Rosenthal On Teixeira For Hughes Possibility

Ken Rosenthal has a long article today regarding possible scenarios by which Mark Teixeira becomes a Yankee.  Rosenthal says the Yankees scouted the Rangers last week in regards to Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka.  The Rangers expect Brian Cashman to have interest in Teixeira, and have been performing due diligence on Phil Hughes and other Yankee farmhands.

Rosenthal's main point: Hughes is not untouchable, but Teixeira could be traded to the Yankees without him involved.  Maybe Jon Daniels surrenders two of his major trading chips in a single blockbuster, giving up Otsuka or Gagne plus Teixeira just to get Hughes.  One would be hard-pressed to say that deal does not make the Yankees significantly better in 2007.

If Daniels is going to earn that contract extension, he needs to get another big-market team seriously involved.  It would be fantastic to get Boston seriously engaged.  The Tigers are another option.  But if Daniels comes up with quantity over quality - for example the Rosenthal proposal of Melky Cabrera, Chase Wright, and another prospect - he will have failed.

Comments

[statnut]

If the Rangers trade Teixiera to the Yankees and dont get Hughes, then Jon Daniels deserves to be fired.

[Aduncaroo]

I don't believe he would do that...but I also don't believe he just got an extension

[CarlitoBrigante]

I'm a yankee fan and that deal is laughable. I would love it to happen but it is completely ridiculous. on the same note, i would not give up Hughes for a rental of Tex. that doesn't make much sense, either. Ideally Id like the yanks to work out something like Kennedy, Marquez, Melky and maybe another prospect. But that probably wouldnt be enough

[CarlitoBrigante]

Personally I'd rather Cashman go after someone like Ty Wiggington, D. Young, or some other minor move instead of depleting the farm

[TimmyGUNZ]

Rosenthal is a complete fool. There's no way this trade would happen. Hughes is not going to Texas for Teixeira. Why would the Yankees want Gagne anyway? Ever since the whole steroid saga this clown can't pitch more than a month or so without getting injured.

[ikilledthehobo]

The Yankees should definitely try to move for someone smaller, like Carlos Pena. He's got 25 homerun capability and he's proved he can hit in the AL East. Plus, he'd be in a killer lineup. Don't sell the farm just to get a new cow.

[statnut]

Couple of points:
1)Tex is hardly a rental, he is under team control through 2008. So any team that acquires him would have a year and a half to sign him to an extension.
2)Hughes has made 2 big league starts before getting hurt, and is annointed as the second coming. Personally, I think he's going to be another Mark Prior.
3)I agree that the Yankees would be better off with a Carlos Pena type. Pena's lefthanded bat would play big in Yankee Stadium.

[bobo]

1) Comparing Hughes' freak injuries to Prior's is a joke.

2) Rosenthal's implying that Joba Chamberlain and Chase Wright are interchangeable parts in a trade show that he can't be taken seriously. A shame, because he's usually pretty good.

3) This whole article is a joke, up until the end, when somehow he says that Lester is proven but Hughes isn't, and the Sox (Papelbon, Pedroia, Youkilis) do a "far better" job at developing and keeping talent than the Yankees (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Wang, Cano, Cabrera).

I think we're best off giving Rosenthal a mulligan for this one. I think he was drunk when writing it.

[bobo]

Agree on Pena, but it depends on the asking price. Also we need a righty, not another lefty. I like Young's bat but not his glove.

They really don't need to do much. At least not yet. Wait to see what happens with Giambi and how Mientkiewicz recovers. Use your trading chips for relievers, or pick up guys who are overpaid and thus won't require any quality players, like Abreu last year.

[b_diddy_7]

Somebody needs to beat this into Rosenthal's head: Phil Hughes is untouchable.

[NYCBaseball]

Yeah Rosenthal is definitely off on this. True, the Yanks would have 1.5 years to sign him to an extension, but at that point, would you rather have Tex at 12-15 per, or Hughes? Even if he doesn't turn out to be a 1-2 guy he's definitely capable of being a 3.
Yeah it would be great to have a right handed bat should ARod leave, but not worth trading what has been considered to be one of the better pitching prospects in the game.
Props to the Red Sox for developing some good talent recently, but give it time, and the Yanks pitchers will prove themselves.

[usctrojans31]

1) Comparing Hughes' freak injuries to Prior's is a joke.

Ignoring that besides this shoulder injury, all of Prior's injuries had been freak injuries as well. He hurt his achiles in a base-running accident and broke his elbow being hit by a pitch; hardly his fault.

As for calling him "another Prior," Prior was the best pitcher in baseball until the injuries started affecting his delivery.

[bobo]

Hughes shouldn't be untouchable - Rosenthal is right about one thing - that no player should ever be untouchable. If the Dodgers wanted to trade us, say, Broxton, Saito, Kemp, LaRoche, Kershaw, Martin, and Ethier for Hughes, then yes, you make that trade. Thus he's not untouchable.

But usually the definition of untouchable is "we won't trade him for anything any team would reasonably offer." And that's true.

I actually don't know if the Rangers could put together a package of any number of players players that would be worth Hughes. Tex, Gagne, Otsuka, Laird, McCarthy and Benoit? You could argue that Hughues is still worth more than all of them combined.

[YouthofToday]

Wow, I didn't know that Hughes is not merely a baseball player... he is the second coming.

I doubt Hughes gets traded yet the Yankees clock is not forever. Jeter is aging, Clemens, Pettite, Mussina, Matsui and others have a ticking clock to be productive.

Will Steinbrenner or Yankee fans settle for a playoff less October?

If the answer is no Phillip Hughes will be traded.

[b_diddy_7]

Don't know why I'm replying to bobo's post but whatever. Yeah, I guess Pujols is untouchable if the Mets trade their whole team, plus cash for him, too.

[darkstar1661]

"3) This whole article is a joke, up until the end, when somehow he says that Lester is proven but Hughes isn't, and the Sox (Papelbon, Pedroia, Youkilis) do a "far better" job at developing and keeping talent than the Yankees (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Wang, Cano, Cabrera)."

You're kidding me right?

The Yankees develope players over 10yrs ago, shower them with more money than entire rosters to keep I'm there, and it somehow proves they are better at developing guys? Oh, well we can also point to the extremly overrated Cano and Cabrera and say its evidence that they can still call guys up from AAA, but it still doesn't mean they are any good... I could look at Pitt and say that they are great at developing guys because they use so many AAA players to fill the roster, but it still doesn't mean squat.

Why can't Yankee fans ever just accept that maybe they aren't the absolute best at something when they obviously aren't?

Sorry, but I like the players Bos has brought up much better than the fillers NY is throwing into the lineup...

[CarlitoBrigante]

Geez can you stop with blanket generalizations about Yankee fans, when you don't agree with one fan. How about this both teams suck at developing talent, and the twins are the end all be all of player development.

Cano is NOT extremely overrated. Hes on of the better hitting 2nd baseman in the league.

[bobo]

Fine, take out Jeter, Rivera, and Posada because it was 10 years ago. But this shouldn't even be done because Rosenthal's quote was "developing and keeping players" - if you develop them well, in order to keep them you have to shower them with money.

Point is, referencing Pedroia, Youklis, and Papelbon and claiming that the Sox are "by far" better than the Yankees at developing players is a joke.

The "Dodgers trade everything they have for Hughes" was an obvious joke meant to point out how meaningless the term "untouchable" is. Sorry you didn't get it, b_diddy_7.

[bobo]

And darkstar, exactly which players that Boston has brought up do you like? Which of them were developed by the Sox?

[CarlitoBrigante]

Not to mention you can argue Nick Johnson, Wang and Cano are better then that trio.

Either away i think its a give in, fans of a team are going to like and possibly overrate their teams prospects/players. Yankee fans don't have a monopoly on this, all baseball fans do the same thing. I read on a Cinci forum, last year, that Bronson Arroyo was a #1 and shouldnt be traded for any propect in the league and there were at least 20 replies agreeing with this insane statement.

[darkstar1661]

Ok, I shouldn't have done the blanket statement saying that "all Yankee fans" are like that ~ but please do understand that from a non-NY standpoint it oftentimes seems to be the case... Sorry for the global statement.

I also agree and understand how every teams fans will talk up their players, but its usually somewhat realistic when talking about borderline guys. With players in the Big Apple it can often times go way overboard though ~ case in point, Melky.

Oh, and although I will not call him a horrible player, Cano is very overrated. He's at 273/314/418 ~ that's nothing special. The extremly low OBP is also a sign that it might never get better. Even while hitting 342 last year he could only produce a 365 OBP... Couple it with the complete lack of speed and we are looking at a future utility infielder in my eyes.

[bobo]

I don't know - Cano isn't a .342 hitter, but he is better than this. His walk rate is low but it is increasing, and Hispanic players' walk rates typically develop later than others'. His HR numbers are down, but 2B/3B are up - suggesting the power is there. He should settle in with an OPS in the low to mid 800s - which is still excellent for a 2nd baseman. Baseball Prospectus predicted him to have an 817 OPS and with it be worth $18.8 Million this season.

I'm not saying the Yankees are the greatest at anything - in fact, offer me Papelbon, Youkilis, and Pedroia for Wang, Cabrera, and Cano, and that's a very tough choice - I might just take that.

My only point that the whole Rosenthal article was laughably bad, and one reason was because there's not much evidence for either the Red Sox or Yankees being much better than the other in terms of developing players.

[CarlitoBrigante]

No worries darkstar, you seem like a reasonable guy. I agree with you about Melky i wanted to move him after last season seeing as his value was pretty high.

As for Cano i agree with Bobo, hes not a 342 hitter but i could see something like 295/340/470 with a ton of doubles and like 15 hrs. for this year he's on pace to have 49 doubles, 10 triples and 7 hrs. Thats pretty good power production from a 2b man. He's stll young give him sometime, i don't think he will ever be the most patient, but he certainly hits enough to be a regular. some guys just don't walk much, soriano is a good example.

[DunkinDonuts]

While we're on the subject of Cano, there's quite a logical leap between "I could see something like 295/340/470" and "He's one of the better-hitting second basemen in the league."

The fact is, right now he IS overrated, because he's coming off a single good season, and since has played 2/5 of a season at a production rate lower than the major-league average for his position last year.

And yet he's been labeled a perennial batting-title contender by Yankees fans and the inimitable Joe Morgan.

Do I think his current numbers reflect the mean for what we can expect in terms of production? No. But until he trends upward toward last season's numbers, people will continue to overrate him solely on the basis of last year's numbers. Also, I think predicting that he will hit close to .300 and still have an OBP 40 points higher is unrealistic at this point, since he's shown no sign of developing patience.

[darkstar1661]

Ok, thanks you two for both replying with logical posts ~ so refreshing, esp from Yankee fans :p
...J/K...well kinda...

Anyway, as for Cano I'm just not sure... The dramaticly different BA says to me that pitchers made the adjustments and he's having a hard time keeping up. I also see the ever so slightly higher BB rate as him just having a harder time finding pitches he can hit and instead watching them pass him by. His higher SO ratio is consistant with that. It doesn't mean patience, it shows being kinda lost just the same. If he can't find pitches he likes and isn't hitting them very well when he does then he could be in for trouble.

Not near a PC, what were his minor league stats like; similar?

I honestly see him as an Enrique Wilson type with maybe a tiny bit more power and of course no speed. Wilson actually looked like he too could have plus power for the possition while in the minors and first coming up, but ML pitching was too much for him... His BA and SLG also took big drops early and he was never more than an UT guy.

It will be interesting to watch the next couple years. Maybe he will come out of it, I just think its more likely he played way over his head his rookie year and will continue to struggle more and more as a starter.

[darkstar1661]

Oh, and Dunkin explained the actual "why overrated" part very well...

Thanks for that DD!

[quintjs]

Hughes has had what, 2starts? Lets not get carried away here. At least Lester has had 15, 7-2, 4.76ERA, and remember he did that without being healthy, 5-0, 2.36 in his first 7. I know who is more proven.

Hughes should end up being far better than a 3-4, but that doesn't mean he will. He got hit by Toronto, and shut down the Rangers, that says middle rotation so far.

How exactly are the Yankees getting Teixeira without Hughes? Any kid on the street wouldn't accept a package of Cabrera, Wright... so on..

AND Teixeira has Boras as an agent, the only reason to have Boras as your agent is to get a big FA deal, there will be no extension.

[CarlitoBrigante]

I would argue he's coming off of two good seasons at a very young age. which i think should be taken into account. I'm pressed for time so i can't look over the numbers thoroughly but i took a quick look over the stats of AL and those numbers would be top 5 in every offensive catagory.

Joe Morgan is an idiot.

Well his Obp is about 40 points higher then his average now, so i dont think its so dramatically unrealistic. You say he's show no signs of developing patience but in 06 he had 18 walks and he has 13 in about half the at bats this year. So while it may be slowly, his walk totals are going up. Also like i said his age should be taken into account, its not unheard of for players to get a better grasp of the strikezone after their 24th birthday. But you did raise some good points and maybe i have to rethink my position somewhat.

[CarlitoBrigante]

Also sorry for highjacking this thread.

[darkstar1661]

Ok, out of curiosity I looked into Cano a bit more on a PC... Currently he looks like this as far as AL-2B:
BA 6/12
OBP 10/12
SLG 7/12
OPS 8/12
Individually his numbers are slightly higher, but he is also 3rd in AB so... I think the %rankings themselves speak to the season he's having and how he stacks up for the possition...

Now, otherwise he is hitting in his 10-25% range from PECOTA creating a VORP of 7.5 - 17.4 (not a good sign).

He is still young, but in what is now his 3rd full year he has regressed lower than ever. Like I mentioned before, his BB are up ever so slightly, but his Ks are much higher than ever at the same time showing possiblly more insecurity and overall loss at the plate than patience...

While looking over his minorleague numbers we see in the 4 years before 2005 he had hit above 280 only once and had a SLG over 450 only once as well in all of his stops up the ladder. He had only a 41 HR and 103 2B total in 1930 career MiL ABs while sporting a 261/138 SO/BB mark. That's a SO/7.3AB and BB/14AB mark compaired to his current SO/5.8 & BB/19.7. You would expect some drop with the better pitching, this lines up well.

With his career MiL totals of 278/331/425 being very similar to his current production as well, I think it points to this probably bring more the real Cano. Maybe he can regain some and get closer to at least the 297/320/458 he put up his rookie season, but even that might be a stretch.

Even if this is the case he's still serviceable, just not top ranking and none of his MiL numbers lead me to believe he really ever should be...

Oh and something interesting that I didn't realize, but he's pretty much dead average on the fielding side of things. His FP and ranges both hover around the leagues avg which kinda surprised me.

Just me, and not a huge deal ~ but with his current numbers, MiL numbers and only one real flashy season under his belt I will stand by my "extremly overrated". :)

[darkstar1661]

Ok, out of curiosity I looked into Cano a bit more on a PC... Currently he looks like this as far as AL-2B:
BA 6/12
OBP 10/12
SLG 7/12
OPS 8/12
Individually his numbers are slightly higher, but he is also 3rd in AB so... I think the %rankings themselves speak to the season he's having and how he stacks up for the possition...

Now, otherwise he is hitting in his 10-25% range from PECOTA creating a VORP of 7.5 - 17.4 (not a good sign).

He is still young, but in what is now his 3rd full year he has regressed lower than ever. Like I mentioned before, his BB are up ever so slightly, but his Ks are much higher than ever at the same time showing possiblly more insecurity and overall loss at the plate than patience...

While looking over his minorleague numbers we see in the 4 years before 2005 he had hit above 280 only once and had a SLG over 450 only once as well in all of his stops up the ladder. He had only a 41 HR and 103 2B total in 1930 career MiL ABs while sporting a 261/138 SO/BB mark. That's a SO/7.3AB and BB/14AB mark compaired to his current SO/5.8 & BB/19.7. You would expect some drop with the better pitching, this lines up well.

With his career MiL totals of 278/331/425 being very similar to his current production as well, I think it points to this probably bring more the real Cano. Maybe he can regain some and get closer to at least the 297/320/458 he put up his rookie season, but even that might be a stretch.

Even if this is the case he's still serviceable, just not top ranking and none of his MiL numbers lead me to believe he really ever should be...

Oh and something interesting that I didn't realize, but he's pretty much dead average on the fielding side of things. His FP and ranges both hover around the leagues avg which kinda surprised me.

Just me, and not a huge deal ~ but with his current numbers, MiL numbers and only one real flashy season under his belt I will stand by my "extremly overrated". :)

[darkstar1661]

Oops, sorry for the double post! Its bad enough submitting long off topic posts without it being doubled up... Please excuse me on that :)

[bobo]

Can't argue with most of that, other than that PECOTA looks extensively on minor league numbers and still projected a weighted mean of over 800 OPS.

Anyway, I hate that he's not more patient, but maybe that will come. The K-rate this season does bother me a lot too. But the thing that just doesn't seem right is that this April and May are the two months of his entire career with the most strikeouts. In June at least (and small sample size, I know), the k-rate is way down.

I think the rest of the year will be telling. Maybe something was wrong the first couple months (though I know of nothing physically). Or it could have just been random - look at Abreu, who was even worse. Maybe he'll hit like he has for the past month for the rest of the season.

The one thing I remember last year is him just going crazy in the second half, specifically hitting everything hard the other way - and I haven't really seen that yet this year. Maybe it's a ill-advised change of approach or something.

And thanks for the calm, intelligent reply. Maybe this site has some hope for it yet ;)

[SierraM]

The Yankees should do that deal. I would love for them to throw away young pitching for more offense.

Philip Hughes isn't their kinda guy anyway. He grew up a Red Sox fan.

Plus he would be taking up a spot best reserved for the Yankee Clippard or Kei Igawa.

[DentalPlan]

Melky Cabrera is to Yankees fans as ______ is to Braves fans.

You selected "B," Kyle Davies. You are correct.

[DMONEY]

I mean this is just absolute crap. This site has not been doin so well lately, because its rumors do not reflect the parties involved having any common sense. Ken Rosenthal is MORON. Why take something like that seriously. Hughes is as untouchable as it gets, and I got news for you the Yankees are not as high on Texiera, especially not for what Rosenthal says. This is just so ridiculous I can no longer comment.

[nrmax88]

Wow, DMONEY, the Yankees arent that high on Teixeira? Did Mr Cashman or Steinbrenner tell you personally? The facts are, Mark Teixeira is a switch hitting, power hitting, gold glove calibur first baseman. He is going to hit 35 or more Homeruns every year, knock in 100 every year, and this is in a bad lineup in Texas. Inconsistent atleast. In the Yankees lineup he would do so much damage. Phil Hughes may be a superstar eventually, but he hasnt done anything at all yet. You cant just go get an allstar player just entering the prime of his career and not give them anything back. On a more serious note, I am devestated by this new knwledge that DMONEY will no longer be posting here. I dont know how I will get through this tough period of my life, but I will do my best. I wish everyone else the best of luck in coping with dmoneys departure.

[DunkinDonuts]

If he's leaving, I'm leaving. I prefer to get my information straight from Yankee front-office lips, and DMONEY is the vessel of God who can bring me closest to the source.

Adios, ye of little faith.

[bobo]

Just for fun I checked out Cano's hit charts. At least in Yankee Stadium (too tedious to look at every stadium on mlb.com - does anyone know where to get hit charts combining every stadium?) he is pulling the ball much more often now. In 2006 he really went all over the field, but not now. I bet this is the difference. Judging by a few recent rockets he's hit to CF, I hope he's made an adjustment.

[bobo]

Regardless of what Tex is or what Hughes is, the fact that he's only signed (and at a non-bargain price for 2008) for a year and a half makes the best pitching prospect in baseball worth more. You just do not trade a ML-ready, potential ace starter for a guy who will be a free agent in 2009. The "Hughes is not proven" argument is bull. Of course he's not proven - by that logic, would you trade him for any "proven player"? Hillenbrand perhaps? He has a certain value, determined by the likelyhood of him fullfilling various degrees of his potential. If he has a 5% chance of being a perenial Cy Young contender, a 25% chance of becoming a top 20 starter, a 30% chance of becoming a solid #2, and so on, he's got value, and it's more than Texiera.

You wanna talk a top young hitter who's signed at a reasonable price for 4+ years? Then we'll talk about Hughes.

For now, Tex entering his prime means nothing because he'll be gone in a year.

[nrmax88]

I', mot saying that the Yankees should trade Hughes in a deal for Tex, but still, if they want Tex, they will have to cinsider it. Melky Cabrera and Tyler Clippard just shouldnt get it done. I dont understand how a guy that hasnt proven shyt in MLB has more value then a perennial 35 HR/100 RBI good average, great defense, switch hitter. I love Tex, so I may be a little biased towards him, but still, he can really play, and a team who traded for him now would have almost 2 years to lock him up. There would really be no reason for Texas to trade him to the Yankees unless Hughes was involved.

[darkstar1661]

Bobo,

Cool deal... Yeah maybe Cano will turn something around and be the player he looked like last year, I just think its still a long shot for him to be a top-teir player at his possition though.

His track record is just a bit thin; his MiL numbers and most of his ML numbers just show he is probably not even close to as good as he is talked up to be. One season does not make a star, it only creates hype. That was the whole point afterall...

Oh and ESPN and Baseball-Reference both have stadium breakdowns I think. I know B-R does at least, it has tons of situational stats.

[bobo]

I don't think they can get him for Cabrera and Clippard, but I think an offer with Kennedy or Chamberlain is fair (and not one I'd want the Yankees to make).

You have to understand (and I know you do) that Tex's production is only part of it. In 2008 he's not underpriced by much, and after that even if he is signed to an extension, it will be at market value. You could just go sign a free agent for the same price. So regardless of if he's locked up or not, 2009 and beyond have zero value to the Yankees.

Now, I know you're not saying this, but by the logic implied in your argument, Hughes is worth less than a .280/15/75 hitter, because hey, at least he's proven something. I'm just saying that Hughes has immense value right now. If he were a free agent, he'd probably get something like $40-50M over 5 years, give or take a few million. The fact that he'd get $40M and not $5M reflects his potential, and the fact that he wouldn't get $80M reflects the risk.

The other context you can put the deal in is this - would Tex guarantee the Yankees a playoff spot? No way - if anything, Hughes probably has a bigger impact for 2007 than Tex would, because the Yankees need a starter much more than another bat.

It just doesn't make sense.

[darkstar1661]

"Now, I know you're not saying this, but by the logic implied in your argument, Hughes is worth less than a .280/15/75 hitter, because hey, at least he's proven something."

Hey Bobo, please keep your mouth shut till after the deadline ~ I had my fingers crossed that Hughes would be traded to the Tribe for Casey Blake and I don't want the Yank FO to figure out its not a good idea... :)

[DMONEY]

First off nrmax88, I was talking about in the trade market. And what's with this Mr. Cashman and Mr. Steinbrenner stuff, seriously. The fact of the matter is if you knew anything about the yankees you would know that they have abandoned trading their power pitching prospects. Therefore they aren't that high on trading anything more than b level prospects for him. And its more valuable in the current baseball economy to have hughes at this point in his career than texiera whose gonna be a free agent in 08. And what I said wasnt even that inflammatory so why don't u settle down.

[DunkinDonuts]

1. You said the site was "not doing well" because its rumors reflect parties having no common sense. The rumors that the site posts from other sources should not reflect upon the quality of the site itself. I don't expect this site to be anything more than a repository for information... sort of like a Drudge Report for baseball whisperings. Any additional insight is icing on the cake. Maybe we shouldn't shoot the messenger.

2. You called Ken Rosenthal a moron. That's pretty inflammatory, especially if it's based on one article in which Rosenthal states an opinion you don't share.

3. You said the Yankees weren't high on Teixeira. I'm not sure where you get your information, but it stands to reason that you've formed your opinion that the Yankees aren't high on Teixeira by collecting snippets of information from sites just like this one -- a site you just trashed.

Thinking the Yankees shouldn't be high on Teixeira is different from getting on a soapbox and declaring as a fact that they aren't high on him.

Provide sources for your conclusions, or come back when you have a few GMs in your rolodex.

[DMONEY]

Well it's not based on one article. And if you read what I just wrote, I said that what I meant was that the yankees are not high on trading for Texiera for anything more than b level prospects. Really only the first point you just made was fair.

[DMONEY]

And really the thing that I'm getting to is that whenever a guy is remotely available, the yankees top prospects are deemed up for grabs, when thats just not the case.

[DunkinDonuts]

DMONEY: "and I got news for you the Yankees are not as high on Texiera, especially not for what Rosenthal says."

There's still no basis for this quote, unless you can provide a front-office source.

As far as the Yankees not entertaining offers for their top prospects, the only support for this proposition is that the Yankees haven't actually traded Hughes, Tabata, Sanchez, Bettances, Chamberlain, Kennedy, Clippard, Whelan... yet. But I would submit that the Yankees just haven't had time or opportunity to start unloading prospects at the usual big-market pace.

Unloading Sheffield left the Yankees in the unfamiliar position of having more farmhands than they know what to do with, and they happened to stumble on a situation in Philadelphia where all they had to do to pick up a big outfield bat was foot his salary. A team with shallower pockets would have paid more heavily in prospects. That's going to be a trend for teams like the Yankees and Red Sox: picking up solid players at the expense of very little talent and a whole lot of cash, as small-market teams are caught in a tough spot.

But who WOULDN'T the Yankees trade for two years of Miguel Cabrera at arbitration costs (plus the opportunity to buy out his remaining arbitration years by signing him to a five- or six-year deal up front?) Is the Man With The Golden Arm and the Glass Groin untouchable then?

[DMONEY]

Well see the problem there is that your equating Mark Texiera with Miguel Cabrera. And thats a ridiculous comparison as Cabrera plays third, albeit not exactly gold glove, is three years younger and has put up equal or better numbers than Texiera while playing in a terrible hitters park (Texiera obviously plays in one of the best hitters parks). Cabrera has also been much more consistent while Tex has at times been very inconsistent, which obviously would be tough with the NY media. So you cant use the two interchangably.

Now I really don't know what you were getting at with bringing up the Sheff and Abreu deals, because I had been saying that the only way the Yankees would make a serious run at Texiera via trade was if it was a similar deal to Abreu. So yeah. And you write "unfamiliar position of having more farmhands." Huh? That a bad thing? Cause to get younger you kinda have to stockpile the farm system which is obviously what Cashman has been saying, since he was given total autonomy, that he's trying to do.
The yankees know the risks of finding pitching in free agency. They know that they can find offense in free agency or buy time for their prospects with guys like abreu. They'll probably line up and pay their due dilligence for guys like Tex and Cabrera when they are free agents. But they're not gonna mortgage the franchise's future for them, except for cabrera i guess.

[ZachAttack]

I'm laughing at people that think the Yankees won't trade for a big bat. The fans will be so pissed if Cashman doesn't make the playoffs this year due to him not wanting to "sell the farm." His job is at risk, I think he pulls the trigger on a deal like this.

[dacubsone]

someone please tell me why the yankees need another bat...lol

[SierraM]

Why do they need the offense....lol?

Nice offense against Colorado by the way. 10 games out and falling behind in the wild card race.

You were saying?

[dacubsone]

hmmm...well they have A-rod/Jeter/Cano/Abreu/Damon/Matsui/and Cabrera...thats seems pretty darn good to me

[dacubsone]

oopps forgot posada