John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press says that Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch is personally involved in the courting of free agent outfielder Johnny Damon.

Ilitch rarely gets involved in player deals, but he has been known to instigate moves and dig into his own personal fortune if the team’s budget requires it.

If the Tigers sign Damon, it is expected that Damon and Carlos Guillen would split the DH and let field duties.

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated said that the Tigers current offer is a little north of two-years, $14 million. The White Sox may be in play, but their current offer is believed to be one-year, $4 million.

Damon, 36, hit .282 with a 24 home runs and 82 RBIs for the World Champion New York Yankees in 2009. You can see Damon’s contract history and statistics here.