Remember last August when the Red Sox claimed Johnny Damon on waivers and some talk of a trade happened? There was a day or two’s back and forth on that, as Damon had a limited no-trade clause that prevented him being traded to the Red Sox without his approval. Ultimately he said no to the idea and rejected the deal.
Today Damon tells Alex Speier of WEEI why he did so: because he thought that the Tigers wanted him back in 2011. Except at the time Damon claimed that the determining factor was whether he’d get playing time down the stretch, not whether he’d be brought back for 2011.
Not that this is a giant issue or anything. It’s not like the Red Sox would have kept him either, and he’d probably still be in Tampa Bay right now.
But to the extent Damon’s current claim implies that the Tigers misled him or something, it seems to be a bit too much. To take Damon’s word for it, he inquired last year if the Tigers were going to play him in 2010. He was satisfied with their answer. As such, he shouldn’t be saying that it was anything the Tigers told him about 2011 that kept him from OK’ing a trade to Boston.