Damon and Moneyball

by A's fan in Philly on Jan 14, 2012 7:30 AM PST

So, I have read that the A's are interested in pursuing Mr. Damon. I am also watching Moneyball. The movie reminded me of what Damon did to our team several years ago. The movie certainly made it look like Damon played the A's in order to get a better contract. If true, I hope we do not get this player. Regardless of the past, I really hope that Mr. Beane takes a pass on this player. I am excited to see our young players in action. Damon's numbers and potential decline do not warrant taking major league bats away from some of our young talent.

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Johnny Damon, the underachiever in Oakland

Beane’s latest M.O. for many years has been undervalued players that may qualify for Beane’s A’s if they meet criteria such as :
1) too old for other teams to care (Piazza, Big Hurt, etc)
2) Coming off an injury that will make them a risky acquisition (Ben Sheets)
3) Replaceable because they represent a redundancy on the team they currently play for (think of Mr. game winning HR to allow our team to hit 20 game winning streak).
4) Players in final year of contract before being eligible for free agency.

Johnny Damon represented one of those experiments in which Beane thought he had a gem who would be the offensive spark to ignite an exciting team loaded with talent. The miserable truth is that he was a miserable failure in Oakland and suffered damaging numbers offensively that made it easy for the A’s to not pursue him at the end of his tenure here. David DeJesus was an eery reminder of Damon this past season. While slightly better defensively (good speed, better arm), offensivley… not so good.

Damon was hurt by the Coliseum’s large foul territories and actually complained it about during his time in Oakland. Some players just don’t match up well in our park. He’s one of them. I would be surprised if Beane signed him as it would represent yet another player just coming to our team for a paycheck, who, in this case may not meet one of Beane’s other criteria for coming to our team, being a good role model our younger players.

"I've been accused of using too many words...I suppose that's like accusing Mozart of using too many notes." Bill King

by Gerard on Jan 14, 2012 8:07 AM PST reply actions 3 recs

Not Bought On It

I’m really not interested that the A’s are pursuing guys like Johnny Damon and Juan Pierre (and Cody Ross); I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t like the Coco signing, but I want the young guys (Taylor, etc) to get plenty of time, or else we won’t know what they can actually do. Damon’s primarily a DH, he’s not so fast any more and his WAR and BA have steadily decreased over the last few years.

by Sean Fortuna on Jan 14, 2012 8:56 AM PST reply actions