Yankees Outfield Surplus

i really don't think they should trade Nady.. and if they do, the first team knocking should be the Mets.

get rid of Matsui.. trade him to the Giants for a PTBNL assuming they take on all of Matsui's salary.

i meant to say they SHOULDN'T trade Nady.. he's cheap and effective

I think the Yanks should trade swisher for maybe some decent fielding prospects, don't have to be elite ones because he's not worth them or an utility infielder and then try to trade Matsui for whatever they could get for him, which would free up around an extra $23/$24 million and then they could sign Manny like Hank wants.

I hope they are looking at Nelson Cruz. The Rays were trying to get him but got Matt Joyce instead.

He would be perfect for the 4th OF position this year and if Swisher doesn't hit, he can take over. He plays good defense according to FRAA, he's good on the bases, and has ridiculous pop. If he is a late bloomer the Yankees have a cheap outfielder for 2010

The Braves should be in on Swisher. I know he hits about his his weight but he gets on base against lefties (.359OBP) and hits for power against righties (.419SLG-ok kind of). He could play left and his switch hitting bat would go nicely between Chipper and McCann. With that kind of lineup protection I bet his numbers increase at least some across the board. I still think Josh Anderson and a pitcher like JoJo Reyes would get it done.

Rangers wouldn't do it. Their value on Cruz right now is extremely high (as it should be). Yankees wouldn't really be doing themselves any good in a trade for him just because of how much they'd have to give up to get, and it wouldn't solve the OF logjam anyway.

Tim I agree but weren't they were discussing moving him for Edwin Jackson+ about 2-3 weeks ago. That tells me they really need pitching, they have so much firepower coming up in the outfield/infield. I think Chris Davis though they'd prefer a RH behind Hamilton. Do you think Nady/Horne/+lower prospect gets it Nelson Cruz+decent prospect?

Horne seems like Nolan Ryan's type of guy and he's old enough where he could be starting this year. He's coming off an injury but was pitcher of the year in 2007

I'm sure many teams would love Nady and would take a chance on Matsui. Good chance for the Yanks to maybe acquire a better CF or retrieve some good prospects, right?

Cubby Fan, Cruz doesn't make any money so it does solve the logjam. He'd be a 4th outfielder with pop, and if Swisher doesn't hit or someone gets hurt, you slot him in there. Next year the outfield is empty and they could save on having to sign 2, maybe 3 FA OF if they have him and he actually hits.

Yankees have so much redundant pitching in the pipeline (hard throwing RH starters/relievers) that there isn't much space considering the 4/5 of the rotation is locked up for the forseeable future.

I really want to see Melancon get his shake this year so I'd put together a Nady/Veras package too.

they should jump at the chance to get something for nady while he's still hot commodity.. he let his slip show a little at the end of last year.

Yankees please do not trade X-Man. He is a solid outfielder and did an excellent job producing offence in his time in n.y. So please yankees keep the X-Man

Why would the Yankees want to trade 2 outfielders? Unless they wanted to acquire a new one?(Manny anyone?)

Agreed, there's no way they can trade 2. They weren't trying to trade one before they signed Tex, so why 2 now?

Also just realized where that came from - Tracy Ringolsby is one of the biggest idiots around...

I agree with the first part of David's thinking... what "glut"?? Matsui is the DH, Damon in LF, Gardner in CF, Nady in RF and Swisher backing up all three AND Tex.

As for Matsui having "negative trade value"...that is ridiculous. Yes he has a no-trade clause...but he's agreeable to be moved. He has ONE YEAR left on his deal and is good for .290 22 100 every year. In this economy, I'd venture to say that teams would take that production for the dollar (at DH) vs signing Burrell or Dunn on a multi-deal.

Why would the Yankees trade Nady for crap? Bailey is awful, and Nelson Cruz can't even break a major league lineup. I could see trading Nick Swisher for them (Mr. .219), but Nady, really? He is a very valuable outfielder and hit .305 last year with 25 homers. To trade him AND one of our top pitching prospects (Horne) for a crappy fourth outfielder is absurd.

I dont get why we are looking to move 2 of these guys. Only one and it should be Nady or Matsui. Swisherr needs to stay because he is the only one of the 4 mentioned above who is under contract for more than one season.

he IS 6'4"

More I think about it. Should be fun. Yank's have chips and leverage.

Remember they can sweeten with Kennedy ( i know i know he is a flop, he will be nothing yada yada..Kid is what 22-23 and ready to pitch) with the right deal, teams will be salivating over him.

From a business perspective a way to remove iqawa for example, is maybe a Kennedy, Iqawa, Nady deal for??

yankee, that's STUPID. the braves HAVE a 1B in Kotchmann.

we need a LF, right-handed bat. Nady is the answer.

but you will NEVER get Heyward. you can't be serious.

and it's HEYWARD. you will not be getting him. nice try, though.

Why would the Yanks trade for a 23 yr old 3B "fringe" prospect who hit .235 last year when they have Arod under contract for the next 9 years?

Chances are though...he won't be moved at all. Matsui is the one to go.

I agree JJ. I'm not sure why anyone think we're desperate to move anyone and therefor will take less than what the player demands? Also, what we gave up for Swisher is irrelevant w/ regards to what we should ask for. That's like saying that just because I bought a Babe Ruth baseball card at a yard sale for $5 and should therefore settle for 1/10th of it's real value.

I think for once the Yanks have depth and if anyone were going to be moved it should be Matsui and if there are no takers then just sit on him and let him play, show his health during the course of the year and if healthy and productive then maybe moe him by the trade deadline if he'll approve the trade. But Swisher offers protection in case someone goes down or if you need more offense from the CF spot at some point.

Also, even though I think Hughes deserves a shot to crack the rotation I think the Yanks should sign Pettite if he accepts the $10 mil 1 year offer. He allows the Yanks depth in the rotation giving us a solid #5 guy. This way we have Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves, Horne, Igawa (ugg) and possibly Sanchez on deck if we need someone to fill in some startsing for Joba who will have an inning limit or in case of injuries. Anything can happen right (see Wang's freak foot injury running the bases last year).

Hmm well I am bored. And still pissed off at the O's front office. But...

Three Way Trade:

Yankees get: 2B B.Roberts, CF M.Cameron
Orioles get: 1B N.Swisher, 2B R.Cano
Brewers get: RP G.Sherrill, CF M.Cabrera
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It would upgrade the Yankees up the middle and at the top of the line up. Also free them up to trade Damon to whoever will take him. And yes, Roberts is an upgrade over Damon. He is 4 years younger. And he doesn't throw like a 5 year old girl.

Roberts numbers have gotten better each of the past 3 seasons:
'06 - .286/ .347/ .410
'07 - .290/ .377/ .432
'08 - .296/ .378/ .450

Also if he does not resign that would give the Yankees a Type A Free Agent. Cameron upgrades CF with a good defense and 20+ HR power. And then they Yanks actually save some money in the deal.

Roberts makes $8 mil and Cameron makes $10 mil for a total of $18 mil. Swisher makes $5.3 mil, Cano makes $6 mil, Melky won't make too much but Damon makes $13 mil and he can be dealt. So in the end for 2009 it would save the Yankees over $6.5 mil depending what they get back in the deal for Damon. And worst case the Yankees get 2 top picks if Roberts signs elsewhere in the offseason.

Brewers get a possible closer for 3 more years and a CF for 4. This deal saves them around $6-8 mil.

Orioles get a 1B for the next few years and a 2B for up to 5 more years. And the O's only add a few mil in salary (depending on what Sherrill would get in Arbitration) which would still leave the O's near 2008's payroll.

The Yankees would be dumb for trading either Nady or Swisher. Swisher is young with the ability to play 4 positions, and Nady is a good cheap offensive bat with better then average outfielding skills. Matsui and Damon are both old and 13 million apiece is a good chunk of change.
LF DH Damon
SS Jeter
2B Cano
3B Arod
1B DH Tex
LF RF Nady
C DH Posada
1BLF RF Swisher
CF Cabrera

Wow, Nady/Swisher and relief arms for Heywood (haha I mean Heyward)?!?!? Heyward is the #3 prospect in ALL of baseball behind Price and Witters and when both of them have a full rookie season this year he will be the the #1 prospect in all of baseball. You don't trade those kind of guys for anything. Before anyone else says someting stupid, Hanson and Freeman are untouchable too. I'll say it again, but Josh Anderson is fast, can hit for average, and can play center better than anyone on the Yanks. To the Braves he is expendible and would be a good addition to the Yanks.

XD23 - can't see the Yankees trading Cano, who is a huge bargain even if he hits like last year for one-year rentals. I don't think they would trade Cano alone for those 2.

Plus, the Brewers couldn't get just Cabrera for Cameron. Now they're going to get Sherrill too?

The Brewers need to give a lot more, the Orioles need to give a little more, and the Yankees need to give a lot less.

YanksFanSince78 - that's the way I see it too.

Matsui for Crosby is maybe something the As would do, but no point in having a $6M injury-prone backup SS.

Just keep Matsui, play all the OF about 80-90% of the time as I said, and everything is fine.

Josh Anderson? He's Gardner in a Braves uniform. Sort of redundant. And I happen to think Gardner will be a good player. I think people are putting too much emphasis on what he did in 127 at bats. If I'm trading for a 26 yr old prospect then I want a much higher upside than Andreson.

And as for that 3 way trade, why would the Yanks want to trade away a 26 year old affordable 2nb basement under contract for 4 or 5 more years for a 32 year old 2b who's going to be a FA next year, will require a huge multi-year contract after 09 and is 6 years older? And if we can't sign him then we're right back with a hole at another position.

TripleHHH: Who says Nady didn't like playing in NY? It's not like he came up thru their system or anything.

Kingben: Just something I was throwing out. The Yanks could use an upgrade at SS, even if it were just a back up. And the deal could easily be beefed up to include Kennedy with the A's sending a prospet like Michael RIchard or Corey Brown.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&cid=446

I honestly don't think the Yankees need to make a trade to get rid of an outfielder. This gives them 5 guys for four spots, 3 OF and DH. That means each guy gets around 130 starts for the year and you can keep them all healthy by resting them on a regular basis. Also there is no guarantee on the health of Matsui and/or Damon.

Right now there are too many corner out fielders on the market, the Yankees can't even think about making a trade until the market develops further and gets narrowed down.

I cannot understand the allure of Cameron in center, he is 36 years old. He may have won the gold glove in '01, '03, and '06, but Cabrera is a pretty good defender and has made big plays, plus he has a cannon of an arm. Cameron has hit .242 and .243 the past two years. I'd be fine with the Yankees taking their chances with Cabrera/Gardner in center, its not like they can hit much worse than Cameron. How can you criticize Garner's play and say all he can do is run? He hasn't had much of a chance to play in the majors yet. I don't think we know what we have in him yet. I'd like ot think he could be a future lead-off hitter for the Yankees. They have the depth to take chances and see who can contribute the most.

Well Cosby is making 6 mil and went unclaimed thru waivers so if the Yanks sent:

Matsui, Kennedy and cash

for

Cosby, Michael Richard (speedy SS) and Corey Brown (power OF) that could work. Of course I'm not a scout nor would I pretend to have seen them play but you get the idea.

Swisher fits the Braves needs more, as he offers flexibility on where he can play (anywhere in the OF and 1B). I like Nady, but after looking at his splits I see he actually hits righties way better than he hits lefties, which really defeats the purpose for what the Braves need. Swisher could be the starting CF and Diaz and whatever lefty steps up in spring training (Anderson, Blanco, Jones, Schaffer?) could platoon in left. If one of those lefties steps up and starts hitting left handed pitching they can be the CF and Swisher could play LF.

bjsguess: "Matsui's value couldn't be lower at this point. If he was a FA this off-season he would be looking at a 1/$4m type deal. "

You, my friend, should share some of whatever you're smoking with the rest of us.

If Posada can't catch, he will compete with others to DH, or he'll sit.

Maybe signing him to the deal was a mistake, but signing Tex doesn't impact him at all. His bat makes him a mediocre 1B or DB anyway. He only has that value if he's catching. If he can't catch, I don't care if he plays 1B, rides the bench, or is released.

If he is DHing over Matsui or one of the other options, the Yankees are no better.

TripleHHH-

The Giants won't be trading Jonathan Sanchez for any of the 4 Yankee outfielders.

While the Giants have a definate need for offensive improvement, the Giants don't need another outfielder. Matsui is old, expensive, a defensive downgrade, and not really an offensive improvement over current corners Winn and Lewis. Argue all you want about it but Winn is the Giants most consistent hitter and in his walk year. Lewis showed a lot of potential last year, is young and cheap. Rowand is signed expensive and long so unless someone is crazy enough to trade for him, he's in center for 4 more years.

Nady may be a good enough player to get Sanchez, but the Gisnts have made it abundantly clear they are not in on 1 year rentals, they are looking for defense at 1B, AND he can't gaurentee
to be an effective 3B.

Damon- see Matsui above

Swisher- he's the only one who makes some sense because of his ability to play 1B but he is owed alot of money so either the Yankees will have to pay
either a lot of money or take back less in a trade then they gave up for him.

Too many similar FA are still on the market so the players trade values are all low right now.

See http://nuschlersnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-fred-lewis.HTML for a breakdown on the Giants outfield situation

Finally, Nady will prove to be the biggest disappointment out of the entire group of OF's. He will revert back to his 103 OPS+ that he puts up every year. Yankees will realize that he isn't the slugger they traded for last year.
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You people act as if you have a crystal ball? How can you be sure last year was a fluke? This was his first year having more than 500 at bats? Let's say for the sake of arguement that he's closer to a .280 hitter (his lifetime bavg) vs the .334 he hit with the Pirates last year. That's a fair arguement that he's not going to hit .300++ again. However, what he did do with the Yanks was hit:

.268/.320 w/ 12 hrs and 40 rbis in 228 at bats. Project that out to 550 at bats and you might see 29 hrs and 96 rbis. Now true, you can't really proect rbis like you do hrs but also consider that with a healthy Posada, Swisher and/or Matsui hitting behind him with protection I don't think a .280/.340 w/ 28 hrs and 90 rbis is out of line for him. I'll take those numbers @ 5-7 mil a yearand a better glove than what Abreu showed.

I think there are more teams that match up with the Yankees for a trade ... San Fran, Seattle, and Cinci (to a lesser extent). However, I try not to speculate on trades because I have a bias that might get in the way of true value.

Damon shouldn't be on the block. He did a fine job last year, is an outspoken leader, and could be useful for two more years ... should Cashman see the OF market is crap next year.

Swisher was so happy to become a Yankee ... I would hate to see him shipped out before he gets some ab's. He will bounce back this year.

I agree Matsui has an awful recent health history. But, when he plays, he's consistently good. That's the risk a GM would have to accept. If you get him and he plays, you will definitely get your money's worth.

I'd like to see Gardner start 100 - 120 games in Center, bat 9th, and pinch run a couple dozen times. I figure he'd good for .280 with 50 steals and 80+ runs.

I believe we need Nady's right-handed bat. However, if he's traded, Scott Boras' heart will grow three sizes ... that would signal Holliday as in-line for a huge payday.

Melky should have been traded before last season. Now, he is almost worthless. We can't package him with another OF'er and he's not enough to stand on his own in a swap. We may need a third team in a trade like this. Melky could find resurgence on a smaller stage and add a prospect to the bounty of our original trade target.

Rangers have a reasonable outfield as is.

Nelson Cruz
Josh Hamilton
David Murphy
Brandon Boggs
Frank Catalanotto

Plus they have Julio Borbon and Greg Golson stewing in the minors.

The Rangers only real need, outside of pitching, lies at third base. Hank Blalock will DH this year, Chris Davis will man first. Travis Metcalf is ok, but not a long term option. Rangers have a young man named Jose Vallejo up and coming at third, but wont be ready this year.

I know I'm going to be blasted for this but I think a combo of Cabrera/Gardner can be productive. It's all a matter of what your expectaions are. To me if I can get .280/.340/12/75rbis/40+ sb then I'm happy. And I think those two can do it. I think it's less likely for a 23 yr old to come and get "lucky" like Melky did in 2006 and 2007. Rather, he cam up and had 2 solid years, was figured out or "lost" his rhythm/confidence. At that point you look at your hitting coach and ask them to do their job and help the young player find his swing again. They will NEVER be a all-stars but they can still be a productive players and on a team with Damon, jeter, Tex, Arod, Posada and Cano they can be productive. it's not like we're asking them to bat cleanup or anything.

The Yanks should hold on to Swisher, keep Nady in right for 1 more year (if we can't resign him then so be it) and if we can package Matsui like:

Matsui w/ cash , Miranda and Kennedy

and get a couple of good OF prospects then cool. If not then we just keep him. No sense in trading for a #5 pitcher when you can sign Pettite or let the young guys battle for it.

YanksFanSince78, thats right about melky and gardner, but i think eventually one of them is going to have to play more than the other, whoever gets hot first will probably get the nod. The homeruns and RBI and Steals are on target, i just dont know about the average. Melky can hit .275, last year i feel was just a bad situation for him. For gardner, last year he didn't have many hard hits. He had 2 game winners, so he appears to be confident in himself, which is something I admire.

Then they can work in their other prospect OFs through DH this year or LF/RF next year.

yanks 09

1. A. Jackson CF
2. D. Jeter SS
3. M. Teixeira 1B
4. Arod 3B
5. M. Ramirez DH
6. J. Posada C
7. N. Swisher RF
8. R. Cano 2B
9. M. Cabrera LF

good outfield

z

Let me firt give this disclaimer before I continue. I'm not saying Gardner will be a superstar.

I wish I had this article handy. The writer was talking about Gardner and how, despite not being a power hitter, that no one should mistake him for being a slap and judy hitter. He went on to say that Gardner was a very strong physical player with strong arms, hands and wrists who IS NOT going to have the bat knocked out of his hand when facing power pitchers. I think so often we look at stats and make assumptions. I would say that while he may not hit more HR's than Juan Pierre he's a lot more stronger than Pierre and should be able to sit on pitches and drive the ball thru gaps, etc. He also plays a very good CF with great reads, runs good routes but doesn't have a strong of an arm than Cabrera's but a lot better than Damon.

Yanksfan said "Who says Nady didn't like playing in NY? It's not like he came up thru their system or anything."
I didn't say he didn't like playing in NY, if saying - what if - he doesn't like playing in NY- i don't know if he does or does not, but if someone knows if Nady doesn't like playing in NY, maybe he should be traded. No unhappy NYY players :)
I know he didnt want to be traded.
As for trading for Jonathan Sanchez, I dont think they will either, but the NYY can trade for a 4th or 5th starter...like a Sanchez. The Giants have their outfield set I think, but I also know the Giants have made some Giant trading blunders over the years. I can see the Giants making a bad trade again before the 09 season. They signed Johnson to a 1 yr deal, unload Sanchez for a hitter to be a Giant for a year, lose him to free agency while Sanchez flourishes in his new team gets a multi-year deal, typical Giants dealings..I know the Giants miss Joe Nathan,and everyone else they sent to the Twins

I wonder if Matsui to Angels would make sense. Morales at 1B, an OF of Rivera/GMJ-Hunter-Vlad with Matsui as DH (you can swap Vlad and Matsui between OF and DH). GMJ would become an overpaid 4th outfielder though.

Out of the three, Swisher is the one most likely to be traded because he's the one with the most positive trade value. Swisher to Oakland or Atlanta would make a lot of sense. Atlanta makes more sense though.

I value Sanchez like a 3. Insanely high BABIP (aka bad luck), and has improved in every peripheral. With an FIP under 4, Sabean is stupid to trade him now. It would be a sell low move, since his ERA is at a 4-5 level and his peripherals are those of a solid 3.

But what made you say that Nady didn't want to leave Pittsburgh? He was only there for 2 seasons and it's not like they were going to keep in their once he became a FA?

"So Prado plus Boyer and perhaps Anderson should get the job done."

The Braves wouldn't have to give up that much. Just look at what the Sox gave up. Prado and Betemit are pretty much even, except Prado would be a sell high and plays better defense than Betemit, so Prado's worth more there. I do Prado + Boyer/a fringe type and call it a day. No need to put in Anderson.

"You're acting like Crisp had a choice in where he went? Boston traded him because they felt Ellsbury/Bay/Drew was the way to go and that paying $6 mil for a 4th OF wasn't a smart move."

It was common knowledge that Crisp wanted to start and yes... Boston would have gladly paid him 5.75 million to be the quality reserve and GG caliber backup outfielder in 2009.