Originally Posted by aMFliberal

How does everyone feel about Johnny Damon signing with the Yankees? Personally, I was not surprised that the Red Sox did not resign him, however, I did not think he was gonna go to the Yankees. Now that I think about it, though, I think it's pretty clear that the Yanks had their eye on him for quite some time. This is part of what the media is calling the "dismantling" trend, where the 2004 World Series team is slowly being broken apart. However, the Red Sox won in 04 because of a certain kind of player selection and management. People are saying if Theo Epstien was still the GM, Damon would have been resigned. Theo Epstien also brought a World Series to Boston by not overpaying older players. Damon is an older player, possibly nearing the end of his prime--although I don't think it will be quite yet. Furthermore, the Yankees are overpaying him. This will hurt in 2006 and probably 2007...but farther down the road, I can't see this being a horrible move for the Red Sox.