How Does The Curtis Granderson Trade Affect Johnny Damon?

Posted on December 9th, 2009 12:27 AM by Knuckles

Though the Curtis Granderson-to-New York trade has not been officially announced, a deal has been agreed upon to send Granderson to New York while Edwin Jackson heads to Arizona and the Tigers and Diamondbacks pick up prospects.

The under reported aspect of this story so far is how the acquisition will affect Johnny Damon's future in New York. Until now, Damon had been discussing about how he'd be willing to take a home town discount to stay in New York, but one has to wonder if the Yankees were not seeing that discount in negotiations and decided to go another direction. Throughout his career, Damon has gone to where the most dollars and years were present. In 2001, after being traded to Boston, Damon signed a lucrative deal with the Red Sox and then followed that contract up with an even higher paying deal with the Yankees.

Damon is a 36 year old free agent and is looking for a multi-year deal. Damon has even commented that he believes "there still is a window for him to come back." With Nick Swisher under contract and Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner on the roster, there might not be any room for Damon with Granderson on the roster.

Assuming Damon does not return to New York, that likely reduces what he'll be able to get in free agency without competitive bidding from New York. So where does that leave Damon's free agency?