''We have received no such notification," Lucchino said in an e-mail after having referred to ''ongoing negotiations" with Damon in an earlier e-mail. ''No further comment."
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, reached by telephone last night, also said he was unaware of Damon's agreement with the Yankees.
''No, I'm not aware of it," Werner said. ''We knew there have been conversations [between the Yankees and Damon]. I'm not surprised by it. I knew how interested they were in him. But you're telling me something I didn't know.
''If that's true, I'm disappointed, but nothing surprises me anymore."
John W. Henry, the Sox principal owner who had met with Damon at the owner's Florida home not long after Damon filed for free agency, did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment as of midnight last night. Boras also did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.
The Yankees' offer, while far short of the seven-year, $84 million deal Boras had set as the target price for Damon, trumped the four-year, $40 million proposal Lucchino made to Boras during the baseball winter meetings in Dallas two weeks ago. The Red Sox are not believed to have moved off that offer, though in a conference call with reporters yesterday afternoon, co-general manager Jed Hoyer described talks with Boras ''as very productive."
The Yankees, who publicly took the posture they were prepared to begin the 2006 season with extra outfielder Bubba Crosby as their everyday center fielder, swooped in while the Sox, according to Damon, did not respond to his appeals to become more aggressive in their attempts to sign him.
''It was a very tough decision, but New York came after me aggressively and that's what sealed the deal," Damon told Channel 4 last night. ''They showed they really wanted me. I tried with Boston, waiting for them to step up, but unfortunately they didn't and now I'm headed to New York.
