Yankees Could Pursue Miguel Cabrera

now THIS is a trade rumor, if the yankees pickup miggy they fill up alot of the holes that Arod leaves behind, of course not all. But this is the only GOOD option for the yankees at this point since the Red Sox front office has alot of pressure to sign Lowell back for a few more years. Honestly, i wish the Sox picked up Miguel instead of Lowell, but i do love Lowell in Boston. The yankees will do whatever it takes to pull this off i think

ArodSucksAtLife:

That would have an effect. I don't think the Yankees will trade for someone who they can't sign long term.

If they're going to give up Hughes, who'll be under control, cheaply, for the next 5-6 years, then Miggy has be extended for at least that amount of time.

I don't know why everyone is so ready to trade Hughes away. The dude has equal stuff to Joba.

Melky Cabrera and Phil Hughes for Miguel Cabrera?? is this a joke? are you kidding me? i agree on Hughes being in the deal, but whats Florida going to do with another average OF?
if the Yankees want someone like Miguel Cabrera its going to take more than Melky and Hughes.
i like what rotoworld has to say on it..
"The Miami Herald speculates that the Yankees could make a strong push to trade for Miguel Cabrera to fill their opening at third base.
Cabrera is rapidly becoming too expensive for the Marlins. He is expected to earn around $11 million through arbitration in 2008 and is eligible to become a free agent after the 2009 season. If the Marlins decide to move Cabrera, multiple teams will likely bid for his services with the team likely demanding a couple major league-ready players and a few prospects in return for the third baseman."

..couple major league ready players and a few prospects. thats alot more than Melky Cabrera and Phil Hughes.

these rumours concerning the Yankees and trading for players like Johana Santana and Miguel Cabrera are a joke, funny hahah.. not gonna happen with the Yankee players mentioned, keep trying NY.

Wasn't Cashman supposedly trying to move the Yankees away from trading away their best prospects for stars? I know Miguel Cabrera is still pretty young, but tossing away Melky/ Hughes/ another guy for him seems like they're just reverting to their old methods. They would fill their hole at 3B, but open another one in SP, which is harder to fill.

If the Yankees did do this deal, it would be a knee-jerk reaction to A-Rod's departure.

Considering what a year and a half of Tiexiera went for I think Melky Cabrera and Hughes isn't close to enough for someone like Cabrera. If he's on the open market some other team would offer a heck of a lot more for him.

"he plays in NY so he can play under pressure"

When someone can present some statistical data suggesting Melky is in fact superior to your average cfer I will stop arguing

Please leave your homerism out of it though

I think whether or not the Yankees do a deal like this will solidify what direction they're taking. They had the best lineup in baseball the 4 years A-Rod was around and that hasn't gotten them very far in the playoffs(outside of 04). They don't NEED to replace A-Rod(besides the fact that it's impossible to do so, regardless of how outstanding Miguel Cabrera is). They don't NEED to have the best offense in baseball. They need to improve their pitching and trading away their top pitching prospects is definitely not the best way to do that.

The Yankees should never trade joba,hughes or cano.

Get Wang in this deal!!He sucks!

New York has to wake up on this one. Granted Cabrera gained a little weight the past couple years but he is no doubt one of the best hitters in baseball period. Cabrera hits for power and average. He will be a perfect fit for the Yankees and Joe Giradi will ensure that he fits in that Yankees uniform.

But you have to give up talent to get talent. Huges or Chamberlin would have to be included in that deal. But I still think it is definitely worth it. I also still think the yankees are in a position to spend a little money or trade a guy with a big salary and cover a large portion of it.

Finally, if the Yankees would some how get Cabrera, he would put up just as good numbers as A-rod during the regular season and even hit in post season....You guys got a blessing that A-rod left. You can't have your #3 or 4 hitter go 0 for playoffs and ever expect to win in the playoffs.

ps this comment board needs fixin

Chamberlain throws more then 2 pitches. I believe he also throws above average change and curveballs, which havent been used in his repetoire as a reliever. Still though, for all of the talk of Cabrera being out of shape, Joba isnt exactly a physical specimen either and has had some injury issues before also. Just a thought.

nbbaseball:

I think Santana is out of the question. The Twins need a good OF who can hit, a 2B who can hit and a starter back. The Yankees can offer 2 of the three and would be losing a lot.

I'm not saying Santana is worth it, because he is but the Yankees would be losing the only good young hitter under 30 that they have and Joba as well as another good prospect (probably Tabata).

Joba: has 4 pitches, not 2. Like Papelbon, he only threw his best stuff because he only needed to go an inning or two at most.

What I think they should do:

They have 4/5 starters for the long term. Hughes, Wang, Joba, Kennedy. The bullpen should get stronger as Melanchon and Cox become ready over the next year. They have plenty of arms outside of Hughes and Joba.

Trade some minor league arms for hitting prospects. This is the one area where the Yankees have nothing. Get a young 3B and sign someone to platoon with Betemit for a year. Get a young OF if possible.

In the FA market, sign Wood, take a flyer on Prior (if they cut him) and one or two more cheap bullpen arms.

Resign Rivera, Posada and make sure Pettitte is back.

They can field a rotation of Pettitte/Wang/Hughes/Joba/Mussina/Kennedy

They'll have everyone but ARod back and enough young hitters for 2009+

Santana and Cabrera are too inexpensive in terms of the pieces the Yankees lose and the flexibility they lose.

"If they trade Hughes/Joba I'll cease being a Yankees fan. I'll have to root for a new team. "

Yankees fans are completely irrational in evaluating prospects. You seem to be heavily influenced by what management is doing. When the yanks were always trading the farm fans were happy with it and now that the yankees refuse to trade anyone they think that is also brilliant. Good management doesnt dump the farm but takes action when necessary. Cashman seems incapable of balancing these things.

As far as Melky goes I'm not sure how anyone can say he is anything other than just another guy.

Out of all CF's in baseball with at least 400AB's here is where Melky ranked (according to ESPN):

OPS - 16th
OBP - 14th
SLG - 16th
HR - 16th
SB - 16th

That number represents his ranking amongst the 20 CF's who qualified. He ranks in the bottom 1/4 in just about every offensive category.

Sure he's young but his minor league stats don't indicate that there is a lot of growth. In fact, most were shocked at his performance this year.

In a trade for players like Johan and Cabrera, Melky is just a throw in.

BJ, I'm with you that he was below average offensively for a CF this season but its pretty tough to project him using his minor league stats. He's an anomoly; always young for his level and up to the majors quick enough to get 1,000 MLB PAs* before he turned 23. Not a lot of comps out there**.

* I'm going to keep repeating this stat until the "Melky sucks" people calm down a bit. Yes, he was below CF average but he's also insanely young. The same people who go crazy for Ellsbury's cameo are trashing Cabrera when Ellsbury is a year older. You *have to* factor age in.

** To further illustrate this point: Melky's baseball-reference top comps through age 22 list includes 3 hall of famers. I'm not suggesting he's the next Clemente, I'm just saying there are so few comps that he actually made the list.

Don't get me wrong, Coco is not as valuable as Melky, but its not that far off. I know Melky has a gun, but Coco was a top 5 CF in baseball this past year, if not top 3.

Coco age 23
BA: 297
OBP: 344
SLUG:446

Melky age 23
BA: 273
OBP: 327
SLUG:391

Now I know Coco has digressed some offensively since then, but I just thought it was worth mentioning. That being said, I think the Sox will move Coco and he'll hit 310 for some NL team. Just never got into a comfortable spot with the Sox. Unfortunate really.

Hughes would have to be included in a deal for Cabrera if I'm the fish. As awesome as Joba was, it was such a small sample size, and like somebody already said, he's been injured before. I know Hughes has too, but he's a little bit more of pedigree prospect.

If the Yanks can get Miguel Cabrera, they have their Manny Ramirez for the next 7-8 years. The Yankees NEED a RHH. Otherwise there are going to be some real big issues facing lefties. God forbid the Sox trump the Yanks and trade for Santana, or sign him if he reaches free agency in 2009.

It should be an interesting offseason to say the least.

if the Yankees want Cabrera from Florida its going to take one of Hughes or Chamberlain, and one of those wont even be the only Yankee player involved.

do the Yankees really need Miguel Cabrera? sure hes a young star player but i think there are other lesser type players the Yankees could get without having to unload one of Hughes or Chamberlain.
personally not liking the Yankees i would love to see them trade away one of Hughes/Chamberlain.. but since theyre down on SP they shouldnt trade either of them unless its for someone like Santana.
the Yankees could probually trade less and pick up a decent 3B that is good enough.. ofcorse being the Yankees they have to go after the biggest star players so they have an all star at every position.

the smart move for the Yankees would be to keep all their young talent and possibly concede next year and then use all the money they have to sign the big name free agents that will become free agents in the next couple years.

Sweet. Yankees going for more offense. Do it Cashman!

Seriously, Melky blows. He is a 4th OF, nothing more. NOTHING suggests he will be more than that, not minor league numbers, not "flashes" in the majors, nothing. Yankee fans need to give it up with spewing this BS.

The Yanks aren't getting Miggy unless they give up a LOT of the guys they NEED (like Hughes/Joba). Yanks are missing the playoffs this year no matter what they do. FA isn't good enoguh in their areas of need to get it done. And their pitching is just not good enough/too young to overhaul that drastically in one offseason.

They won't only not make the playoffs this year, but they will be in danger of finishing third in the 2nd best division in the AL this year.

"NotJoeMorgan- were you actually impressed with what u saw from Hughes this year? I wasnt. Prospects get hyped very easily in NY & here that may certainly be a factor."

Youngest pitcher in the AL throws 72 solid innings at an above league average K rate. Factor in the media focus in NY, his strong postseason debut and the hamstring problems and, yes, I'm quite impressed. I think most objective people would be.