With Nady and Marte, the Yankees Make Their Move

The Yankees still may look to upgrade in their rotation over Darrell Rasner, but Rasner has pitched better lately now that Chad Moeller is catching him again. The Yankees might be best served to hold onto their prospects and keep Rasner in their rotation (or give Ian Kennedy another shot) until some of their injured starters come back.
Yes, that is a much better deal for the Pirates. I was a little surprised originally, as it almost seemed that Cashman got one over on them. But I still think this will be a good deal for the Yanks.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course – it’s easy to remember 2003, when the Yankees were excited to grab lefties Felix Heredia and Gabe White in July, then didn’t use either one in the World Series.
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And Molina has clearly shown himself to be the better catcher, not only at throwing out runners but also at working with the pitchers. Jorge should indeed become a DH/1B.
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Fox is saying Nady is a free agent after 2009, not this year. In any case I’m hoping this will mean the end to a couple Yankee careers.
Abreu is clearly on downward trajectory (all #’s off for last 3 years) and is overpaid at $16 mil. I still can’t forget him coming to camp out of shape last year. Letting him go allows Nady to move to right, and for Damon to stay in left.
With Posada needing to move to first next year (unless they trade him, which is my choice) either Matsui or Giambi must go. As Matsui can probably still command a 3 year deal, and Giambi only a one year contract, it could be Matsui that leaves. Too bad, he seems like a good teammate.
The best choice would be to move Jeter to left, bring Gonzalez to play short, and move Damon to 1B, then let Giambi, Abreu, Matsui all leave. Throw in Hawkins and Pavano’s salary and that’s $62 mil off the payroll. The team would be upgraded defensively in left, at short,Cheap The Hundreds Hats, and at first. Team speed would improve. We might miss some power, but Nady will help with that. The big thing is that it would be a chance to get younger and cheaper without long term contracts.
Not to compare Nady to Paul O’Neill, but It’s worth noting that O’Neill was 30yrs old when traded to the Yankees in 1993. Nady is 30 as well, and seems to be tapping into his potential. And it can’t hurt to play for a winner either.
After the end of the season the Yanks will have to make decisions about a lot of players/positions, most with both pluses and minuses to consider:
1. Damon, Matsui, Posada, Giambi. All can hit and all have defensive liabilities, some more severe than others. All are expendable.
2. First base. Will be a defensive liability unless they go after Texeira. But if you do that then there would be more pressure to dump most of the names in 1. above.
3. Shortstop. Will be a defensive liability if they don’t move Jeter to OF. Question would be who to replace him with. Gonzalez has the glove but not the bat.
4. DH. Plenty of decent possibilities here. All of the ones mentioned in 1. above. Who is the one?
5. Abreu. A lot of negative vibes on him from the posters but he has good RISP stats. Better than the golden boy A-Rod.
6. Pitching. The only certainties are Wang and Chamberlain. Do you go after Sabbathia? The Yank’s record with FA pitchers reads like a Steven King horror story. Will either or both of Hughes and Kennedy turn out to be any good? If Mussina continues to have the year he is having then you almost have to bring him back but he will be 40 years old and a big flame-out risk.
Tyler,
The dimensions of the trade will favor Pirates if the new deal is correct. I think the Yankees gave up a good amount for those two players. I am speechless i hope the Yankees did not make a mistake with this one. I guess when it is final we will see who the winner is.
— hankypanky 9. July 26, 2008 2:14 pm
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Nady being 29 and having a great year is certainly good for the lineup. As for Marte his average against lefties has gone up as cited by Tyler K. It should be a concern. Again whenever you bring any pitcher from the NL to the AL their ERA only goes up.
The biggest drawback to this for me is Tabata. For the past three years he has been the Yankees best regarded OF in their farm system and at 20 yo he is still developing. This could really come back to bite the Yankees in the a** .
especially since Damon and Matsui are looking too old the OF and Melky while great defensively is not a solid at bat for that position.
While Karstens has shown little promise over the past several years, the inclusion of McCutchen appears to drastically alter the dynamic of this trade. Reports had indicated that McCutchen was ticketed to the majors and ready to take a shot at the elusive five-spot in the Yanks’ rotation later this summer.
To Mark (17.)
Kennedy’s status with the Yanks will be determined by the Washburn situation. Hughes almost certainly assumes either the 4th or 5th spot on his return.
Rotation:
— donniebaseball 7. July 26, 2008 12:40 pm
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— Mark 18. July 27, 2008 3:34 pm
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— frankie boy 6. July 26, 2008 10:43 am
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6. Nady is under contract in 2009. Neither he nor Marte are two-month rentals.
Tangentially, as you allude, this proves, yet again, how inaccurate initial and unconfirmed press reports can be, and how the pack media mentality can easily lead to erroneous reporting.
— LarryTheBaseballGod 21. July 28, 2008 11:30 am
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— The Boat 2. July 26, 2008 3:04 am
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2B. Roberts L/R
SS. Jeter R
CF. Hamilton L
3B. A-Rod R
1B. Texeira L/R
DH: Giambi L
C. Posada B
LF. Damon L
RF. Nady R
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Permalink Brian Cashman, Damaso Marte, Darrell Rasner, Pirates, Xavier Nady, Yankees Related Posts From Bats Bad News for NadyQuietly, Yanks’ Bullpen Is Coming TogetherAs Usual, Lots of Medical News From the YankeesIt’s Official: Posada Is Out for the YearThe Xavier Nady Dynasty Previous Post
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Given that,Friday Tigers vs. Rays, and Giambi’s health issues and the fact that he swings and misses so much these days, re-signing him would be a really bad decision despite his resurgence.
9. Washburn — if they do get him — is a rental. They will dump him and make the big, big run at Sabathia. He’s Santana with less innings and no need to give up prospects. They need to sign a big FA starter — either Sabathia or Sheets.
4. Damon may not have an arm – but he’s under contract in 2009 for $13M! And Giambi’s power is needed. He’s also a strong, positive clubhouse leader.
— O Coelho 20. July 27, 2008 6:30 pm
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FY09 Line-up:
“We felt that this was the best move for the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as being a very good move for X and Damaso,” Pirates Manager John Russell told reporters in Pittsburgh.
I’ve herad many commentators say this was a steal for the Yankees, while the Pirates wanted a lot from the Mets in exchange for Nady. Any reason for this, other than that the Yankees are in the American League?
The Yanks simply have far more depth in their farm system than the Mets. If you look at the arms the Yanks can deal even AFTER this trade — Hughes, Kennedy, Marquez, Coke, Melancon, Robertson, Sanchez, Albaladejo, Bruney, Henn, Geise, Rasner, Britton, Brackman, Horne, Kontos, Claggett, Wright. Part of this is drafts, Latam signings and trading Sheffield and Johnson for prospects.
— The Boat 4. July 26, 2008 4:43 am
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As has been noted, this makes Abreu expendable and it’s definitely about time. Also, the kids (Cabrera, Christian, and Gardner) will have a chance to fight it out and show who’s got what it takes to sick around.
BOSTON — This is how quickly things can change this time of year. In the dugout, around 6 p.m., Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said he was not optimistic about making a trade before the July 31 deadline. Asked if anything was close, he said, “It’s a long way between close and done.”
— alex Add your comments...
As for next year, Abreu and his declining stats and $16M contract is now gone with Nady playing RF. Giambi has a buy-out clause which the Yanks will surely exercise and save the ~$25M he is owed next year. Pavano’s $10M comes off the books at the end of the year, and despite Moose’s year I’ll bet he will NOT be resigned to save the $11M and open up a rotation spot for Hughes. The ‘09 rotation will be Joba / Wang / Pettitte / Hughes / Washburn, with Kennedy (still 23 years old) in the wings. And with the money they saved they’ll go hard after Tex, but Boras is asking for something ridiculous for him ($200m/8 yrs?).