Is Johnny Damon a fit in Boston?

Damon will turn 36 this Thursday. He's no spring chicken but he averaged 546 at-bats over the past three seasons in New York. He's stayed healthy and remained productive, but Johnny saw his last big pay day in 2006. At 36, he'll likely be looking for a 2-year deal, possibly with an option or incentives.

The problem is the price. Damon made $13M per year during his 4-year stint with the Yankees. He was mediocre at times, but his overall stats are pretty solid. He posted a .285 average and an .819 OPS during that time, while averaging 102 R, 74 RBI, 19 HR, 31 2B and 23 SB. Thanks to the new Yankee Stadium and a spot in the most productive lineup in baseball, Damon has the stats to demand $10-$12M per year right now... and he will.

If Jason Bay or Matt Holliday want $15M, you might as well sign one of them.

But what if Bay and Holliday demand too much? There's no doubt that replacing Bay with Damon will cost the Red Sox in the production categories, but if David Ortiz can rediscover his stroke and Mike Lowell and JD Drew can put together healthy seasons, the Sox could still score 850-900 runs.

Damon was a solid No. 2 batter this season and could enable the Sox to bump Pedroia down in the order. If you like Pedey in the No. 2 spot, you could have Damon lead off and move Ellsbury to the bottom of the lineup, where his mediocre OBP doesn't hurt as much. If you don't like that either, Damon would still make a nice No. 6 or 7 hitter behind Lowell or Drew and would offer a left-handed bat to mix in.

Damon took advantage of the short porch and friendly breeze in the new Stadium, but other than his 17/7 home/road HR splits, he was 50/50 in most other categories. He hit 18 doubles in NYC and on the road. He scored 56 runs and drove in 42 at home, while posting 51 runs and 40 RBI on the road. And he hit .284 in New York and .279 on the road.

Johnny can still get in done outside of New York, but the OPS splits might be concerning: .915 H / .795 R. Couple that with a .197 BA and a .612 OPS in 87 Fenway at-bats since the start of 2007 and this starts to look like a bad idea.

Bottom Line: The Red Sox didn't want to pay Damon $13M in 2006, so I doubt they'll want to pay him $12M or even $10M now... but what if he were willing to take a 2-year, $16M total deal, would Theo consider it? Would you? Keep in mind that the Yankees don't really have a better "in-house" option for left field. Matsui is more of a DH at this point and Gardner could bump Cabrera to left, but who would hit second?

Also, if the Red Sox do re-sign Jason Bay, would Theo consider signing Damon to share time in the outfield and with David Ortiz at DH?

Just some food for thought - tell us what you think in the comments!