Johnny Damon Destination ???

[DaSh 1s]

I forgot about the Willis extension. What the heck where they thinking when they did that?

[DaSh 1s]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Magglio is going to be signed for 2011 when he hits his GP/AB limits.

They can't let that happen. They basically have to do what the Jays did to Thomas.

[AussieDodger]

I forgot about the Willis extension. What the heck where they thinking when they did that?

They didn't do their homework

[AquaMan2342]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Willis extension was a stipulation in the Cabrera trade or something along those lines?

[KCollins1304]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Magglio is going to be signed for 2011 when he hits his GP/AB limits.

They can't let that happen. They basically have to do what the Jays did to Thomas.

I don't know if this is true or not, but on MLB radio a couple weeks ago they were talking about this and said that you can't drop a player just to avoid vesting a year or reaching a performance bonus. I don't know if it was something specifically in Ordonez's contract or what. They could only drop him if his performance was significantly declined below whoever they decided to play in his place. They might have been able to justify dropping him early in the season but I don't know how much sample size plays into these cases. But he ended the season with a 2nd half that you couldn't justifiably release him to avoid the vesting options. Again, the MLB radio guys could have been full of hot air.

[DaSh 1s]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Willis extension was a stipulation in the Cabrera trade or something along those lines?

Nope.

[AquaMan2342]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Willis extension was a stipulation in the Cabrera trade or something along those lines?

Nope.

Yeah, I was wrong. Either way his contract was the most excusable of their bad contacts because of his track record at that point. Yes he was coming off a bad half-season, but I don't think anybody could have foreseen the train wreck that was coming. Plus we got Cabrera in the same deal so oh well.

[Pogotheostrich]

If they sign Damon, it's likely they will be a better all around team than they were last year, while getting younger and cheaper in the process.

The offense takes a small hit in the short term IMO but the big thing to me is their defense is going to be much worse.
Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello will look pretty good in a few years. Are they really going to be cheaper? It seems like they actually added a little bit of payroll if they sign Damon.

[AquaMan2342]

If they sign Damon, it's likely they will be a better all around team than they were last year, while getting younger and cheaper in the process.

The offense takes a small hit in the short term IMO but the big thing to me is their defense is going to be much worse.
Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello will look pretty good in a few years. Are they really going to be cheaper? It seems like they actually added a little bit of payroll if they sign Damon.

Today I read that if Damon is signed, they might send Jackson down to get more seasoning in the minors. That would put Clete Thomas in center.....who is a great defensive player. Damon would be an upgrade over Guillen/Raburn and Maggs is Maggs. With this I'd say the defense might actually be better because Thomas is good. Offensively it's hard to say....I suppose it depends on Damon.

With price I suppose it's also a wash or so.

[MTUCache]

Today I read that if Damon is signed, they might send Jackson down to get more seasoning in the minors. That would put Clete Thomas in center.....who is a great defensive player. Damon would be an upgrade over Guillen/Raburn and Maggs is Maggs. With this I'd say the defense might actually be better because Thomas is good. Offensively it's hard to say....I suppose it depends on Damon.

With price I suppose it's also a wash or so.

If the bottom half of our order looks like Inge:Thomas:Laird/Avila:Everett there's going to be people standing in line trying to stab Dombrowski in the face with a rusty shovel. Thomas/Laird/Everett may not get 100 RBIs combined the entire season. That would be a freaking disaster lineup.

Clete's a great guy, and he's definitely above-average defensively, but his average is awful, his OBP sad, and his power numbers even worse. It's going to take a TREMENDOUS improvement in his hitting to stick with the major league club.

If we're sticking him in CF just to save ourselves a couple runs per month, we'd be much better off committing to AJax and letting him hit further down in the order. For any "seasoning" that AJax is going to need in the minors, Clete's going to need just as much if not more to work on his hitting.