Friday, December 26, 2008

Yanks Don't Need To Make a Trade

Since when is having too much talent a bad thing?

There have been reports over the past few days about how the Yankees are now looking to trade one of their many corner outfielders. Today, there is this from the Rocky Mountain News:
The Yankees are looking to move two from a group of outfielders of Xavier Nady, Swisher and Hideki Matsui. The Angels, Texas, Oakland and Atlanta are considered to have interest.
Why would they want to trade two of those three? I think the roster looks pretty damn good as it stands right now:

Starting Lineup
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Nady RF
Cano 2B
Gardner or Cabrera CF

Bench
Swisher
Ransom
Molina
Cabrera or Gardner

Not only does it look like a very solid roster, but it has something the Yanks haven't had in recent years; a very solid bench. Remember those championship teams of the late 90's? They had very good benches too.

The only potential problem I see on that roster is getting Nick Swisher enough at-bats. But that really shouldn't be an issue either. Joe Girardi has already shown us that he likes to give guys a day off here and there to keep them fresh as the season goes on. Add Swisher's versatility to that and it will make it even easier for Girardi.

Another reason to hold on to as much talent as you can is the potential for injuries. Remember 2008? It's always good to have solid replacements in case of injury, and with this bench that's exactly what this team has.

To answer my question above, the answer is no, having too much talent is never a bad thing. And unless the can bring in someone great, I don't think they need to make any trades.

34 Comments:

Anonymous said...

I think they just want to shed some payroll. From my understanding that was the plan if they could get Tex.

Anonymous said...

Good lineup.

Anonymous said...

Hideki Matsui to Giants for Jonathon Sanchez. Sanchez to brewers for Prince Fielder. Trade Swisher or Nady to Atlanta for prospects.

Lineup
LF Damon
SS Jeter
3B Rodriguez
1B Teixeria
DH Fielder
CA Posada
2B Cano
RF Swisher/Nady
CF Cabrera/Gardner

Greg Cohen said...

That's part of it, but what are they going to save, $3-$6 million? Is that really that big a deal to this team?

Unless they have to trade one of these guys to "free up" the money they want to give Pettitte, I don't think a few million is a big deal. Especially to a team that just signed up to pay $420 million to three players over the next eight years.

Greg Cohen said...

Anon, both those trades aren't going down. Especially the Sanchez for Fielder trade.

Last year there was some talk about the Matsui for Sanchez deal but I think last year killed any chance of that happening. To be honest, any NL team that would trade for Matsui is crazy. The guy can't play the field anymore.

The Nady or Swisher to the Braves is something that could happen, but I don't think it's something the Yankees need to do.

Kalel9 said...

Swisher is better than Nady and should be the RF. Nady and Matsui are likely to go, but then we'll need a DH.

Anonymous said...

Ok, Um, There is NO WAY the Giants will trade Jonathan Sanchez for a guy who has blown out knees, Is old, and is in the final year of his contract. Nady to the Giants for Sanchez is alot more realistic and could happen. Swisher possibly, but I just don't see it.

Anonymous said...

Damon and Matsui are leaving after the season anyway............ i got a ps3 yesterday!

Anonymous said...

The only guy i can see trading is Matsui because he makes a lot of money and they might need to open the DH spot for some games this upcoming year for Jorge Posada

Anonymous said...

I don't have an issue with trading Nady for Jonathon Sanchez but if we traded Mats for him then we would have the DH spot open up. I know my trade of Sanchez for Fielder is not going to happen but I wish it would. I wonder what Atlanta would give us if we traded Swisher and Sanchez to them.

Anonymous said...

the only reason why they would trade 2 is if they were going to sign someone, like manny ramirez or adum dunn, basically another dh/corner outfielder.

my dream would be to trade matsui and swisher for some prospects or whatever and sign manny to dh. there is a small chance that would happen but the lineup would be:

1)Damon LF
2)Jeter SS
3)Teixeira 1B
4)Arod 3B
5)Manny DH
6)Nady RF
7)Posada C
8)Cano 2B
9)Gardner/Melky/Cameron? CF

Just flat out nasty.. we can interchange the 6,7,8 spots what ever Joe wants to do.

if that doesnt happen i would still be happy, we would have a strong bench. swisher can play 3 or 4 positions and is a switch hitter with power.. he's good to have for an emergency

Anonymous said...

I liked what I saw of Nady and hope we hang onto him. Swisher? He batted .211 when he wasn't used a lot, so having him on the bench may not be a good move. That said, we do need a bench. We haven't had one since Ruben Sierra!

Anonymous said...

Swisher needs to play everyday. There's no way he stays happy sitting on the bench. I've heard rumors that there's talk of Matsui for Eric Bedard. Fine with me. But in my opinion, only one of Swish, Nady or Matsui needs to go. Hopefully it's Matsui. More than likely, it would be Nady. If the Yankees could deal Nady for prospects, I'd be more than happy with that.

Greg Cohen said...

If they can get Bedard for Matsui that would be amazing.

Dating Naked said...

Keep Nady.. He will be HUGE for us. I think Matsui should be the odd man out. His knees have been bad for two years.. Why does ANYONE believe they will be better this year. Nady is younger, plays a better outfield.. He hit over 300.. has nice pop and he is cheap. To me, its a no brainer.. and TEAMS will want Matsui.

Anonymous said...

Swisher's problems last year were associated with the lack of a defined role. He's been bouncing around his entire career: corner OF to first to center then back to first... I think the guy will be much more productive if you let him settle in some place, whether it's first, left field or right field. Plus, the guy walks a ton, which is something he has over Nady. He's also a switch hitter, Nady is a righty. I think one of the two is going to be traded. Besides, both can be moved fairly easily and would bring back good value in return.

Dating Naked said...

OHH, and Eric Bedard would be PERFECT. He would only have to be a fifth starter, so no pressure to be the man, he is a lefty.. That would give us two. He would be getting paid a lot. but trading Matsui would cancel that put.

What is Bedard being paid vs Matsui?

Greg Cohen said...

I agree that it would much easier to move Nady and Swisher but I don't know how great the return will be.

James Miller said...

I agree with you greg, it's good to hear your opinion on things for a change.

Anonymous said...

I don't want any part of Bedard right now. He's been hurt, and I've heard questions about his work ethic and dedication.

Anyway, this article is insane. Why would the Yankees look to trade TWO of those guys? That would leave them with no DH or no LF, maybe both.

Again, I'm with Greg. Why trade anyone? Your bullpen is set. Your starting rotation is set, with the possible exception of Pettitte possibly coming back. And while I'd like to have a back up in case Joba can't pitch a full season (which he probably won't due to limits), I'm not going to trade one of our hitters for a mediocre pitcher.

I know it's unpopular, but I'm still sticking to the idea that the Yankees should play Swisher, Nady, and Damon in the outfield (put them wherever you can). If not, then Swisher is your "swingman" and can play here and there. If he doesn't want that, if he wants to play every day or something, you trade him.

But I'm reluctant to even trade one. Trading TWO? That's pure insanity. I can't even imagine why you'd be looking to unload two guys leaving yourself one huge hole, and in essense two important roster spots to fill.

Play Swisher in CF and the heck with it. It wouldn't be the end of the world. The benefits to the offense of having three switch hitters in the lineup every day would be well worth it.

And for no reason, here's how I'd line everyone up:

L Damon LF
R Jeter SS
R A-Rod 3B
S Teixeira 1B
L Matsui DH
S Posada C
R Nady RF
L Cano 2B
S Swisher CF

I force the pitcher to face Alex in the 1st inning. You take some pressure off him by doing so, and he gets some protection from Tex. Matsui 5th IF he's hitting well.

Anonymous said...

Oh, as Greg said, another reason not to trade guys is the potential for injuries. Let's say hypothetically that Posada can't catch every day, or goes on the DL for an extended period. Your lineup just lost a big bat that can't be replaced, as either Molina or Cash will be catching.

If you've traded Matsui, for example, your potential #5 hitter, who protects Alex and/or Teixeira? Nady? Swisher? We need to keep all these guys, especially Matsui. When Matsui is going well, he's a solid run producer. He's able to get runs in, and he's able to hit in the clutch. Last season was tough because he got one knee repaired and the other one acted up. Maybe now with both knees repaired and full-time DH job he'll be healthy enough to play a full season, get some consistancy, and he could easily drive in over 100 runs.

I'd rather not have to rely on Nady or Swisher or Cano to protect Tex and Alex on those days that Posada isn't catching or if he gets hurt.

Anonymous said...

Swisher is a worse center fielder than Damon. If Nick Swisher is in center field it is going to be a long season. He's a corner outfielder and a first baseman. Personally, I'd trade Nady for a AAA short stop and go with this:

LF Damon L
SS Jeter R
1B Teixeira S
3B Rodriguez R
DH Matsui L
C Posada S
2B Cano L
RF Swisher S
CF Gardner L

Molina R
Ransom R
Cabrera S
Whoever we can get for Nady, hopefully a slick fielding infielder. I miss Alberto Gonzalez :-(

Anonymous said...

Alberto was great to have around on the bench.

Greg Cohen said...

Gonzalez was a great fielder, but let's just say he wasn't the greatest hitter in the world. Cody Ransom can hit, and is solid at all the infield positions. He's more than good enough to be the Yanks' utility man.

Anonymous said...

The only way I see them trading 2 of those would be to make room for Manny... but that's unlikely.... although certainly interesting... there's still a few moves left to do...

Anonymous said...

I say move one. If you can move Matsui to Seattle, whether it be for Bedard or prospects then go for it. Seattle has a Japanese ownership and have a ton of history with Japanese imports, as we all know. That would be ideal to sign Manny (which I think is more possible than other would seem to believe). If not, I still like our roster as is. My only gripe is the lack of versatility on the bench. We'll likely carry 12 pitchers, leaving us with 4 bench players, as Greg listed, but I don't like that only one of those players can play 2nd, 3rd, or SS. I like having Gardner/Melky on the bench so we have a runner in late situations, and I love Swisher there (if he's not starting in center, which hopeully he isn't. I would like to see Melky bounce back and reclaim the spot, leaving the speedy Gardner on the bench and the versatile Swisher there as well to fill in at all 3 OF positions as well as 1B). I think maybe we could use another arm in the bullpen, but it's not a pressing issue. All in all, I would be comfortable going into Spring Training with the current roster+ Pettitte (or whoever they would sign to fill out the rotation. If you ask me it should come from outside of the organization so we have Hughes, Aceves, and Kennedy as insurance. I think Aceves should start the season in the bigs as the long man and spot-starter if someone needs to be skipped but isn't expected to miss significant time, Hughes should start in AAA and be the 6th starter should someone go down, anbd Kennedy can just rot as far as I'm concerned. Maybe pursue a deal with Colorado for Huston Street centered around Kennedy and another body or 2).

Anonymous said...

Trade Nady and Kennedy for Aaron Rowand.


Damon lf
Jeta
Arod
Tex
Matsui dh
Posada
Swisher rf
Cano
Rowand cf

Looks pretty good to me!

YankeeBaseball

Anonymous said...

NO!!!NO!!!NO ROWAND!!!

Anonymous said...

2010 lineup.

Sizmore Cf
Jeter SS
Tex 1b
Arod 3b
Swisher DH
Nady Rf
Posada C
Jackson Lf
Cano 2b

like it?

Kyle Litke said...

Trading 2 doesn't make any sense unless they're planning yet another signing. You can make an argument for keeping all of them (and having one out of Nady/Swisher be the 4th outfielder, or having Damon play center) and you can make a case for trading one of them (more likely Nady or Swisher), but trading 2 makes no sense at all short of another big signing since it opens a hole with nobody to fill it.

Anonymous said...

We're not even in 2009 yet Anon. Lineup is ok though.

IRONPIGPEN said...

Hughes, Kennedy To Scranton?

lvironpigs.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

one name and we have a solid team.
manny manny manny, get rid of nady
hes terrible not a good outfielder or a good arm, he is slow and strikes out a lot. cant afford to keep him unless he is only for ph use only....a-rod chokes under presure jeter cant hit but into double plays, damons old with a rubber arm. they will pitch around tex- to get to the choker a-rod.
so u see manny fits in to do the dirty work, and it may help a-rod because he would have less pressur.. trade matsui or nady a must. get manny yanks need clutch hitting. plus manny has a better arm then matsui and nady and plays a little better then them two. u make the line up anyway u want, just add manny. maybee trade kennedy and damon for a centerfielder...

Greg Cohen said...

IRONPIGPEN,

I just added you to my blogroll. I had thought I had done it before, but I must not have. Anyway, you're on there now.

Joe Torrie,

Manny would make the lineup insane, there's no doubt about that. But I just don't think the Yankees are going to go after him. I think they were deciding between Teixeira or Manny and they chose Teixeira.