Braves Lowball Offer To Johnny Damon

Johnny Damon is considering offers from possible three our four teams but his agent, Scott Boras, has already said he prefers to play for either the Atlanta Braves or the Detroit Tigers. Well, apparently the Tigers offered the 36-year-old outfielder possibly $3 million more than the Braves did.

Bye Bye Johnny.

I’m mad. There was no way a team was going to offer Damon the two-year $20 million deal he was seeking through his agent, but $7 million seems fair for a guy who hit the most home runs in his career last year and had almost 90 RBIS with 12 steals. The Braves need some bulk at the position and although Damon is unlikely to knock more than the 24 home runs he has hit only twice in his career, he could still lead the team in dingers.

That’s why this low-ball offer irritates me. For a decade the Braves have played a game with free agency that has not worked well. To make such a low offer is not only embarrassing, but it’s painful considering the Braves have more money to spend after dumping Javier Vazquez.

Maybe Boras will ask the Braves to up the ante, but I don’t see it happening. Looks like either Jason Heyward is going to get his big league chance way to early or we’ll see Melky Cabrera starting with Matt Diaz and Nate McLouth in the outfield.