The Yankees have traded fan favorite Melky Cabrera (along with Mike Dunn, the best lefty reliever we've never seen or heard of, and another minor leaguer) to Atlanta for 2004 ALCS hero Javier Vazquez (hero for Boston anyway) and lefty reliever Boone Logan.
This marks the end of the Melk-man era. If Cano hits under .250 next season, it will be Cash's fault for trading away his best friend.
Vazquez is an innings eater. Innings, while nutritionally deficient, are important to baseball teams. Vazquez will slot in as the fourth starter, moving one of either Joba or Hughes into the bullpen. Of course, if Vazquez struggles in the 4 spot, expect the Vazquez starter/reliever debate to heat up again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
I am not so psyched about this move, but I guess I have to trust Cashman. Does giving up lots of run while you are eating your innings really help?
Mark Feinsand has been told this move does not reopen the door to Damon. However, he also points out that this leaves $10M for a left fielder. A few days ago, Damon was willing to play for that amount. The Yanks now need a left fielder (it won't be Gardner, he hits less than Melky). Have to think Damon is still an option. With Damon, Swisher, and Johnson, that's a lot of guys on base.
Javy had an impressive year last year for Atlanta, and he could conceivably win about 15 games next year with an ERA under 4 (he was under 3 for the Braves this year).
I've always loved Melky, and felt he was often unfairly criticized. That said, he is a good defensive outfielder who is at best okay at the plate. In the AL East, that is at best a 4th outfielder. To lose a fourth outfielder for a starting pitcher that consistently wins around 14 games and pitches over 200 innings is a good trade. Javy is a very good fourth starter.
The Yanks will need a LF now, Gardner is not it. Gardner is not a fourth outfielder. He's a pinch runner who can play the outfield if necessary. Look for the Yanks to either renew discussions with Damon or make another trade.
Yanks will try to trade either Gaudin or Mitre before end of Spring Training.
I am actually quite excited about this movwe. I had Javy on my fantasy team last year and followed him quite closely and he was awesome. WAR of 6.6, ERA under 3 and a ton of strikeouts. He is going to play well in Yankee stadium because he is a strikeout pitcher and hw will be motivated because it is a walk year. He is durable and solid and if he leaves we get draft picks.
We gave up Melky who I quite liked but lets be honest, as a centrefielder he kind of worked because of the fact that it is a premium defensive position but in left he does not cut it.
I'm a little bumbed about Dunn but overall I'm pretty happy. The offseason is not over yeat but the Yanks have a better and younger team then last year while not sacrificing many premium prospects (Hughes, Joba, Montero etc.) or payroll flexability.
It was a miracle that we gort the production we did last year given the age of the team and some of that risk is gone. Our lineup is better then last year and our rotation is solid.
we definitely look to be improved. The last piece will be left field. I'm personally hoping for Derosa at this point.
I think the yanks are setup for another run this year. I hope they resign Damon (however unlikely that may be at this point) and go for broke. There is still a ton of money coming off the books after the year is over for next off-season.
Much easier to lure superstars if you are a 2 time defending champion......
True, though I don't know that luring superstars is something the Yanks struggle with. Damon is an interesting case. Presumably they could still sign him, but doing so means he's on the team for the next two years, not just one. With Jeter and Mo getting new deals next year, and the free agent market being what it will be, I think the Yanks prefer to make deals that are either very short-term (Johnson and Vazquez are both 1 yr commitments), or easy to move (a Derosa would require more than one year, but not the type of contract you couldn't trade if necessary). That's why I'm guessing Derosa.
The other thing with Damon is that he was healthy last year until the last game of the World Series. What happens if that injury, or something similar, happens earlier in the season. Ultimately, Damon is older and expensive, and I think that for both of those reasons the Yanks aren't prepared to make a commitment to him.
some thoughts from Joel Sherman of the post on the Vazquez deal.
This trade raises the rotation to absurd levels.
Throw an ERA under 4 and 200 IP for the Yankees, and you can win 15+ games easy. This is like having two Pettittes in the rotation.
I agree Rich, and with the pitching depth in the rest of the Yankees system, this is a very scary team pitching wise.
Vazquez can be very good when he keeps the ball down, but very bad when it gets up. I think he's the kind of player who will give us way more quality starts then he'll give us bad ones, but like Pettitte his bad ones will inflate his ERA and make him look less valuable than he really is.
Post a Comment