In an obvious effort to re-create my 2002 fantasy baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays are being courted by a couple of veterans.
Yes, similar to the Manny Ramirez-to-the-Blue Jays rumors…free agents (and former New York Yankees teammates) Johnny Damon and Gary Sheffield both said Tuesday night that they’d be interested in signing with the Rays.
This…according to the St. Petersburg Times:
Damon, 37, talked with the Rays last spring before signing with Detroit, but they didn’t have a regular role for him, not with Carl Crawford in leftfield and Pat Burrell at DH. Now the Rays have an opening in leftfield, and Damon – who is looking for a team close to his Orlando home – would like to fill it.
Tampa’s Sheffield, 42, wants to play again after sitting out last season, and very much would like to do so as the DH for his hometown team. Sheffield, who has 509 career homers, said financial terms wouldn’t be an issue: ” We can work that out.”
Last season with the Tigers, Damon hit .271 in 145 games. For his career, he is a .287 hitter and is sixth among active players with 2571 hits.
Sheffield sat out all 2010 after not being offered a contract extension by the New York Mets. He ranks in the top 25 all-time in home runs (509) and RBI (1676) and is the only player in Major League history to hit at least 25 home runs for 6 different teams.
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