Ah, the quotable Johnny Damon. While much of the team has spoken in safe platitudes, Damon was dealing over the weekend.
Team chemistry? Psh! Who needs it? Speaking of the Armando Galarraga-Alex Avila dugout flap that happened during Sunday's game, Damon told the press:
"All I know is dissension breeds winning. We should’ve done it earlier."
Now to the headline. Damon doesn't know if he will be back next year, but he is confident of one thing: That owner Mike Ilitch is going to make sure the Tigers have an exciting offseason.
It seems like there's something big every other year. Trading Curtis Granderson. Trading for Miguel Cabrera. Signing Magglio Ordonez. Signing Pudge Rodriguez. But as some would point out, that Ordonez signing was really the last blockbuster free agent they nabbed. They've mostly spent on re-signing players already with the organization.
Could they be a credible contender for the services of a player like Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford? Damon thinks so.
"Mr. Ilitch is going to make a splash on free agents," Damon said. "They might make a run at Carl Crawford."
Not that I'm ready to talk about the offseason quite yet. Too many question marks are out there before we can get down to too much roster speculation. But thinking of the Tigers making a big splash in the offseason does make me a bit excited to see what comes next.
I know not everyone out there believes Crawford (stats) will be worth the money he'll likely cost. After all, he's only been a 5+ WAR player for the past year and a half and he'll turn 30 years old in the middle of next season. If he gets $75-$100 million over five years and fails to produce, many people will continue to berate Dombrowski for paying too much and getting too little.
Is signing Crawford worth it?