An Encore for Johnny Damon and the Boston Red Sox?
Guess who’s coming back to Boston.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Johnny Damon confirmed to reporters that he has been claimed on waivers by the Red Sox this 2010 MLB baseball season.
“My teammates are making this decision easier by saying they want me to stay,” Johnny Damon said after their 12-3 win over Kansas City. “My gut and everything else tells me that Detroit’s the place for me.”
Damon, though, said he wants to talk to Tigers president Dave Dombrowski before making his final decision. His contract includes a clause that gives him veto power over trades to all but eight teams. Because the Red Sox aren’t one of those eight clubs, he can block a return to Boston, where he was a long-haired, bearded folk hero as a key part of the 2004 “idiots.”
Detroit could work out a trade with Boston to complete the deal if Damon gives the OK, and that might bring the Tigers a prospect in return.
“I understand if it could help the Tigers in the future, I have to look at it that way, but my teammates are making it much easier on me,” he said. “If they want me to stay, teammates normally win out.”
It is still unclear whether the Red Sox claimed Damon in order to try to acquire him or to prevent him from joining another contending team, such as the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in need of an outfielder. If Damon decides he wants to return to Boston and the Red Sox are interested, the team has 48 hours to work out a trade with the Tigers, who also could let him go for nothing or decide to pull him back off waivers and keep him.
Damon has hit .270 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs during his first season in Detroit.
Damon was a hero in Boston in 2004 when he helped the Red Sox win their first World Series championship. But he was no longer so popular two years later when he became a free agent and went to New York.
Boston began the day 6 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East and 5 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the wild-card lead. Detroit was 11 games behind Minnesota in the AL Central and far from wild-card consideration.
The Red Sox have been ravaged by injuries this season, including Opening Day starting outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury (ribs) and Mike Cameron (abdomen), both of whom are unlikely to return this season. Still, Boston remains on the fringe of playoff contention, 5½ games behind the Rays and Yankees in the American League East.
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