Johnny Damon Signs with the Yankees

"Hey Jeets ... Ummm ... I <3 New York too! And Ummmm..."

Say "goodbye" to the Idiot with the beard, the flowing locks of hair, the speed, the ridiculous lead-off numbers, and - yes - the throwing arm of an arthritic grandmother. Dan Roche of WBZ4 news was the first to report it, with Newsday in NY picking it up and spreading word to the Yankee faithful. Bostonist was on the way home from a late showing of King Kong at the Fenway theater when we turned on the radio and very quickly learned what in the hell was going on - phone lines were on fire among local talk radio stations, sports-related or not. It's pretty amazing that after all this time, after the Red Sox nation lavished praise on our center fielder, thinking all the while that we had Jesus Christ roaming around out there, it was actually Judas.

So the Yankees' lineup starts out the 2006 season looking something like this:

1. Damon
2. Jeter
3. A-Rod
4. Sheffield

Pretty brutal. Keep in mind, however, that the last handful of Scott Boras free-agents that left their teams for new opportunities, and bigger money, all had abysmal seasons. Remember Derek Lowe? Adrian Beltre had a monster season with the Dodgers before last year's stint with the Mariners, when he stunk. The 2006 season will have to be played out before Red Sox fans know if the trend continues, but keep in mind that Johnny Damon's shoulder is a ticking time-bomb and from here on, out he'll only get slower.

Word from Bostonist's Yankee expat in San Francisco - "Dude, I'm not happy about it. I (expletive deleted) hate that mother (expletive deleted)."

At least they're not happy about it either.