Brian Fuentes

Plenty of Todd Helton to the Yankees rumors surfacing lately, the first of which came via Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball.  Healey also mentioned the Yanks’ interest in Brian Fuentes last Friday. 

Today, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post confirms those rumors on the Rockies side of things.  While the interest in confirmed, Renck says "nothing is brewing."  Guess we’ll have to wait a month or so, to see if desperation sets in. 

There had been a lot of talk of the "New Yankees," who are building from within and not taking on ridiculous contracts.  But with players like Bobby Abreu, Roger Clemens, and Helton, the Yankees are simply using financial clout like the old days.  I suppose holding onto Phil Hughes is a step in the right direction though.

For all the talk of how the Yankees have changed, the team went back to its old brute force spending approach to add the one available free agent difference-maker in Roger Clemens.  Ten games behind the Red Sox and in third place, it seems they may be considering another expensive acquisition.  According to Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball, the Yanks are considering acquiring Todd Helton to play first base.  The Rockies might have to accept a contract in return, perhaps Kyle Farnsworth’s.  I would except a Helton deal to resemble the Bobby Abreu trade, where the Yankees mostly provide salary relief rather than players. 

The Yankees’ offense has been kind of average in May.  However, the .262/.347/.460 line they’ve gotten from Josh Phelps and Doug Mientkiewicz is about league average for the position.  It’s far from a major need.

Aside from the Angels, there aren’t many teams that could take on Helton’s contract or even compete for his services.  In contrast, one Rockie likely to be coveted by is closer Brian Fuentes.  Healey says he’s on the Yanks’ radar as well.  Fuentes is a 31 year-old lefty with 75 career saves.  He’ll be a free agent after the 2008 season.