Heyman Discusses Huston Street

SI.com's Jon Heyman says "some executives believe Huston Street is available for a steep price."  Last we've heard the A's were talking extension with Street.  In January, the Chronicle's Susan Slusser had this to say on him:

Street opens the season with the team but potentially could get moved by the deadline if a contender were to lose a closer, but overall, he's less likely than Blanton to get dealt - he's three years younger and, coming off an arm injury, he's not going to bring back as much.

To help describe Street's likely high price, Heyman tells us that the A's asked the Yankees for Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes for Joe Blanton.  That's odd, given the Yanks' unwillingness to trade that much for Johan Santana. 

Comments

[Playwright]

Heyman's article actually seems reasonable today. No factual misstatements that I'm aware of. No excessive beating of dead horses or venting of old prejudices.

[DeJay]

Not sure who Rich Haren is. Perhaps he meant Dan Harden :)

[BxSquad]

wow he wanted phil hughes and joba for joe blanton,
does bellie bene thinks blanton is better than johan santana..?

[bjsguess]

That's absurd.

Now Beane may have asked for that but there is no way in the world that he thought the Yankees would bite.

[MrQuestions]

Haha yeah that is absurd, especially since Blanton is a product of his environment... Pitchers park, smart catcher (Kendall), good defense behind him... I'd like to see how he'd do pitching someplace else, I don't think he'd be much more than a high-end #4 starter.

[FineHamAbounds]

It's called haggling. He asked that much hoping they'd come back with a smaller offer, but still one worth more than Blanton.

[yanksfan]

If you're going to haggle, you don't start off with a price that makes the guy instantly walk away.

We're standing outside in 100 degree heat. I've got a few bottles of cold water and you're really thirsty. You ask how much for one.

If I say $500, you're just going to walk away.

If I say $10, you might go for it, you might say "How about $5 ?", or you might still walk away.

You obviously want to start by asking for too much, but still a low enough price that the other person feels there's a potential for a deal.

[milehigh78]

eah, I gushed over Beane after the Haren and Swisher deals and I still think he's a brilliant GM who's going to completely fleece someone with Blanton, but...Joba and Phil?! C'mon! Heyman's just making that up; I really can't see Beane even TRYING that. Negotiating is one thing, asking for two of the game's top young pitchers in exchange for a guy who'd be the Yanks' No. 3 just makes you come across as a complete moron. Beane isn't a moron, so... (now Heyman...)

[jpshark]

Sorry, but I gotta call B.S. on Beane asking for both Joba and Hughes. Last offseason, or maybe at the 07' deadline he may have. But I seriously doubt he did since. I do believe Hughes is a bit overhyped because of the market he pitches in, but Joba looks real good and that's not to say Hughes wont be a solid pitcher, I just don't think he's gonna be what everybody is portraying. Regardless of the park, Blanton is better then a #4. Until he goes to another team, in another park and is lit up its unfair to say that he is a below average pitcher with above average stats because of where he plays. Yes, i'm aware of his home/road splits from last season, but there is such a thing as home-field advantage and being more comfortable in your home park. I really get tired of hearing it to be perfectly honest. Yes he's fat, yes he plays in a pitcher friendly park, and no he doesn't throw 96 MPH. However he's a non-ace, solid command pitcher who walks next to nobody and puts up lots of innings and good numbers. He is at worst a #3. Go take a look at his park adjusted stats, he's still above average folks.

[Tim Dierkes]

TypeKey doesn't choose the banned words. I do.

[dtownmbrown]

I hope you're joking Dejay

[DeJay]

dtownmbrown - thats what the smiley face meant! ;)

[Athletic Domination]

Why wouldnt Beane ask this, he's fleeced teams before and it shows how valuable he thinks Blanton is right now.

I love how so many people think they know what kind of pitcher Joe is when he has a whopping 3 seasons under his belt, that include a fairly misnomer sophomore jinx season. He was always considered a #2 type while coming up and heading into his age 27 year, he's right there. Dont you folks out there know that some pitchers, good pitchers, learn from their mistakes and grow as players? Last year his innings went up, his HRs and walks went down and Ks went up, what more do you want to show you that he is going to be in this game for a very, very long time?

Personally I think he is David Wells pt II. He is going to be winning Cy Young's when he's in his mid-30s at his current rate of growth.

[asm]

I also want to object to the idea that Blanton has a good defense behind him. He's a flyball pitcher in the massive Oakland Coliseum and last year his outfielders were primarily Shannon Stewart's one knee in LF, Swisher (no natural CF) and Kotsay (prematurely aged 45) splitting time in CF, and Travis Buck and Jack Cust for Pete's sake in RF.

[DunkinDonuts]

yanksfan,

Your response as to why asking for the moon might not be the wisest negotiation tactic is very well reasoned. But you forgot one important point... he was negotiating with the Yankees. With that caveat, a more appropriate analogy would be if I had two bottles of water and I asked for $500 for one, and you countered with, "No, I'm partial to five-hundred-dollar bills, but I'll give you six hundred of these damn singles."

Seriously, some may argue that the Yankees' philosophy has changed, evidenced by their restraint in the Santana sweepstakes. But I'm skeptical, since this is the same team that declared definitively that it would not negotiate with A-Rod if he opted out, insulted him after he did, and then proceeded to pay him far more than the market value for his services... for more years than anyone else was willing to offer... PLUS incentives.

Quite frankly, I think if Billy Beane triple-dog-dared Hank Steinbrenner to pony up Hughes and Chamberlain for Blanton, and then called him a chicken, he might be able to pull a fast one.

[BaseBallz]

I really wish Beane pushed the envelope with the Reds and relented a little to aquire Cueto.

Beane knew they had something special there and now so does everyone else. He could have unloaded Blanton and got Cueto and Baily if he had only thrown in something else with Blanton or i don't know.

I hope he can spin Street into something interesting. Or even Embree