Heyman's Latest: Yankees

I still think that Swisher makes the most sense going to Atlanta in an attempt to solve our outfield woes.

Don't give em much more than Prado, Todd Redmond and possibly a lower prospect to get it done, and then focus on the pitching situation.

did he say they need johnny damon to play center field? Typo maybe?

Nady to Giants.Swisher to Braves.IFFFF this report from JON HEYMAN is true????!!!????

"Heyman also says the Yankees will not trade Johnny Damon saying the team needs him to leadoff and play center field."

I'm officially confused.

If the Yankees are willing to play Damon in center, then wouldn't they just go with an outfield of Nady, Damon and Swisher, with Matsui DHing?

Wasn't the whole point of this that they had an extra corner outfielder because Gardner/Cabrera are playing center?

I swear, if they deal Swisher and then sign Manny to play left, I'm going to beat the hell out of an orphan.

I'm sorry but this wouldn't be fair:

CF Damon
SS Jeter
3B Rodriguez
LF Ramirez
1B Teixeira
DH Matsui
C Posada
RF Nady
2B Cano

That's just. Ugh.

I follow both the Yankees and the Braves. Atlanta will always be my team but I enjoy watching Yankees baseball too. I liked Nady in New York ever since he was traded there. I think he's a better player than Swisher no doubt but a rental so I expect him to stay. I agree with soupdujour and I think Swisher makes all the since in the world for Atlanta and we've got the prospects to get it done.

this is just for fun since its never going to happen and I definitely don't want it to happen....but what if the Yankees signed Manny, he obviously bats 4th, do the Yanks put Arod or Tex batting 3rd. I personally would bat Tex 3rd and Arod 5th since Arod is a blowhard

How about instead of Redmond,Manny Acosta or Kris Medland

yanks09... Manny obviously doesn't bat fourth in that situation. He bats fifth, with Teixeira getting on base all the time in front of A-Rod, and Manny as protection. A-Rod is at his best when he doesn't overexert himself and expand his strike zone. With Manny behind him, he would never have to. Even though I think Manny is slightly overrated, he provides the best protection in baseball because of it. Batting A-Rod fifth wouldn't make sense at all.

That said, I don't advocate signing Manny, but it would put the offense through the roof. Unfortunately, the payroll and drama would go too.

I never want to see Damon in center again. Watching someone like David Ortiz going from first-third on a single to center is too tough to watch

i rather see nasdy get traded first the yanks we get more in return also i feel his season was a fluke, and might as well get talent for him since he is a free agent after the season

Seriously what is wrong with you people. Yanks will not sign Manny, they are not trying to clear salary, they do not need any pitching (aside from a #5 starter which can easily be gotten in FA instead of giving up an asset. The only way they make a trade is if they were getting a decent CF in return (thats not Randy Winn) or a good catching prospect. I could also see a top notch pitching prospect like Homer Bailey, that they could package if the deals not right for their needs.

I dont understand why the Yankees would trade Nady or Swisher. I put it like this... the outfield is set. Damon starts in left, gardner and melky platoon in center (or one wins starting position with other one in minors), nady gets right. Matsui can be a backup LF and start as DH. Keep Swisher because he can give Damon a rest because Damon struggles to play for a long streak of games, and also keep swisher because we can use him as DH with Matsui as well as a backup first basemen instead of wasting a roster spot with a minor league player, which will give Miranda more time to develop down there. Eventually, the Yanks will trade Miranda for good prospects because Miranda will be a very solid ball player but they wont have room for him with Tex at first.

A perfect trade for the yanks would be Nady and either Cabrera or Kennedy to the Giants for Arron Rowand.

Yanks don't need pitching prospect thats one area they are stacked.

a4m2, I agree that they don't have to trade any of them, but if they can get good value for Nady, why not? Then even if one of Gardner/Melky wins the job, the other can hang around as a defensive replacement late in the game instead of wasting time in the minors. (Ideally, Gardner would play center and Melky would come off the bench, in my mind.) I like that arrangement better than having Swisher come off the bench; he's better than that.

Also, Miranda, who will likely now never be more than a prospect for the Yankees (unless he moves to the outfield?), wouldn't be traded for prospects. Trades don't tend to work that way. He'd more likely be packaged for a player that the Yankees need later on.

"Eventually, the Yanks will trade Miranda for good prospects because Miranda will be a very solid ball player"

Whoa. Don't get too ahead of yourself.

I've never heard/read anything from a single scout who thought that Juan Miranda could become a quality everyday first baseman.

He'll be 26 in April, and even though he posted a good .384 OBP in his first shot in AAA last season, he also didn't show great power for a first baseman.

At this point, Miranda is likely a solid bench bat.

Think Shelley Duncan.

"A perfect trade for the yanks would be Nady and either Cabrera or Kennedy to the Giants for Arron Rowand."

Oh my..

The Yankees should NEVER trade for Aaron Rowand.

Hell, nobody should ever trade for Rowand and his contract.

Rowand was a BELOW average defensive CF last year that posted a 94 OPS+, his third sub 95 OPS+ in the last four years!!!!!

The guy still has 4/44 (!) left on his stupid deal, which runs until he's 34.

The Giants probably would dump Rowand's contract on the first team who asked about him, but I doubt any team would spend anywhere near 4/44 on a player like Rowand.

If anything, the Yankees should go after Winn. He plays a solid CF, has plus speed and solid power, and he is a good professional hitter that makes contact and gets on base. Even better, he's only under contract through 2009.

A perfect trade for the yanks would be Nady and Kennedy/Hughes and prospect for arroyo and Phillips then trade cano for kemp

the yanks dont need a manny in the lineup nor do they need a position play however, cf would be nice so if the yanks trade nady i would look for a 5th starter or cf

your right just putting it out there

redsox sign smoltz we sign MANNY!!!!!!!

hughes and a jackson to pirates for mclouth! deal off nady and swisher, AND SIGN MANNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe there are people who root for the Yankees that actually think that the Yankees would somehow be better off trading a superior, younger, longer controlled player (Swisher), just to keep the older, inferior, league average guy coming off a career year who is a free agent next year and is repped by Scott Boras. I guess those are the same guys who want to trade Hughes and Jackson. The problem with most baseball fans is that Brian Cashman made a wonderful deal to acquire Swisher, and most Yankee fans just shrug it off and say "ahh, he hit .230 last year, who cares?"

I also love the Hughes/Kennedy thing when somebody is making a trade proposal, as if Hughes and Kennedy are even remotely similar.

"Why would they put Damon in Center? isnt Melky their main CF?"

Damon: .303/.375/.461
Melky: .250/.300/.340
Even in 2007, Damon's worst year in a very long time, his numbers would appear Ruthian is being compared to Melky Cabrera.

That is why. And for all the talk about Melky's glove, it really isn't all that good. He has a good arm, and makes some fancy looking places, but he doesn't cover a ton of ground and he takes some weird routes to the ball. Damon is still a top 5 leadoff hitter, with a chance that he is the best one. Very good offensive player.

I agree w/ scribbs & nrmax. I like Nady but if a need to move one of the corners were was a "must do" then Nady's the guy. If he wasn't a FA w/ Boras as a client then maybe it would make sense to hold on to him, but we have zero chance of extending him and if he hits the open market then do we really want to bid for his services? Meanwhile, Swisher's a little younger, relatively inexpensive, under contract for a few years and more versatile. That being said I don't think we MUST move either unless Man-NY somehow exists as a strong possibility or someone offers us a prospect or two we can't say no on.

That being said, to all Reds followers, of the following which two could the Yanks possibly get for Nady?

Chris Valaika-SS
Josh Roenicke-Relief Pitcher
Homer Bailey-SP
Matthew Maloney-sp
Daniel Ray Herrera- Relief Pitcher
Bryan Petersen-RF
John Raynor-LF
Chris Mobley-Relief Pitcher
Chris Heisey-CF
Todd Frazier-SS
Ramon Geronimo-Relief Pitcher
Jeremy Horst-SP

The logical conclusion to draw from the presumed attempt to trade Swisher and/or Nady is that they're making room on the roster for Manny. The idea that Dunn would be pursued instead doesn't take into account the Steinbrenner personality. I think it should really be taken into account that the Yankees are moving into the new park and the new leadership wants to carry on the tradition the right way and win it for George. As things stand right now, a great year from Tampa and Boston puts the Yanks out in the cold again. I really think they are going to do everything possible to avoid that scenario this debut season at the new field. And doing everything possible would pretty much mean getting Manny. With him they will be the center of the world again, both on the diamond and off. Without him, they are a really talented team. Big difference in the media capital of the world.

Drama aside, it would be a brilliant baseball move. Manny will play with total fire in NY, and Arod and Tex will be able to go about their business without being as hounded---they both would prefer that.

YanksFanSince78 -
You left Drew Stubbs off that list, I can see Nady and a mid level prospect for Stubbs and Bailey. But again the only reason they get Bailey is to use him (or Hughes, or Kennedy) for another trade.

JudgeNY-

No way the Reds give up both Stubbs and Bailey unless that prospect is Jackson.

Both of those guys are valuable young pieces. Bailey is a former elite prospect that has fallen from grace but still has huge potential, and Stubbs is a very good CF prospect in the Mike Cameron mold (good D, power, speed, lots of K's).

There's no reason to think they'd ever give up those guys for a one year rental like Nady, who's quite likely to hit the market with Boras as his agent.

How about this one:

Nady and Kennedy for Arroyo and Bailey.

Yanks get a veteran fifth starter and a prospect with far more upside than Kennedy.

The Reds get Nady for the outfield and Kennedy could get a shot at the five spot in their rotation, unless they give it to Micah Owings. The Reds also get to save some cash by shedding Arroyo in this deal.

I can see the Yankees making a trade with the Reds and then shipping one of the players off to the Royals in exchange for David DeJesus and Zack Grienke...

Yankees Get:
Homer Bailey SP
Drew Stubbs OF

Reds Get:
Xavier Nady OF

Then the Yankees turn around and offer the Royals a package invlolvng Zack Grienke and David DeJesus...

Yakees Get:
Zack Grienke SP
David DeJesusOF

Royals Get:
Drew Stubbs OF
Homer Bailey SP
Ian Kennedy SP
Nick Swisher 1B
Melky Cabrera OF

The Yankees get an Ace in the 5th spot and a proven CF who will hit for average and has a lot of pop

The Reds get the OF they need in Xavier Nady for very cheap considering who the Yankees gave up for him (Jose Tabata)

The Royals get a lot of high upside prospects like (Homer Bailey, Ian Kennedy, and Drew Stubbs) plus Nick Swisher as a veteran presence could allow them to move Jose Guillen and Melky Cabrera can be a 4th outfielder with a lot of upside. He could also platoon with Coco Crisp and take over when Crisp is a free agent next year.

Yankees are not signing Manny, only way that would ever work is if they could some how get rid of Matsui and put him at DH, and thats not going to happen. having an OF of Manny, Damon, and Nady, would mean every decently hit fly ball would be a hit, poor CC and AJ will have 5.something ERAs.