Well, the Yankees may have to face an improved Angels lineup with Mark Teixeira now in the mix. But the task of facing the Red Sox just got easier. Jason Bay's a very good hitter, but he's no Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox sent Manny to the Dodgers in a three-team trade that sent Bay to Boston.
On the Yankees front, the only last-minute deal they made was to send Alberto Gonzalez to the Nationals for minor league pitcher Jhonny Nunez. That doesn't mean something won't happen in August. A pitcher like Jarrod Washburn is likely to clear waivers because the salary is so high on him, so they might still pick him or a similar guy up in August.
Ivan Rodriguez was very happy about the trade. This is a big deal for him, make no mistake, regardless of the fact that he has been in the major leagues since 1991. He brought his family in for his Yankee debut tonight, and by that I mean his ENTIRE family. His mom is flying in from Puerto Rico. His dad was already with him, and came to New York with him. His three kids are coming in, I believe from Miami. And his wife (he is remarried, and the kids were in Miami with his first wife) is flying in from Colombia.
"Absolutely, it's a big deal for me," Rodriguez said.
He has a close, long-term relationship with Jorge Posada, whom he used to train with in the offseasons in Puerto Rico. He also knows Jose Molina, and spent some time with him talking about the pitchers.
Molina said nothing bad about the move, even though it will lessen his playing time substantially. Said Molina: "Whenever Joe puts me in the lineup, I will be ready. ... He knows I'm going to continue working and do the best I can to help (Pudge) and help the Yankees win."
Rodriguez has worn No. 7 his entire career, a number that's obviously not available in New York. So he now has No. 12. Said Rodriguez: "Now I'm very happy to be in the pinstripes, to be a New York Yankee."
Joe Girardi is very happy about the move, as would be expected. He said he will continue to have Molina catch Mike Mussina, but beyond that, he'll have to see how things play out.
Pudge is in the lineup and batting eighth. I saw something I've never seen before -- an opposing player listening to a press conference. The Angels' Ervin Santana was in listening to Pudge's intro press conference. I asked him why, and he said he just wanted to listen. I asked if he knew Rodriguez, and he said no, he just wanted to listen. Anyway, thought it was interesting.
Also in the Angels' clubhouse, Mark Teixeira talked about now being an Angel. He said it's been kind of a whirlwind but he is excited and looking forward to hopefully playing in October and getting to a World Series.
Comments (30)
I could almost hear the cheers coming out of Cashman's office. There are some happy Yankees right now. No knock on Jason Bay, but Manny Ramirez is probably the best pure hitter in the game right now - even if Manny was loafing Bay's not on that level.
As for the Alberto Gonzalez trade - I'm sorry to see the kid go, slick fielder. Looks like the kid they brought back is an arm to replace the loss of Ohlendorf
DING DONG THE WICKED MAN-RAM IS DEAD!!!! YIPPPEEEEE. The days of him killing the Yanks is OVER!!!!!
I dont care what Jay Bay's #'s are, when it came to big games, Manny was one of the best in the history of the game.
Dear Mark Teixeira,
I know that you've been treated wrongly in the past couple years. Your Texas High School sweetheart took you for granted and never wanted to spend money on you. Then you met that Southern Bell, things seemed good, a perfect fit perhaps? But no, she used you just like the last one. Now you're with a high class lady, she'll wine you and dine you, she may even take you to the grand ball. Dont be fooled, this is just a short term relationship, a summer fling. Once the dust settles, Mrs Right is waiting for you. A new house with a white picket fence and a family who will show you undying love. So go ahead, sew your royal oats. When you are ready for a long term commitment, your soul mate will be waiting in the Bronx.
Love Always,
The Yankees
I hate to see Alberto Gonzalez go, he was a good young player in my mind. I guess there was just no room for him with Jeter and Cano not going anywhere for a while.
Any info on Nunez? Is he a decent prospect?
One of the funniest parts of this is that the Red Socks will have to pay Bay's contract this year and next, plus the 7 million they sent to the dodgers to pay for Manny's contract, plus loosing prospects and only getting Bay? hahahahaha.
Great day....
Funny DRU. :-)
Jim,
I know nothing about him. Here is his profile from Baseball America:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/?pl_id=83772
better in relief at AA than as a starter at A
Yeah Jim, doesnt look like anything special, not sure why the trade was made...
Nunez, a 22-year-old right-hander, had a 1.13 ERA in five relief appearances with Double-A Harrisburg, striking out eight and walking six in eight innings.
He began the season at Class-A Potomac, going 2-8 with a 5.22 ERA in 21 games, including 17 starts.
I notice there has been no comment on the trade by Peter Gammons. I guess it's taking him a while to figure out how to spin this one for Boston.
I do wonder who is more upset today, David Ortiz or Andre Ethier and Juan Pierre
Again, Bay is a good player but to give up what Boston did - beyond Manny the two prospects as well - I can't fathom how the Red Sox didn't get a relief pitcher thrown in as well.
LOL...Dru-That was funny!...and hey, this is some gift the Red Sox just gave us...no offense to Jason Bay, with whom I would love here in the Bronx. But that lethal combo of Manny and Ortiz just fell down a flight of stairs at Yankee Stadium. Manny must have given Mr. henry et. al. (the team) fits for them to move him....Manny should do well under Torre (not that I really care) , and now just hope the 4 prospects the Pirates got in return do great (hey, it's my Dad's team so my brother and I are honorary fans of them Pirates). With Ivan's strong arm behind the plate, we're in good shape...and good luck to Farn's!
Alright - non Red Sox/Yankees note
Remember this winter when everyone said that the Mariners were going to be a World Series contender? Well now you're hearing Gammons saying that they're his trade deadline loser because they "refuse to accept where they are" that the Rangers and Oakland and Angels are so far ahead of them and if they don't get younger and start bringing in some more talent they're going to be a cellar dweller for the next four of five years.
I really hope these comments come back to bite all of you. Hopefully, Jason Bay knocks the Yankees out of the playoffs or something along those lines. You all sound pathetic. Can't beat the Red Sox anymore so just have to hope their players get picked off.
So what are you - a Met fan? Tell me you wouldn't be thrilled if you woke up and found out that the Phillies traded Jimmy Rollins. Or a few years ago if the Braves had traded Chipper Jones for a lesser 3b. Tell me you weren't thrilled when you signed Glavine and Maddux went to the Cubs.
No one is knocking Bay. But there is no question that he's not as good a hitter as Manny. It's just not possible, no one in baseball is as good a hitter as Manny - especially not against the Yankees. I'm not going to apologize for being happy that one of the teams standing between the Yankees and the playoffs is worse today than they were yesterday.
Not A Yankee or red Sox Fan......ah, who really cares what YOU think.....truth is, the Red Sox just got a 'wee bit weaker, with all due respect to Jason Bay....and it's all in thanks to Manny's actions or lack there of. Our Yankess just got stronger with I-rod behind the plate.
You're basically just admitting that you couldn't beat the Red Sox as they were built. I thought the Yankee fans were annoyingly more arrogant than that, but I guess the mighty have fallen.
I'm not too proud to admit that beating Boston without Manny is a HECK of a lot easier than beating Boston with him.
If you take that as a lack of confidence in the Yankees, so be it. But the object of the game is winning, if that means taking advantage of a team suffering an injury to a key player or trading away a guy who kills your team - I'm ok with that.
The Yanks just beat Boston in 4 of the last 7 that they played and took 2 out of 3 at Fenway.
Not a knock on Jason Bay who's a pretty good player, but he's no Manny.
John,
Exactly - it's not a knock on Bay to say he's not Manny just like it isn't a knock on Papelbon when people say he's not Mariano Rivera or a knock on Bernie Williams when people said he wasn't as good as Junior in the late 90s. It's hard to compare a guy - no matter how good he is - to a first ballot hall of famer.
Again, I'm curious to see how Bay responds to the microscope he's going to be under. He's the guy replacing Manny Ramirez - in a tough market - in the middle of a pennant race. That's a long way from Pittsburgh. Heck, he might be fine, he might show up and just start smacking the ball off the Monster, but then again he might not...who knows.
How does some supposed unaffiliated fan have the gall to come to a Yankee blog and tell us how we should or shouldn't feel about the Manny trade?
Go away. Nobody asked your opinion, troll.
Chip,
I think that Bay will be alright. Boston fans know that he's not Manny and as long as he plays hard and give them 100%, they'll embrace him.
I don't think that he should hit in the 4-hole, at least not now. They can stick Youkilis, Lowell or even Drew there and ease Bay into the Boston atmosphere.
I also think Bay will do just fine in Boston....but again, as I have stated before.....the small market team lost out again....and it doesen't matter how good those prospects are, because if they are THAT good, some team is gonna trade for them and offer more prospects, and it'll keep going around and around w/that small market team going no where....this is the part about sports that suck. Hey, I'm a huge NYY Fan and been so for 40 years, but still, 'ya gotta support these small market teams that can't afford to keep their star players. All these do teams is feed us Big market teams....it's a viscious cycle and a catch 22 for MLB...not trying to put a damper on our good fortune between yesterday and today's events, just trying to keep it real!
Rich, if that's the case, then why did the small market indians (by payroll) come within 1 game of the world series? Why were the D'backs playing against the Rockies in the NLCS instead of the Mets, Phillies, Dodgers, Braves, etc that spend alot more? Hell, look at the D-Rays this year. You want to be a mouthpiece for Selig, that's fine, just understand that you are. Pittsburgh is in the situation they are in because their front office is incompetent.
Rich, do you still think Shapiro got taken when he traded Bartolo Colon for prospects?
its not that the yankees couldn't beat them (see winning 2/3 at boston), its that they arent as good as they were before and Manny Ramirez, while very moody, was probably one of the best hitters we will ever see and hes no longer there to kill the yankees... if jason bay comes back to bite the yankees in the you know where, then so be it its part of the game... im sure some other fans of other teams were laughing at us when we acquired aaron boone for claussen i believe (?) not sure about that one, but at that point claussen was as far as i remember our top rated lefty in the system...anyway, we all know how that turned... However, you cant possibly argue that the red sox lineup, in a purely statistical and talent based system, is better than it was a few days ago and if you try to then you are insane...in terms of how it actually turns out, however, they could be better without manny's antics...only time will tell however...as for the small market teams, some of them CAN afford to sign players, they just choose not too...The Steinbrenners take the money they earn from the team and put it back into the team thus creating a consistently profitable and competitive team not to mention giving free money to small market teams who, in several occasions, simply pocket the money rather than spending it on talent, thus continuing the "vicious cycle" of luxury taxes and people worrying about small market teams... this, of course, is only my own opinion and is open to debate from both sides...i will not dispute anyone elses opinion as it is, in fact, only an opinion
Michaelz.....your a real smart'oss huh?...'yeah, and I sure wouldn't mind being Selig's mouthpiece-would be one heck of a living!...and let me tell 'ya......Pittsburgh has been raped of it's top caliber players year after year after year by larger market teams...it's not they their management is incompetent. How can they build if rich super market teams keep taking their top players? They spend a lot of $ and time to guide these top flight blue chip players, sign them, then lose them. If every team would leave, let's say, the Pirates alone, they would easily be a contending team....they lost Xavier, Bay and Marte all within the last 48 hours-HOW can any ballclub find success if other teams keep taking away their talent?-They can't! and Big deal re: prospects....they'll get them up to speed, they'll be terrific and then rich ballclub will take them for prospects and it just doesen't stop. We're lucky because we're the richest pro sports team and can afford so much-the small market teams, in general always lose out, and remember, I am a die hard NYY fan and have been for 40+ years! You michaelz are just a greedy, self centered spoiled child that has no clue how to support THE SPORT of BASEBALL. I myself would opt o have all home grown players...similar to the way the Tampa Bay Rays are designed+ the payroll would be less!
Rich
Initially I would agree with what you say,but having thought about it Pittsburgh has OF Mccutcheon on the verge of possible stardom,they pick up a highly touted 3B in Laroche to fill a big hole at 3rd,Moss who is not Bay by any means will be a good OF and a couple of decent pitching prospects in Hansen and Morris.Pirates are strong in lefty relievers so losing Marte although it might have stung a little isn't the end of the world.
Pirates lose
Nady
Bay
Marte
and in return get
Moss
Laroche
Tabata
McCutchen
Ohlendorf
Karstens
Morris
Hansen
I would say the biggest loss is Bay but Pittsburgh in return gets 2 position players who could help out very soon a possible great player in Tabata if he can get his head together and out of the 5 pitchers maybe 2-3 will have a positive impact as soon as next yr.
The trouble in general with Pittsburgh is they have not been able to develop a winning baseball culture since the Leyland yrs players don't want to play on losing clubs and will jump ship whenever they can for better money and the spotlight.Stingy management is to blame.Pittsburgh has a beautiful new stadium was sold out when NY was in town .So it can happen that one of these days with the right mix of players and good management Pittsburgh will make the playoffs ....
Oh yeah all teams should follow in the footsteps of Tampa: lose every year after year and be rewarded as a result with number one prospects year after year until you have a hot team like they do today. Also not spending their own money and grubbing off the Yankees instead is a fine example to set for the rest of MLB. The fact is that some teams don't belong in the MLB because they don't have the fan support and the money. Baseball is not a cheap business. There are 30 teams in MLB. Maybe there should be fewer teams overall and reserve those spots for the teams that are willing to invest good money and have a decent fan base to support them -- unlike Pittsburgh and Tampa. Tell me why being cheap and needy is preferable to being self-sufficient and generous? Tell me why baseball must be small market when there are billions to be had in this sport? Fact is some teams just don't belong in this RICH SPORT, period.
Viper, I have the gall to do whatever I want. Thanks though. My point was that I expected more out of Yankee fans, rather than celebrating like you just won something just b/c Manny got traded. The Red Sox used to be a little blip on the radar for Yankee fans in the 90's and decades before. You all laughed at them. Now you read these message boards and you'd think the Yankees just won the Wolrd Series. Just pointing out the change of mentality among Yankee fans. I guess a couple WS wins by Boston and the biggest playoff collapse in baseball history ever do that to a fanbase.
No fan,
A couple of World Series wins will never compensate for 86 years of futility. Plain and simple.
Manny was probably the biggest Yankee killer of the last 20 years. To have that guy playing somewhere else is a good thing for the Yanks.
Hell, even the players - especially their pitchers - admit that.
But you go ahead and continue to tell us how that's blasphemy and we Yankee fans should be above it.
its all over for the red sox now that manny is gone! no one in the game can fill his shoes,best hitter in baseball when the games on the line. I am a long tiem yankee fan but he is the best. The sox will never be the same. the new team to focus on now is tampa bay. If the yankees can sign one more strong arm in the rotation it will be all over for everyone else. when wong is back ,watch out Angels . sabathia is a free agent the end of the year he will look good in pin stripes .