UPDATE: OK, Boras may need to find another mystery team, because MLB.com’s Mark Bowman is throwing cold water on the idea that the Braves are really interested in the guy:
Your move, Heyman.
8:00 A.M. Jon Heyman tweets that the Tigers “could be in play” for Johnny Damon. This comes a few hours after we learned that the Braves are still interested.
If this rumor had come two days ago I would have said that it was typical Boras smokescreen. He needs a second team involved, real or imagined, so that he can get the Braves to bid higher, and like clockwork comes some thin non-report about a second team courtesy of his alleged mouthpiece Heyman.
But then the Tigers signed Jose Valverde to ridiculous money yesterday. In light of that I think it’s safe to say that we really don’t know what’s motivating the Tigers these days, so yeah, I’d probably believe anything at this point.
Would it be a good fit? Probably would actually. As Heyman noted, Damon has always hit well in Tiger Stadium Comerica Park (sorry; I’m still in mourning) and with the DH, there’s a better chance to keep him fresh and play a more defensively-minded lineup when need be.
Really, though, if Damon has truly lowered his asking price as some have suggested, he might be a good fit any number of places. No one doubts he can still hit. The only problem before recently was that he thought he was worth eight figures a year for two or three years.