Murray Chass: Furcal, Sabathia, Lowe, Teixeira

Cashman took the risk, and so far, it's worked.

If Hughes turns into something valuable (not less likely than many lauded prospects in the game today), and Sabathia performs to expectations, Cashman will (and should) be lauded for the move. If he had traded for Santana, missed out on Sabathia, and Hughes turned into something while the Yankees had Santana for his decline years, Cashman will have (and should have) been derided for the move.

You simply can't start judging the move when it will take years to resolve itself. That's just bad analysis.

the braves should trade escobar to redsox

"the braves should trade escobar to redsox"

"the braves should trade escobar to redsox"

"the braves should trade escobar to redsox"

you obviously feel very strongly about this?

"the braves should trade escobar to redsox"

Sure - for Jed Lowrie, Clay Buchholz, and Lars Anderson.

Murray Chass still writes about Baseball?

Boras is, as usual, full of crap. The Red Sox should continue to call his bluff. In this economy,8/160m. is the max he's going to get so he should decide among the suitors and sign.

"Brian Cashman has said that his refusal to trade for Johan Santana last year was because the Yankees knew C.C. Sabathia was going to be a free agent this year."

I really hope he's just saying that to save face for passing on Santana. Otherwise, that is REALLY dumb.

icedrake523 - apparently not, since now he has Sabathia, and still has his young pitchers. And considering the Yankees probably wouldn't have made the playoffs last year with or without Santana (or, at least, wouldn't have gone very far at all), it seems like a win already to me. Of course, Sabathia and Hughes could bomb, and Santana ring off multiple Cy Youngs, but so far it seems like 'the plan' has worked.

""Brian Cashman has said that his refusal to trade for Johan Santana last year was because the Yankees knew C.C. Sabathia was going to be a free agent this year."

I really hope he's just saying that to save face for passing on Santana. Otherwise, that is REALLY dumb."

Not at all. If I was Cashman, I wouldn't have traded Hughes for Santana straight up. 6 years of a potential ace for one year of a proven ace? I will take the latter. Especially when the Yankees would have been obligated to give Johan a crazy big deal. Now they give out the crazy big deal, and they keep their best pitching prospect.

AndrewYF nailed it, perfectly. In my opinion Cashman did everything right regarding Hughes/Santana and the reporters/fans who bash Cashman because Hughes didn't succeed in year one of Johan's 8 year deal are nothing but a joke. And this is coming from a Met fan, so I have no bias stopping me from being objective. If anything, I would be inclined to bash the Yankees, but there is no bashing to be done, because Cashman made all the right moves. Missing the playoffs one time and then retooling while keeping your best piece for the future is not a bad thing, even in Yankee land.

"Sure - for Jed Lowrie, Clay Buchholz, and Lars Anderson."

hahahaha, keep him, please!

"Yeah REALLY DUMB. Now Cashman has a Santana quality pitcher AND Hughes, Kennedy, A Jackson instead of just Santana...what an idiot!"

He was banking on the fact that Cleveland would have re-signed CC. As a GM, you should NEVER count on a player hitting free agency in order to acquire them.

BTW, Kennedy stinks. He's too afraid to throw a strike. Hughes has poor conditioning and hasn't lived up to his overrated potential.

icedrake: BTW, Kennedy stinks. He's too afraid to throw a strike. Hughes has poor conditioning and hasn't lived up to his overrated potential.
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That's the dumbest statement of the year. "Hughe's poor conditioning"? The guy had a broken rib this year and a broken shin last year. It's not like he came into camp 20 lbs over weight dude. That's the most frustrating thing about Yankee fans. It's not that the prospects are overhyped because last I checked none of the "expert" talent evaluaters are on the Yankee payroll, it's too high expectations from the prospects too soon and the quick label of a "bust" that's put on them when they struggle initially.

Hughes and Kennedy both have talent but they have got to do on the big league level. Both have clearly proven themselves on the minor league level and need to make the transition to big league players. But keep in mind that Hughes is only 22 and Kennedy is only 24 yrs old and is only 2 years removed from pitching in NCAA competition. The best things about signing CC and AJ is that we can afford to let them develop a little more.

braves should trade escobar to the Red Sox shortstop

the yanks should take a page from the sox book and get a farm system.

I think sabathia is a monster on the mound cashman made the right deal besides the twins wanted way too much for santana.
I think the yanks should make another deal for another quality pitcher. They can trade kennedy , matsui, kei igawa, maybe brent garner for jake peavy. In my mind Sabathia, Wang, peavy, burnett and phil coke sounds really good. plus i would leave joba in the bullpen.