One of the joys of this time of year is playing General Manager. It’s virtually a rite of passage for a baseball fan to look over their favorite team, identify areas for improvement and try to figure out who might be available for trade. For Yankees fans, this has always been the time when we get excited about the big names that are available, because we know (as only members of the Evil Empire can know) that one or more of them are as Bronx bound as the 4 train.
Only…maybe not this year. Really, you say? A trade deadline with the Yankees sitting on the sidelines?
I doubt the Yankees will completely sit out the trading season, but I also doubt the team will be aggressively pursuing a “name” player. There just aren’t that many glaring holes on this team, and regardless of the rumors linking us to players like Cliff Lee and Dan Haren I can’t see trades of that magnitude happening. To address those two players in particular, there are two things preventing a trade for either. First are the contract situations. Lee will be a free agent at the end of the season and the Yankees won’t trade any of their young catchers (the Mariners apparently want a catcher back) when they can sign him at the end of the season. Haren is owed around $24.12 million through 2012 ($36 million if his 2013 option is picked up); a sum the Yankees aren’t willing to spend on a pitcher with injury issues. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the Yankees don’t need starting pitching. The quintet of Sabathia, Burnett, Pettite, Vazquez and Hughes has been solid this season and is the main reason the team currently has the best record in baseball. Grabbing one of the starters on the market would only be to prevent somebody else from getting them at this point.
Additionally, the sudden spate of injuries to top-tier players on contending teams will push the market for suitable replacements higher than the Yankees are probably willing to go. With Dustin Pedroia, Chase Utley and Placido Polanco now shelved teams like the Orioles and Astros will be asking for more for rentals like Ty Wiggington and Jeff Keppinger. It’s not that the Yankees can’t use a player of that ilk, but they aren’t in the type of need that the Red Sox and Phillies find themselves. Likewise, other contenders are much more in need of a player like David DeJesus or Octavio Dotel. (Besides, the Yankees have a version of Dotel in Chan Ho Park).
So, expect a relatively quiet trade deadline from the Bombers. There will undoubtedly be minor deals struck – for a second tier reliever and backup infielder, most likely – but not the type of thunder we’ve grown accustomed to hearing from Brian Cashman’s office. And you know what? That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means that for all of our kvetching as Yankees fans every time Park gives up a homer or Mark Teixeira strikes out with a man on, the team is good enough to compete and win in the AL East.
M. B. Rozell
Kevin Rozell
Can we trade Chan Ho Park?
I’d love to trade Park. Maybe we can get the Phightin’s to give us that statue of Rocky. One is as effective a pitcher as the other.
Yeah i agree. Don’t think we need to do too much.We do need a good veteran bat off the bench though, since Johnson and Thames are both out. Thats really the only move I see us doing, barring an injury of course.