STILL WAITING: Johnny Damon said despite rumors to the contrary, he has not received an offer from the Yankees.
Johnny Damon wants everyone to know where negotiations between himself and the Yankees stand.
They don’t.
“My friends and family are calling to tell me about this offer and what I want, and it’s all wrong,” Damon told The Post yesterday. “The Yankees haven’t made an offer and I haven’t told them what I want. Everything else is not true.”
Damon’s agent Scott Boras is looking to land his client a three- or four-year deal. The Yankees don’t want to beyond two years for the 36-year-old left fielder.
So, is there a deal to be struck between the sides?
“Two years, four years, all that happens when Scott talks to the Yankees,” Damon said. “That comes later, but we haven’t had any talks at all. I don’t know where all this stuff came from.”
Damon hasn’t been hounding Boras for updates.
“I have been enjoying the Florida sun and enjoying the kids,” Damon said after a batting practice session. “I try not to worry about anything, I am not too concerned.”
The Yankees want Damon back, but not on a pact longer than two years and there is a chance at some point they will walk away before matching his $13 million salary from last season. With Jason Bay receiving four-year offers in the $65 million range and Chone Figgins getting four years and $36 million from the Mariners, Damon likely slots in between regarding the annual dollars.
Bringing back Damon, who batted .282 with 24 homers, 82 RBIs and 107 runs scored last year, would enable the Yankees to keep intact the Derek Jeter-Damon duo in the first two places of the order. That would allow newly-acquired Curtis Granderson, who general manager Brian Cashman said could hit second against righties, to bat in the lower third of the order.
However, there is also a chance the Yankees figure they have Granderson to play center and use Melky Cabrera in left. Or the Bombers could shift Granderson to left and sign Marlon Byrd or Mike Cameron to play center.