MLB Trade Rumors: Johnny Damon

MLB -- Buster Olney -- Jeremy Bonderman is finding his groove again, and the Detroit Tigers will benefit - ESPN

"It's been a long time since we've seen the kind of all-out spinning that is going on with the Johnny Damon negotiations. The White Sox are reported to be in the negotiations ... but maybe they're not really in them, except for the purpose of due diligence, Joe Cowley writes. Kenny Williams might be playing a game of chess.

Along the way Thursday, I was told by someone in baseball that he was asked to leak word of a particular two-year offer to Damon -- to stir the pot and artificially nudge those involved in the bidding.

It'll be interesting to see, after the smoke clears, where the final numbers are on Damon. As of Thursday night, the wide expectation of rival executives was that Damon would wind up with the Tigers.

Two incontrovertible facts could emerge from this:

1. Damon's camp botched its negotiations with the Yankees. 2. If Damon actually gets a two-year, $14 million deal from the Tigers, at his present-day value, agent Scott Boras has done excellent work in drumming up something out of nothing through his strategic lobbying in the Detroit newspapers."