A $ad Day

SPORTING GOODS

A transit strike, flu-like symptoms, no laptop, and a 4:55am wake up call left me finding out about Johnny Damon in the worst possible way - on my voicemail from an obnoxious Yankee fan.

I feel kind of the same way that I did about the Pedro Martinez farewell last year. Yes, I will miss him. Yes, I loved watching him. Yes, I think he'll continue to be a great player. Yes, his departure makes the Red Sox worse. No, I don't think the Red Sox should have matched the offer.

This isn't just an arms race with the Yankees, and although they can afford to, New York overspent on this one. But no Yankee fan is really going to care about that as they cruise to the playoffs yet again, and when the Red Sox are playing Graffanino, Loretta, and Dave Roberts (or whomever) up the middle, we won't care about that either. Even if economics make this the right move, it is still a move that makes the Red Sox worse and the Yankees better, and that can't ever be good.

I'll try to break out the calculator soon and see if I can quantify the difference Damon makes, to both offenses.