you know...stuff like this happens and it really pisses me off.

then, i sort of forget about it, falling back into thinking that some of these players actually care about us fans.

then things like this happen again.

gees, i'm a dummy!

As a Sox fan, I couldn't agree with you more. There have been those who switched sides in the past (Olreud, Embree, Mendoza, and Myers), but no one this monumental. Damon couldn't have made a more deceitful and selfish move--a "baseball whore" indeed.

I mean, Damon was the poster boy for the Boston Red Sox. His acceptance of a four-year deal with the Yankees over a four-year deal with the Red Sox is the prime example of what wrong with the game today. Everyone and their brother (including the BoSox's front office) assumed he would ride out the rest of his days in Boston. However, the days when players remained loyal to a team and city are long gone.

As my fiancée (and former Damon fan) pointed out to me, when Johnny Damon belted out the words "Boston you're my home!" on Bronson Arroyo's rendition of "Dirty Water," we all assumed that he had every intention of staying faithful to the fans who loved him so. However, we now know that for Damon, money is held on a higher tier than fidelity and integrity.

One has to wonder what his wife's stance, on this whole ordeal, was. I think she ought to slap her hairy husband silly. Unless, it was she who had the dollar signs in her eyes and encouraged him to move to the Big Apple.

Red Sox fans alike can only hope that this sinister move has deafening consequences--for the Yanks that is. Now that Damon (in addition to the other "baseball whore", A-Rod) has fallen victim to greed and taken a bite out of the forbidden apple, let the "Curse of Caveman" fall on the Evil Empire, and let all that is holy set it into full swing.

Damon is an aging CF on the wrong side of 30 who throws like a 7-year old. He is still a good leadoff hitter right now but ought to look a lot like Bernie Williams at the end of this contract. I, for one, am a Red Sox fan who is not all that disheartened to see Damon go. I wouldn't have given him $52M or 4 years. Good luck, Johnny. Thanks for being a part of the World Championship team. Overpaying for Damon so he wouldn't go to the Yankees would have been a wrong move.

All that said, Boston does have a few holes to fill and I have some concern about their plans. Beckett was a nice add. A possible Clemens return would be huge. The middle of the defense/top of the order needs some help. I hope the front office gets that right.

Does this mean that Roger Clemens will no longer be a traitor? He may be coming back I hear. Plus,he psyched out Steinie with that psuedo-retirement thing. What do you think can Sox fans forgive him? After all he got the Astros to the Dance.

If he comes back to Boston, he will be absolved for having worn The Mark of the Beast and his soul will be restored. Roger needs to come back to Boston or The Kingdom of Heaven will not open for him.

OK... seriously now... he is said to be receptive to a Boston return but is in no hurry to make a decision. I'd like to see him in Boston again. Schilling, Clemens, and Beckett is a decent rotation.

Need bats though. Ask the Astros.

Manny (if he is still there), Ortiz, Varitek, and the newly added Mike Lowell and Mark Loretta ought to be able to score some runs for that pitching staff.

Interesting that you mention Manny. I don't know whether I hate him more for leaving the Indians to go to the Sox, or the Sox for overpaying for his services by just enough to pull the player that we developed over all that time.

It's funny how Red Sox Nation hates the Yanks so much. They really just wish they could be exactly like them.

t's funny how Red Sox Nation hates the Yanks so much. They really just wish they could be exactly like them.

the winning ways(of the past), maybe.

the ability to overpay for any player on the market. no, not at all.

I don't know that the Sox want to be like the Yankees per se. I think the Sox want to win.

It is interesting only Boston and the Yankees will be paying the payroll tax this year (the Yankees will be paying a fucks lot more than Boston). Boston can't cry poverty by any means. And I don't. I would choose to spend the Damon money in other ways.

If Cleveland wants Manny back, they could probably get him right now. Planet Manny wants a new orbit again (still).

The sox were one of two teams (I think) who had to pay luxury taxes last year. Guess who the other one was?

Yanks $34 million
Sox $4 million

Boston is #2 and payroll. The disparity between #1 and #2 is larger than the payroll of half of MLB.

That said, it's the system and Boston benefits plenty from it. No tears here. Besides, #1 & #2 in payroll watched the World Series on TV this past season. The Yankees haven't won a Series in 5 years now. It's not just about spending money. Teams have to spend wisely. The Yankees paid too much for Damon. The Red Sox better get after it and fill their holes.

#1 and #2 may have watched it on TV, but they were able to make the playoffs.

I guess the bottom line is that the system is broken. This game needs a salary cap.

With a salary cap, the Indians don't lose Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome to ridiculous contract offers. It would put the organizational focus of MLB teams on developing players rather than picking them up in free agency all the time.

If you can't think of 5-10 players on your major league roster that were developed in your own minor league system, there is a problem.

Apparently, according to ESPN...there are five candidates rumored to take over CF for the Sox.

CoCo Crisp
Torii Hunter
Jeremy Reed
Dave Roberts
Preston Wilson

While all five of these players (and just about everyone else in the MLB) have a better arm than Damon, who is capable of matching of matching his offense numbers?

P.S. I love how Damon arrogantly claimed that the Yanks wanted the best leadoff hitter in the game in him, yet a comparison featured in today's NY Post - between Jeter and Damon - shows that Jeter possesses a better lifetime OBS and SLG percentage, and a better average. Damon only has 10 more lifetime at-bats.

Everyone has inquired about Coco Crisp, but the price would be way too high because of his numbers and salary. Coco made under $400,000 last year and is four years away from being a free agent.

Seattle would be a fool to let go of Reed.

Same to be said with Cleveland and Coco.

Dave Roberts is not an answer.

The list of possible successors has a few more players:
Joey Gathright, D-Rays
Jason Michaels, Phillies
Juan Encarnacion, Marlins
Corey Patterson, Cubs

Gathright would be a sexy addition to that outfield. Speed and defense.

Mark Saleski: "you know...stuff like this happens and it really pisses me off. then, i sort of forget about it, falling back into thinking that some of these players actually care about us fans. then things like this happen again. gees, i'm a dummy!"

Same here, Mark. Same here, to a T. I start thinking they care and have some loyalty to Boston as well, yet this keeps happening. I think I'll apply that retard-American moniker that I'm so fond of to myself, lol!

FilteringCraig: "It's funny how Red Sox Nation hates the Yanks so much. They really just wish they could be exactly like them."

FC, we hate the Yanks for the same reason that you, as a Cleveland fan, probably hate the White Sox or the Twins. They are our division rivals.

I can't speak for other Sox fans, but for myself, I tip my hat to the Yanks for their successes, but since 1996, they've been buying championships. It's why they've been hit with a $34 million luxury tax! Yes, the Red Sox are guilty of spending too, they have the second biggest payroll, but $4 million vs. $34 million is quite a disparity nonetheless.

Plus, it's not the slightest bit true, because I love the freedom the Sox players have to express themselves. They're not all playing like Army Corps cadets as Steinbrenner has his Yankees doing. The Yankees are STIFFS. Say what you will about the Red Sox, for the past few years, they've been fun to watch. I'm proud of a team that allows that much individuality. As for chemistry, it's either there or it's not. You can't force it - it's why the Yankees haven't won since 2000 - or hopefully, not for the forseeable future.

But Mark, what about my point about raising players in your own farm system? Does it bother you that pretty much the only starter on your roster who was raised through your farm system is Varitek?

All those broken hearts over Johnny Damon were broken tenfold when you signed Manny Ramirez away from Cleveland. Damon helped you win a world series, but he was raised and refined in an organization, The Royals, who have been unable to keep their good players for years.

Who was the other bidder for Bernie Williams when he was a free agent? The Red Sox. Who lost out in the A-Rod sweepstakes? The Red Sox.

They were trying to be the Yanks. How is it that these details are forgotten so quickly?

I've never quite understood the point of view of people who bemoan the greed and lack of "fidelity and integrity" of professional athletes. Why shouldn't a player sign the contract that they determine to be best (whether "best" is defined as most money or closest to family or best chance for a championship or whatever criteria) for them? It is a free market.

Consider if the shoe was on the other foot: "loyalty" is for the most part irrelevant to whether an organization trades, demotes, or releases a player.

Or consider if the shoe was on ~your~ foot: if someone offered you more money to do the same job you currently do, with all other factors being equal, wouldn't you take the new job?

IMHO, a player that gives 100% (athletically, marketing-wise, etc.) throughout the duration of their contract has fulfilled their duty of fidelity and integrity. Only if an organization has demonstrated loyalty beyond self-interest should loyalty on the part of the player enter the equation.

no_loh, with all due respect, I wouldn't see the need to go after the job that pays more if I was already earning 40 million dollars, as Damon was with the Red Sox. A wage slave like me, sure I would. But playing for a baseball team is quite a different "job." He sold out to get an extra $12 million. That's just plain greedy. Of course, Damon's not the only one, they're all like that.

You bring up a good point about why should players feel loyalty when they might just get the axe anyway. This is true, I'll admit. The owners are as bad as the players. MLB itself is scandalous in the way it operates, though I will continue to watch as I love the game that much. I can't think of any other arena of life in which I'd be willing to put up with this astronomical level of nonsense.

I just pine for the days when a good and talented guy like Carl Yaztremski hung around for 22 years, then retired.

Ahh, anytime a beloved player leaves the team, it all goes back to blaming Curt Flood.

FilteringCraig, does it bother me that the only farm success was Jason Varitek? We got Varitek from Seattle in '97. Unless we traded him to Seattle and got him back, which I'm not aware of.

Our real farm success was Garciaparra, who, as we all know, traded away because he was injured and apparently a detriment to team chemistry.

You're right, we need a much better farm system. Cleveland did wonderfully rebuilding their team from their farm, and those guys should def. make the playoffs next year as a wild card if not division leader.

But, in winning the World Series in '04, we got players who actually made all the difference in the world. Those trades were worth it. But now ... yeah, we're in the position to rebuild ourselves with good minor league prospects.

Problem is, the Yankees are like the stereotypical Joneses that we have to keep up with, so we have to act a bit like them, which we do. Just not on such grand a scale.

Why shouldn't a player sign the contract that they determine to be best

i'll tell you why. the 'market' is there because of the fans. and apparently, nobody gives a flying fuck about us anymore, if they ever did.

and again i have to agree with MEM, it's impossible for me to identify with 40 million dollars not being enough money.

I guess I have (strangely) morphed into the cold-hearted capitalist mercenary of this thread. ;)

Re: comment #21 - $52M vs. $40M over 4 years is a difference of roughly $3M per year, or 30%. That's a significant difference. Does the RedSox (or Yankee) management know something the other side (and fans) doesn't? Isn't it possible the RedSox management low-balled Damon, and calculated the fans would blame his "greed" rather than the organization for his departure? What price do you put on "respect"? (I admit I am out of date re: baseball salaries and it is also possible that the Yankees massively overbid ... but then you can't blame Damon for accepting their largesse.)

I will agree with MEM and MS (and F. Scott Fitzgerald) that the rich are very different from you and me. $40M is a lot of money. But "rich" and "enough money" is relative. For example, whatever the median salary is in the US, I am sure that amount is astronomical in most other countries in the world. (I'll leave aside the arguments re: cost of living and relative disposable income.)

Besides, if the players don't take the extra money, the owners simply pocket it. And since fans don't get a share of profits, I'd rather the players than the owners get more.

Re: comment #24 - I agree fans are generally badly treated in professional sports. As customers, they deserve more. But I would argue that fans are owed loyalty ~not~ by players but by organizations. After all, fans are loyal to organizations, not players. A "loyal" fan cheers for their beloved RedSox (or Yankees, etc.) no matter what happens. The same fan will likely boo a player in a slump, and stop cheering or caring if a player is traded or released.

In the end I suppose I am more detached since I am neither a RedSox or Yankee fan.

Is this blogger a FUCKING MORON? Quoting Dan Shaughnessy, the biggest dipshit turd of a "sports writer" (term used loosely) in New England? And it takes a typical Sox fan to start whining and crying and freaking out as soon as something controversial happens and before the dust even settles. Doomsday BS artists, like this blogger, are why Red Sox Nation is laughed at by the rest of the country as a bunch of neurotic mental cases. Seriously a moronic blog. And incidentally, CoCo Crisp is a superior player to Damon, and has his entire career in front of him to fully surpass Damon's numbers in every conceivable way.

If my comment is deleted because it retains a negative view of this waste of a space for a blog about the Red Sox, then that further reflects negatively on this blog guy. Hew gives a bad name to the beloved BoSox as it is.

- Christian