Johnny Damon, always willing to share his thoughts (sometimes a bad idea), expressed some negative feelings about the way the Yankees dealt with him this offseason as he was welcomed in his new home of Detroit. Here are the quotes via
John Harper:
"We're coming off a great year and you're told you've gotta take a pay cut," Damon said. "You're kind of like, 'A pay cut? What the heck?' It's a little humbling.
"You're like, 'Wow, is that what they really think of me? Or what I do for the ballclub?' I did a lot for the ballclub. I even recruited (free agents) for those guys. I did everything."
Obviously, Damon felt that helping the Yankees win a World Series was enough to warrant a new contract at the $13 million a year he'd made for his four years in pinstripes. As a result, he admitted that, yes, agent Scott Boras told GM Brian Cashman not to bother making an offer if it was for less than $13 million per.
"I let Scott do his work," Damon said. "That's why he's there. In the end, I think he did a great job. It's funny, though. Every time I'm a free agent, I'm always on a new team."
...
"At one point I told Cashman, 'All I want is two years,'" Damon recalled. "I told him, 'I want to see Derek Jeter get 3,000 hits and I want to have a chance to win some more.'
"I wanted to be on a team longer than any other team I've been on. Because hopefully I've got a few good years left and I can start pushing up on the all-time runs list, and get 3,000 hits."
...
"I called Hal Steinbrenner," Damon recalled, "and he said, 'We just can't do anything.' I said, 'Thank you very much, I had a great time playing with you. Now it's time for both sides to move on.'"
Cashman had this response:
"When we signed him (for four years, $52 million), he was playing center field, a premium position, and the market was high. Now he's a left fielder, he's 36, in a collapsed market. Why would he not expect to take a pay cut?"
Cashman clearly understands simple concepts that might exceed Damon's intelligence. There are so many reasons why Damon
should understand the need for a paycut. Maybe he does, after all, he did end up taking one to play in Detroit.
