I get it – Johnny Damon can hit a little and that’s why the Tigers just finalized a one-year, $8 million deal with the free agent over the weekend. But just because he can hit, doesn’t mean the signing makes sense.

Damon won’t hit another 24 home runs and drive in another 80-plus RBI this season away from Yankee Stadium. Even though he holds a .363 batting average in 189 plate appearances at Comerica Park, it’s likely that he’ll he max out at 15 home runs, 70 RBIs and hit around .290 in a full season in Detroit.

Is that worth $8 million even if it’s only for one year? Is that worth pushing a deserving Ryan Rayburn (who hit 16 home runs and slugged .533 in 261 at bats last season) into a rotation with Damon, Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez?

To me, it’s not. I think the Tigers overpaid for what they’ll eventually get in Damon and I’m confused as to why they traded a younger and more athletic Curtis Granderson just so they could turn around and pay a 36-year-old with a wet noodle for an arm. I realize Granderson struggled mightily against left-handed pitching, but he brings way more to the table defensively than Damon does and he’s eight years younger. I just don’t get how one year of Johnny Damon was worth $8 million to a club that will probably wind up in the middle of the AL Central again this year, especially when they already had a DH in Guillen.

If Damon comes in and flourishes at the top of the Tigers’ lineup, I’ll gladly eat my words. But I just don’t see a lot of value in a club paying $8 million for a player that will certainly have declining numbers.

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