Washburn To Yankees Close To Done-Deal

USS Mariner says it's done, but no details on who he was traded for except it's an outfielder.

http://ussmariner.com/2008/07/26/washburn-to-yanks/

Considering Melky is playing, it's probably some guy like Christian, Gardner, or somebody in the lower minors.

The Yankees have removed the listed starter for tomorrow from their website. It now reads To Be Announced (where it had read Sidney Ponson).

It would be a shame to send Garner cross-country. He has tremendous upside and ridiculous speed. If you look at his stats at each level, he typically starts out very weak before finding his footing. It is only a matter of time before he turns into an everyday MLB player hitting in the high .200s low .300s and stealing 30+ bases. He's our table setter of the future.

The Yankees won't be sending Melky or Gardner. Possibly Christian, but I doubt it.

They'll send a minor league nobody. This a pure salary dump, nothing else.

If Washburn wants compensation, he can keep playing for the Mariners.

"The Yankees won't be sending Melky or Gardner. Possibly Christian, but I doubt it.

They'll send a minor league nobody. This a pure salary dump, nothing else."

Wow
I'm surprised Brian Cashman has enough time to clear up trade rumors online.

Nothing up with Bradley.
He was tossed for arguing balls/strikes.

Funny stuff Meoveryouok!

(From a Mariner fan) I have never been a Melky fan. He seems like a 4th outfielder given a ton of opportunities to start. Gardner is obviously the more exciting player. The guy is stupid fast and has good on base skills. I've seen a few Mariner fans view him as another Scott Podsednik.

Its really funny that we keep seeing Cabrera and Gardner's name cropping up if its going to be a "pure salary dump". As long as Igawa doesn't come back and the Yanks eat all of Wash's contract, I wouldn't care if the Mariners got nothing in return. More and more it seems the Mariners will probably pay some of his salary or whatever he wants for compensation and get back Melky, Christian or Gardner.

Who would have ever thought a player would demand compensation for being traded from the worst team in baseball to the Yankees? Its like losing a dollar and finding a 20...then demanding the wallet that the 20 came in.

You know this is going to be a huge letdown if its Washburn to the Yanks for a PTBNL.

After all the talk and names thrown around for the past week.

that would be an "OMG" moment followed by a "wah-wah-wahhhhh" soundbite.

chances are it is a PTBNL, but you never know. maybe the Mariners have a chance at reversing the negative stigma from the Bedard trade a little tiny bit.

it would've been better for the mariners trade discussions had the yankees not gotten a 7-3 lead today... my first impressions of Nady? Not a bad deal, kudos Yanks.

"USS Mariner says it's done, but no details on who he was traded for except it's an outfielder."

Looks like USS Mariner was wrong, which pisses me off, because there are so many blogs out there that do the things the right way and yet one blog will report a false rumor without any sources or any indication where the rumor came from and all of the sudden the mainstream media starts yelling again about how blogs are unreliable.

luissojo, my guess is that you don't know much about baseball, but I appreciate your attempts to add to this board. HOWEVER, Gardner is a CF with negative power, a la Brett Butler of the Giants/Dodgers/Indians. Hopefully this signals a trade of Ichiro, kazoo noise, kazoo noise, unenergetically waving my Mariners pennant that goes on my pencil, woo-hooing in monotone levels... Side note, I would genuinely be happy if we got rid of Ichiro for say good players/prospects, but it's been long overdue!

To Boston

Ichiro (huge improvement over Ellsbury defensively and offensively)
Betancourt (clutch hitter, low Ks, more tested)
Burke (improves #2 catcher behind Varitek)
Rhodes (gives them the extra bp arm they've wanted)

To Seattle

Ellsbury (hitting 40 points below Ichiro)
Lowrie (probably too inexperienced to put playoff hopes in the hands of)
Masterson (The centerpiece of the deal)

(Burke is a GREAT defensive catcher and he can even pitch in a pinch! Probably not adviseable though)

Betancourt has ridiculous upside and only left Cuba about three years ago. Scouts say that if he were to get better understanding of the strike zone and stealing bases, he could be a Jose Reyes/Hanley Ramirez clone. View him as a Jed Lowrie with more upside, more MLB experience, but he's really a minor league player as his 3 years of arbitration are already included in his current deal that runs through 2011 with an option for 2012, total value averages out to about 2MM a season)

(my issue with Ichiro is that they want to build a team around him and he's a table setter at this point of his career, his value goes up on a team like the Red Sox, and without us competing, we should be focused on building for the future, also Ortiz, Youkilis, Papelbon, Varitek are all vocal leaders on the team, so Ichiro doesn't have to carry that responsibility!)

bulsworth...

Since 2005 (when Wang became a MLB player)

Washburn

112 G, 111 GS, 3 CG, 2 SHO, 668 IP, 714 H (9.62 H/9 IP), 332 R, 311 ER, 80 HR, 205 BB (2.76 BB/9 IP), 376 SO (5.07 SO/9 IP), 1.38 WHIP

Wang

97 G, 95 GS, 4 CG, 1 SHO, 628.7 IP, 635 H (9.09 H/9 IP), 278 R, 265 ER, 34 HR, 178 BB (2.55 BB/9 IP), 281 SO (4.02 SO/9 IP), 1.29 WHIP

By the way, I forgot one more thing BULSWORTH, shut up when you don't know what you're talking about!

I hope they don't sign him. They do not need a starter or anybody else. I've just heard Mariners want the Yanks to pick up all of Washburns contract and a top prospect. Frick that.

Ignore the "Guru" guys. He may be the most clueless poster in the history of sports chat boards.

"Washburn = Wang????" LOL!! Before he got hurt NOBODY had more wins than Wang in the last few seasons....NOBODY.

GO back to the Harry Potter chatboard where you belong. PLEASE!

jjyankeesfan2, you can not be that stupid... Win total MEANS NOTHING!! If Washburn was on a team like New York offensively where they could buy every hitter in baseball, he'd have 15-20 wins every season. He has the second lowest run support total over the last 4 years in the major leagues, the Mariners just didn't score behind him... How does your teams ability to score runs guage ability?! So a guy with a 20 wins and a 5.00 ERA is better than a guy with 12 wins and 3.00 ERA?! Hmmm, love the logic... Two years ago everyone thought Wang was a AAAA pitcher who was fluke lucky. I'm sorry, but Wang is statistically a very similar pitcher. He has done well in the Cy Young voting for TWO REASONS!! ONE, he's in New York, so he gets more exposure and more people vote for Yankees players because of bias, look at this years All-Star game for instance, sure it was fans and not writers, but come on, Jeter wasn't even the 10th best SS this season. TWO, he had a lot of runs because of the huge run totals the Yankees put up the last couple years, without that run support, he wouldn't have had the wins. Also Wang's high placement for the Cy Young Award is MOSTLY based on the fact that writer's are lazy and just look at win totals, even though it's a HORRIBLE way of assessing ability... Look at the Cy Young winners in the NL over the last 5-10 years, most times the ERA leader doesn't win, even though he is about a run better than the guy that does... Those are paper thin arguments and only make me look like that much more of a brilliant poster when the people criticizing me are so ignorant... You have to assume I'm the opposite of you and with your dumb statements, I must be smart if you think I'm dumb!

Also, I never said sh*t about them taking on Vidro, in fact who cares if the Yankees take him, we DFA his ass and wow, we are paying the 2MM we already expected to pay, and if they don't kick in on Washburn's contract, than the money we save on Washburn's '08 contract covers the money we pay Vidro to go away. Also, if Vidro gets picked up at a pro-rated league minimum, the Mariners get that back, which would be 140-150K, plus the 150-180K they got from Sexson, that's almost a half million going back into the kitty for this year's payroll. Plus if they move Ibanez, maybe Beltre, and other players on the team, they'll get salary relief from that, what's 2MM in comparison to $117MM payroll, whatever, the only reason Cashman is being a little b*tch is because the Yankees are paying a 30-35% luxury tax, so $4MM to Washburn would be like $5.5MM because of all his stupid signings! Please God don't let Brian come to Seattle next year and be our GM, just look at your minor leagues and your team, with the amount of wasted money and the lack of quality prospects, they are a How-To-Book away from teaching the league the best way to not run an organization!

1. Who ever thinks that Washed-up burn is as good as Wang, then they are on crack.

2. If the Mariners are pushing for a top prospect, there not dealing Washed-up burn.

"Please God don't let Brian come to Seattle next year and be our GM, just look at your minor leagues and your team, with the amount of wasted money and the lack of quality prospects, they are a How-To-Book away from teaching the league the best way to not run an organization!"

Really? Bill Bavasi did a bang up job while he was there. What good prospects have you got besides Balentien and Clement? The Yankees can boast a lot more than that.

I know where Tacoma is, it's where all the poor people live in Washington who are usually too uneducated to do anything but sell weed, buy weed, and pretend to gang bang. Tacoma is the trashiest part of Washington, I try and avoid it, so how do you like living there?! As for your comments, try reading a scouting report... Lowrie is criticized for his lack of range, is projected as a 2B because of it (doesn't matter we have Beltre who makes up for it), is considered average at best with the stick .270-.280 hitter projection at best. Minimal power in a small frame (10-15 HR). Has an average to a tick above average arm. Average to a tick above average speed. Considered to be a Willie Bloomquist with a little more pop in his bat, very little more.

I find it amazing that you come off so arogant and yet you haven't even read a scouting report for these guys to know how REAL baseball people evaluate talent, you think that Tabata's 4 homeruns and .237 AVG got Nady?! Nope, it was his projections! Betancourt is one of the fastest SS in the majors, if not one of the fastest players in the majors in general, Reyes, Ichiro, Ramirez, these guys are faster, but Betancourt is one of the top 10-15 in terms of speed across the league.

He's 6'2, 200 lbs. not 5'10 (he's listed generously at 6'0, but unless he got a growth spurt after college I think that's typical sports exageration), 180 lbs like Jed. Lowrie has never hit more than 13 HRs in a minor league season and that was mostly due to the 8 he hit against inferior competion at AA, as 23 should mean that he's playing AAA if he's that good a prospect. Betancourt is the better player by far, he grades out as a 20-25 HR, 80-100 RBI #2-#6 hitter when he peaks... Lowrie is projected as a #2, #7-#9, HUGE difference! Also, Betancourt has an Ozzie Smith defensive ceiling, the best Lowrie projects to is Ozzie Guillen (a little better than serviceable). You have no idea what you are talking about as far the Mariners prospects and should really not act like you do... Arthur Rhodes throws left-handed 93-94, still effect (struck out the side a few nights ago in order), and he's in his words, "healthier than I've been in the last 10 years." Oh and he has 10 teams that want hime because he's not very good, right?! You're the one that needs to shut up! Popping in once in a blue moon like you have some type of wealthy tid-bit of knowledge that goes over the head of someone like me who actually understands and knows the game on a deeper than collecting baseball cards level! Yeah, right, sorry Irkle, but you don't have anything to share with me worth noting or else your whole post wouldn't have been wrong!

Garu, why don't you just get a job for a newspaper instead of wasting your time writing these books for ppl who dont give a crap of what you have to say.

oh, your very cute with your projections sir. do u remember a left-hander of the name of ryan anderson? what do your projections say about him? oh you say he is the next randy johnson? interesting... he has a similar frame? that sounds good... OH WAIT! ryan anderson is out of baseball!! awwwwwwwwww, thats too bad. i guess those projections did nothing for him. he was 6 years of watsed talent.

jose tabata? im surprised you know him, the alfonso soriano reincarnation, right? good player. wrong. yes he was very good and he is only 19, but with a kid like that, you know he fills out and becomes less of an athlete than he once was , and keep in mind he has off field issues too. he reminds me of a guy named joel guzman, all the talent in the world, but totally wasted because of laziness and off field issues.

im not trying to pick on u, but u need to come back to earth and live with the rest of the earthlings, not off in deep space...

Look no one on here should take Baseball Guru seriously. He's either a troll or he just likes talking out of his @$$. Washburn doesn't put up a better than average ERA every year. In fact, his ERA has only been better than league average once since his great 2002 season. Betancourt profiles as a 20-25 HR hitter when he's never even managed a SLG of .450, while Lowrie will never hit many because he only his career high is 13 (Betancourt's is of course 9, but who cares). Oh and Washburn is equal to Wang because "their numbers are similar," of course disregarding the fact that Wang gives up .49 HR/9 while Washburn gives up 1.08 HR/9. I'd say that's a pretty huge difference right there.

I also love the fact that we disregard Lowrie tearing up AA, because he was already 23 and good prospects who are 23 should be at a higher level, when Betancourt was only posting a line of .273/.310/.410 at AA when he was 23. But then again Betancourt is projected as a possible Ozzie Smith level defender with 20-25 HR power, so I guess we can just disregard everything he's done in professional baseball to this point.

"GURU"

There is not ONE PERSON on here that even supports one word you say. If you don't believe me, read the trail of posts after each of yours. You are officially the village idiot.

PS - And please....for the love of God...stop with the useless 76 paragraph diatribes. Stick to your 8th grade paper dude.

and let's not forget that baseball guru is a stereo-typing, pompous piece of $#!+ who can't tell the difference between the stats on the back of a baseball card and going and the experience of watching game itself.

thanks for bringing my home into all this and saying:
"it's where all the poor people live in Washington who are usually too uneducated to do anything but sell weed, buy weed, and pretend to gang bang."

because thats really classy. i can tell youre a great person. im sure youre mother at least thinks so

Guru, you have a good site for scouting reports? You know, 2-8 or 20-80 scale? I can't find one. I don't have a subscription to Baseball America or Prospectus or anything so all I see is preseason stuff and 2 Mariners tops on every list. I'd love to see an updated list of prospect rankings.

Hey don't act like "do you know where Tacoma is?!" like your proximity to Seattle has anything to do with knowing the Mariners as you are clearly stating your supposed knowledge over the Red Sox organization and you don't live in Worcester or Foxborough. So you don't like me calling a spade, a spade, than so be it, but you can paint your house, but that doesn't change the overall intelligence and rationalization of the people that live there! Don't like what people think of your home, then MOVE! Real easy concept, it's even cheaper to live in the suburbs, so wo imagine that, cheaper AND nicer, no comments from people when you try and rep or bang your hood, yo! LoL

Wow Guru
1) Go back and read my comparison, Wang is better.
2) Please don't talk about people's hometown's that way...that's disgusting.
3) I'm from Worcester and am a huge Sox fan and still know Wang is better than Washburn.

Halman

http://prospectinsider.com/2008/06/10/farm-report-gregory-halman/

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/366563_mfarm11.html

"Cano's on fire."

Seems like everyone on the Yankees has been on fire since the All Star break.

Especially Yankee pitching.

And nice job today for Demaso Marte, stricking out Papi and making him look silly. That what we need him for.

Wow, just amazing, so your primary sources for your bullish view of the Mariners farm system are both Seattle based sites. For some reason I'm not at all surprised by that fact.

nixa37, that's why I asked for the scouting report sites.

Sal from Tampa, you know the Yankees have lost a game that Sexson's played in for them?

Nixa37, was that the one that started out with a reference to Pedro Cerrano? I couldn't finish it after that.

Alright, I guess we should just take your word for it then. No way a Seattle based site that is going to cater to its audience by focusing on any somewhat promising Seattle prospect, while spending little time talking about anyone else. The reason you think your prospects are so great is basically the same that most Yankees' fans think they have 10 top prospects.

Curacao is not the Netherlands.

Oh and I go to AAA games, so I see guys as they come in the farm system and as they leave the farm system to get to the majors... I watch more minor league games in person than major league games...

I wonder what they mean when saying Seattle is holding out for a "top prospect"?

Are they talking Brett Gardner or Austin Jackson?

Hahaha BaseballGuru just quit now. First of all, Andruw and Balentien are both from Curacao, which may be a territory of the Netherlands, but has absolutely nothing else in common with it. I also don't see why your country of origin would have anything to do with K and BB rates. Oh and Balentien's numbers in those departments were nowhere near as bad as Halman's. In 2006 he was at 140 Ks and 70 BBs, and in 2007 he was at 105 and 54. That's a far, far cry from 113 and 21 through 98 games.

Brett Gardner... Austin Jackson is a reach from everything that's been said... If they aren't going to center a deal with the Pirates around Jackson, no way they do it for Washburn, deserved or not...

Balentien is 3 years older than Halman and it has to do with the instructors... They all go through the same baseball academy...

Why do the A's all have a .400 OBP and can't hit for power except the all or nothing attempts of Cust?! Same hitting coach, well, when all the guys come out of one academy in the Netherlands run by a handful of the same coaches, you're going to get similar players, both from selection of who to put into the academy and how you develope them... Look at Venezuela, is it a coincidence that most venezuelans are high contact hitters with low walk totals?! How about the type of pitchers that come out of there... Most of them are similar too because they all are trained to play in Venezuela... You can see similarities in D.R. guys too, like Beltre, they are usually lower contact, bigger swingers... The life is not a million coincidences, it's a million connection reactions...

So American Samoa is part of the US? Or Guam? The may be territories owned by the US, but they are not the US.

By the way, I know a little about American Samoa and Samoa as my best-friend is half Samoan. The Somoans have their own military that does not answer to U.S. troops, that's what makes them a territory... They fight along side U.S. soldiers if they want, but they are not subject to following orders or being drafted, etc.

BaseballGuru,

Curacao has had its own government for over 50 years now. They have specifically rejected becoming part of the Netherlands. Actually they were scheduled to become a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands this year but they decided to postpone it.

Washburn isn't even close to Wangs caliber. Wang is only in the league 3.5 years and already has a 1/2 run ERA better then Washburn who has pitched in pitcher's parks.. I don't exactly call Yankee stadium a "pitcher's park".. but Safeco and LA's field were pitchers parks... Wang is consistant... look at 2005-2008.. his ERA ranged from 3.63-4.07 while 2008 is a big injury year for him.. not only this latest injury to his foot but the beginning of the year also. Washburns ERA has been all over the map.

He is a solid pitcher, but he's never been in Wang's class. Wang is one of the better pitchers in the league, and if you don't think .50 is big for ERA then you never really played baseball - you're just couch commando.

There's so many disparities between Washburn and Wang it's ridiculous. You only point out the stats that favor him. How about homeruns? Wang has never given up more then 12 in a season; Washburn has done it 9 times including this year. In fact out of the 4.5 years Wang has been in the majors he has NEVER given up LESS homeruns then Wang in any full season.

How can you even start to believe Washburn is that good?

test

Guru, i dont know much about the NY system regarding position guys..

But Hubbard, Limonta, Wilson, Carroll, and a number of others u listed will never be ML players..

Wilson is like 26 in AA.. i would hope he could hit 20 HRs and drive in 70

Halman.. u presented his stats as if he's hit 24 homers at AA.. when in reality he did most of his damage at high A this yr..

I like Halman alot. He has great speed, above average defender, ridiculous power, etc..

His K's obviously need work, but he's only 20, and he's suprisingly held his own at AA so far..

He's got a very high ceiling, but lets not go crazy.. he's got things to work one and probably 2-3 more yrs in the minors..

I also so u hype Raben after his first week of pro ball.. he had ridiculous numbers.. but have u checked recently.. he's hitting about .150 since u declared him the Sultan of Swat..

Lets just calm down a little

Dude, you're insane. 20-30 IBB's a season? The only guy with more than 13 so far this year is Pujols, and not even he has hit 30 at any point in his career. You're basically projecting this guy to be one of the top 3 to 5 hitters in the game based on his power in high-A and AA. Seriously, how much bigger of a homer can you be?

Wow the Mariners blinders are amazing. Yes, Washburn and Wang have some similar peripheral stats, but one is a nasty sinker ball pitcher who doesn't allow anyone to hit for power against him, while the other is a flyball pitcher that gives up way more XBHs and over twice as many HR/9. If you don't understand the huge difference in value there, then there's nothing we can do for you. Obviously, Wang has far better ERA numbers than Washburn for some reason, and I think its pretty obvious to everyone but you that its due to his far superior pitching style.