Johnny Damon to the Yankees?!?

Apparently the hated Yankees have swiped Red Sox CF Johnny Damon to replace longtime nemesis Bernie Williams in the Pinstripes outfield. NY Times link, courtesy of TBogg: Full Sad Story

Well, at least the people who think Johnny's long hair and scruffy beard are sloppy will be happy about this, since King George Steinbrenner (Damn you George, damn you all to hell!) has strict rules about facial hair/proper hair length and a lot of other crap that has little or nothing to do with playing baseball.

Part of what led to the parting of the ways with Damon and the Sox has to be the nearly complete disarray that has become the Red Sox front office. Since Theo Epstein left, Larry Lucchino has taken firm control of the reins. Sure, the Sox hired two unknowns to be co-general managers, but those guys probably can't do anything without Lucchino's approval. And the fact that Damon's agent Scott Boras was demanding his usual ridiculous amounts of money for his client can't have helped matters any (see last off-season's negotiations with Boras client catcher Jason Varitek). Still, the way this was handled smells of Fredo Corleone or former FEMA head Mike Brown. The Red Sox have no minor league prospects to fill this spot, and what are the chances that they can sign/trade for a player who can play CF AND lead off? I think the Sox need Bill Belichick to run the team for a few years. Hell, look at what he did for the Patriots.

Still, it is sad to see Damon leave. He was a goofball at times. So he couldn't throw well, he played hard, got on base, and helped the Sox to their first World Series Championship in 86 years in 2004. Good luck Johnny, just don't have too many good games against your most recent former team.