Damon (finally) gets a 2-year offer

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Detroit Tigers have made a 2-year, $14 million offer to Johnny Damon, matching the offer that the Yankees made to him before they eventually signed Nick Johnson.

This obviously trumps the 1-year, $4-4.5 million offer Damon got from the Atlanta Braves, who do play closer to Damon's offseason home in Orlando. Not that Scott Boras would allow Damon to take a 1-year deal in the National League over a 2-year deal in the American League because of the city's proximity to his home, but still.

The other deal on the table is the Tigers' offer of 1 year at $7 million, but that seems unlikely as Damon has been seeking a multiyear deal all along.

Since it seems unlikely that any team will outbid Robert Illitch's two-year offer, expect Damon to take it. As a result, in 2010 the Yankees will feature Curtis Granderson in CF, while the Tigers get Johnny Damon in LF. As far as outfielder switcheroos go, I'm happy to have Granderson!

The only remaining question is: why, Illitch, why? What did the nice people of Detroit do wrong?

UPDATE: Rob Neyer proposes platooning Damon (vs. RHP) with Ryan Raburn (vs. LHP) in left field. That may be the best fit for Damon in Detroit, but it seems like $7 mil per year is a lot to spend on an aging, part-time player, doesn't it?