are very much still in the mix for Damon today. It's just the Sox & Tigers now. 2:12pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com says via Twitter that it looks like the Damon sweepstakes will come down to the White Sox and Tigers. He says the Braves don't appear to have the money to bid. 2:00pm: Don't hold your breath for a Damon signing. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that nothing is imminent with the Tigers. You gotta think this 2/$14M from DET is either total BS, or Damon really doesn't wanna play there. Why else hasn't he signed? That was classic Boras chasing $/years from Kenny. I can't see the Sox going to two years unless it's a team option.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 01:05 PM) 1 game in mid September when we had 3 catchers on the roster. Yeah, that doesn't count. So the game never went to Cooperstown? Ozzie has said AJ will also DH this season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 12, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) AJ will never DH for ozzie, not if he only has 1 backup catcher. Nix shouldn't be DHing either unless he becomes a totally new hitter this year. AJ DH'd last season.