Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spends some time imagining Johnny Damon in a Braves uniform, observing that Atlanta could afford to sign him if they could do a one- or two-year below $10 million. And he thinks that Damon would consider it because (a) he hasn’t received better offers; and (b) he’s told some people he’d like to play for the Braves, who train near his Orlando home.
My take: at this point there should be several teams calling Scott Boras with an Adrian Beltre-type offer: one year at around $9 million with an option for year two. That may actually be high for Damon given his inferior defense and the relative lack of interest in him compared to Beltre, but in light of what happened with Beltre and Boston, Damon is suddenly in the realm of the doable for a lot of teams who might not have otherwise looked at him before.
O’Brien wonders whether if, at those prices, the Yankees might come back into the Damon raffle (“sweepstakes” is too grand a word for him). It’s possible, especially in light of Boston signing Beltre -- never underestimate the power of an arms race -- but Brian Cashman’s “stand pat” talk seems a bit more convincing this year than it has in years past.