Damon Chokes Up

Johnny Puts Sox on the Spot: "I know fans are upset. I’m sorry. It wasn’t even close and obviously the money looks like a huge factor, but the fact that they wanted me real bad, they courted me. There was a 6-year offer for more money than the Yankees. I’m walking away from $25 million from another team, so I can play for four years in New York... It was difficult with many other people gone... trainers, players, Millar screaming at the top of his lungs ... (chokes back tears) ... that’s the stuff I’m going to miss," Johnny Damon told CBS4's Dan Roche Wednesday night from his home in Orlando, Fla.

"I was just trying to get the best offer," Damon said.

On NESN's "Red Sox Now," Damon said the Yankees came back with a five year offer and another team offered six years and more money. They (Damon and Boras) decided a four-year deal was better as it offered more guaranteed money, “I’ll be 37 (at the end of the contract), a lot of 37-year-olds are getting (nice) 2-3 year contracts… they (Yankees) kept everything quiet, possibly came in and stole me… After the last contact with the Red Sox (Tuesday night), it wasn’t going to happen… even teammates for the Red Sox all felt like this was the right decision… I tried last offseason (to get a deal done), for part of the season up until the All-Star break, I tried, up until yesterday… I wish them the best. John, Tom, and Larry…Those owners are great people… hopefully they can get on track (on Yawkey Way).”

Sox Left Hanging

Sox Lose Damon to Yankees:
Lucchino, Cherington, and Hoyer Face the Nation

Christmas Leave: Sox Set Deadline to Pull Offer

How did this transpire? Did you guys pull your offer, a four year, $40 million deal, off the table?

Lucchino: We did not. What we did do was to say that we wanted this thing to be resolved by Christmas (Eve.) and it would expire at that time if we weren't able to reach an agreement, and we were talking about the offer that we made on Dec. 6.

The offer that you made to Scott Boras in Dallas. Did you ever make a subsequent offer or was that the last offer?

Lucchino: We... I think it's fair to say that we left the door ajar for a subsequent formal offer. What we did in Dallas was a formal written offer. We never sent another formal written offer.

Did they ever make a counter proposal back?

Lucchino: This is what we were hoping to avoid wasn't it Jed? In and out and this and that... There's a danger if we get into this that it leads to kind of an editorial comment on how they conducted the negotiations or how we conducted the negotiations. As Jed said earlier, we don't see that to be fruitful at this stage.

Just to clarify, for the Christmas (Eve) deadline, was that just for the offer you presented on December 6th?

Lucchino: It was. But there was a suggestion that we were eager to sit down and talk further and do that by the end of... by Christmas Eve.

You needed an answer one way or another?

Lucchino: No, no... we said we wanted... it was an invitation to have further discussions in hopes of getting that done by Christmas Eve.

Did they ever respond to that?

Lucchino: Not to me they did not.

Is this something that is done? Setting a deadline like that?

Lucchino: I think it happens with some frequency and again it was not for arbitrary reasons, it was because we had an offer out there for several weeks and we needed to know and Christmas time is not an illogical time before baseball shuts down for a week or 10 days as it always does to have a sense of whether you have a deal or don't have a deal. -- 12.21.05, Red Sox president Larry Lucchino