Braves, Chipper make pitch to Damon

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves have made a one-year contract offer to free-agent outfielder Johnny Damon and had star Chipper Jones call him to make a recruiting pitch, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

Jones would neither confirm nor deny that the Braves asked him to reach out to the former Boston and New York Yankees leadoff man, but the third baseman said Damon could help make the Braves a stronger team.

Damon, 36, had one of his best seasons for New York in 2009, batting .282 and matching a career high with 24 homers while taking full advantage of the short right field fence at new Yankee Stadium.

"Bringing Johnny certainly gives us an abundance of outfielders and could take playing time away from someone else deserving," Jones said. "That's probably the negative.

"The positive is that it gives us a pretty legit leadoff hitter who has some experience. It would make us a deeper team. I don't know. You can't beat having that experience in your clubhouse and on your team, on the field and somewhere at top of your lineup."

Braves general manager Frank Wren declined to comment on the Damon situation.

The Braves' offer is believed to be worth about $4.5 million, with some of that money deferred. Agent Scott Boras hasn't backed off from his demand for a two-year offer for Damon and said that at least one team has made such an offer, but declined to name that team.

On Tuesday, Damon wrote in a text message to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he hoped the Braves would make a strong bid for his services.

"They are definitely a team that is on top of the list," he wrote.

Damon could play left field for the Braves and bat first or second, possibly permitting center fielder Nate McLouth to move down in the order. Damon would give the Braves another proven run-producer who had 41 homers during the past two seasons while posting on-base percentages of .375 in 2008 and .365 in ‘09.

It would also reduce pressure to have 20-year-old Jason Heyward in right field on opening day. Baseball's top-rated prospect, Heyward has fewer than 200 at-bats above Class A.

If the Braves add Damon, they could use Matt Diaz and Melky Cabrera in right field in the early season, with switch-hitting Cabrera also playing some in left.

If they determine during spring training that Heyward is ready, the Braves could consider trading Cabrera or Diaz, or go with an extra outfielder to begin the season.

The Braves, Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays are believed to have interest in Damon and Boras said three other teams are pursuing his client. He's portraying Damon as the potential difference-maker in playoff chances for Atlanta, Detroit or Tampa Bay.

Although Boras wouldn't disclose financial terms, he confirmed that he hasn't backed off his demand for a two-year contract for Damon and insisted that at least one team had already made such an offer.

The Braves, Tigers and Rays seem unwilling to offer more than one guaranteed year for Damon, who might have to take an offer from a lesser team to get a two-year deal.

Adding Damon could also slow the arbitration clock for Heyward, who's expected to become a foundation player for the Braves once he reaches the majors.

Last year the Braves waited until June to bring up pitching prospect Tommy Hanson from Class AAA. If they wait until at least late May to bring up Heyward, it could delay his arbitration eligibility until after the 2013 season, instead of 2012.

Jones said that improving the team's outfield depth was important.

"Put it in the same context as you did the pitching staff last year," Jones said. "All the talk of whether Hanson would make the rotation or not [out of spring training], it didn't really matter whether he made it, because we had someone of quality who was going to pitch if he wasn't ready or was going to go to AAA or whatever.

"It's nice to have those options. If we were to get somebody like Johnny, would that facilitate a trade soon thereafter? Personally, I like having those options, 30 good players in camp. You can only take 25 north, but you can bet those 25 are going to be solid."