In a move that garnered maybe a column combined in both the Herald and the Globe, the Red Sox struck back at the Yankees post-Damon signing by grabbing Jorge Posada’s former backup, John Flaherty. Flaherty, a former Red Sox minor leaguer, maintained a healthy .165 average last season, but is credited with settling Randy Johnson down last year, post-All-Star Break, taking the Big Unit from a 5 and 6 with a 4.55 ERA to a 12 and 2 with a 3.30 ERA and prompting some to conclude that Johnson threw better because he was throwing to a white guy. In any case, Flaherty better have some experience catching the knuckleball, because he’s taking Mirabelli’s place and catching Wakefield in 2006…assuming he beats out Kelly Shoppach and Ken “I Heart” Huckaby for the spot in Spring Training. Wow, J & B really showed those Yankees, huh?
Speaking of Damon, the Yankees introduced their newest acquisition to the media yesterday, giving Johnny and Boras the opportunity to set the record straight/issue one last parting shot at the Red Sox, as you prefer. Talking about the details behind the re-signing talks for the first time, Damon revealed that Boston’s initial offer was a 3 year, $27 million offer, equaling out to a $1.27 million a year raise over his previous contract. Clearly, we only get one side of the story from this conference, but it looks like the Sox blew the Damon deal several times over the past two months. I’d be disgusted, but I think we’ve seen several times over the past few days how unsteady the good ship Red Sox seems to be right now.
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