No matter where Yankees are in the standing, I think Yankees never will be a seller before trading deadline. They won't tell fans they are giving up season. I know Yankees are in the transition year. This means they won't go crazily in the trade market, but I still believe Cashman and Hank brothers will do their best to get into playoff.
What should Cashman do before trading deadline? In my opinion, there are three things they need to do. The priority will be in this order below.
1. To get a No. 4 type starting pitcher who can eat some innings. I know our starting rotation performance fine so far, but they still don't pitch deep into the game. We can't assume both Ponson and Rasner are going to survive the rest of season. We also can't assume Andy, Moose, Joba keep pitching well the rest of season. On top of that, we can't assume Wang, Hughes and Kennedy will be able to come back in September(or Pavano? I am kidding).
2. To get a good young right hand OF hitter. There are three reasons our offense struggle so far this season, including luck(AVG in RISP), holes(too many injuries) and underperformance(too many players don't play up to their expectation). On top of that, it seems our lineup always struggle to hit lefty even when they are all healthy. This not only can help Yankees this season but also next season.
3. To get a good lefty reliever pitcher. We really need this for not only this season but also next season.
If Cashman can pull out a trade like Abreu trade in 2006, it will be great.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
The biggest move the Yankees are going to make is getting Wang back healthy. That’s an Ace for September.
All the above! All of those positions have worries. The pitching has been OK, though. Its the bats that have stunk!
The problem is that, on paper, it should be reversed: the pitching should have been struggling...with Wang injured, Hughes and Kennedy out (and not doing so well before their injuries), and Mussina supposedly "washed up". But the pitching hasn't been all that bad. The bullpen has pulled itself together nicely as well. So the FEAR is that this will all fall apart in the 2nd half. Maybe so, maybe not. So should they get pitching? Sure, if its truly an upgrade.
The same reasoning can be used for a reversal of fortunes for the hitting. This line-up SHOULD BE rather potent....but it hasn't been. A lot of blame has fell on Cano and Melky. Add in Matsui's injury (which I think hurts more than people seem to admit), Posada's soreness, and Damon's recent injury, and the line up looks shaky. But can they get someone who will make a real impact? (I doubt Sexson is even an upgrade over...lets say...Betemit)
So I think the Yankees need all 3 of your suggestions, but I think it will take a really interesting deal that maybe gives up something we don't expect (like Hughes or Cano). On the other hand, they may try to work it out with the guys they have, hoping people return from injury.
Unfortunately, I think the Yankees might need to use this as a "rebuilding year" and not go to crazy trying to save this season. There may be some good, smart moves Cashman can make, but so far, I haven't heard anything that sounds too good.
In short, to answer your question: Cashman should do very little, perhaps nothing, before the trading deadline because the price tags on the good merchandise are too high right now.
I am sure Wang will do his best and come back to help us in September. If Wang can heal completely, he will be back as soon as he can like he did in the beginning of 2007 season and the end of 2005 season.
I remember Yankees were saying Wang wouldn't be back at the beginning of May in 2007, but he came back in April after two or three rehab games when our pitching was in deep trouble.
The same happened in 2005 season when Wang surprised everyone and came back in September when everyone said we wouldn't see him pitching the rest of 2005 season.
If Wang can heal completely, I think we can get him back after 2 or 3 rehab games which take around 2 weeks because not 100% Wang still is better than a lot of pitchers.
I agree with you,matt,
I hope Yankees won't trade away their prospects to save 2008 season, but why not do some ideal deals if deals make sense for long term plans as well? Of course, some deals have to make sense for both side and we don't have to trade away too many prospects.
Post a Comment