On the Yankees beat

Once again... a yankee pitcher is suspended for not hitting someone....

DOC

Baseball America's take on the Gonzalez/Nunez trade from yesterday:

This trade is puzzling for the Nationals, who recently extended shortstop Cristian Guzman's contract for two more years and acquired second baseman Emilio Bonifacio from Arizona for Jon Rauch. Gonzalez is a spare part who does not project as a big league regular. The Nationals are expected to place Guzman on the disabled list, but it seems short-sighted to part with a young, power arm for a low-upside, short-term insurance policy. Maybe Nunez will be just a middle reliever, and maybe he won't reach the big leagues at all, but he certainly has a higher ceiling than Gonzalez. The Nationals system is thin in the middle infield, but acquiring more utility players is a strange solution.

Gonzalez, 25, shares a name with the former U.S. Attorney General but is not related. He began his career in the Diamondbacks organization and came to the Yankees, along with since-traded righty Ross Ohlendorf and righty Stephen Jackson, in the deal that sent Randy Johnson back out to Arizona. Gonzalez is an above-average defensive shortstop with solid range, soft hands and a plus arm, but he wasn't the top defender at the position in the Yankees system—that's Double-A Trenton's Ramon Pena. Gonzalez had not shown he could hit upper-level pitching yet, hitting just .250/.313/.356 at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and was just 10-for-66 in his two short big league stints, including 9-for-52 (.173) this season. He's shown some plate discipline throughout his career but lacks the power to be an everyday regular at just 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds.

Nunez, 22, came to the Nationals organization from the Dodgers in the 2006 Marlon Anderson trade. He went 4-6, 4.05 last year at low Class A Hagerstown in his steady full-season debut, which he spent almost exclusively as a starter. But Nunez struggled to maintain his velocity late into games and lacked a quality third pitch, so a move to the bullpen seemed inevitable. He advanced to high Class A Potomac to start this year, going 2-8, 5.22 with 82 strikeouts and 21 walks in 81 innings over 21 appearances (17 starts). Nunez has worked out of the bullpen since earning a midseason promotion to Double-A Harrisburg, going 0-0, 1.13 in eight innings. He profiles as a middle reliever down the road, with a lively, sinking fastball that tops out at 94 mph and an improving slider from a low three-quarters arm slot

Also, the Yankees have officially signed Victor Zambrano to a minor league contract.

You know, if it was 2002 and you looked at the guys the Yankees have rehabbing: Milton, Pavano, Zambrano - you would think the Yankees are in awesome shape going forward

There may be another reason why Dan McCutchen was included in the Xavier Nady deal. Jose Tabata has, thus far, refused to report to Altoona (Pitt's AA team) and is contemplating leaving professional baseball and instead going overseas. If he reports, then speculation is that this winter the Pirates will send another prospect back to the Yankees.

Head case. Any way we get him off the books is fine.

Tabata, not McC.

That really makes this deal a steal. Got to get another starter though. Give Kennedy another chance. Could he be worse than Ponson?

I have to agree w/ TY, Kennedy has to get another shot although I get the feeling the Yanks are doing the right thing by letting him build up his confidence again and it might actually be best to let him come to spring training and fight for a job with a good amount of confidence, which might not happen if he came back now and got shelled again.

I really, really want Hughes to come back and come back strong!

I do disagree with something Kat said in the live chat though about the recent trades the Yanks have made. I don't see Pudge having the most impact out of all the people the Yanks have added, I think I'll give Nady that nod for now. To me, Pudge is not an upgrade at all defensively (he's probably the opposite) and he hasn't been hitting for power at all and does not like to walk at all. While I agree his offense or potential offense made the trade worthwhile, I don't think it's the type of move that puts the team over the top. That will have to come in the form of some type of addition to and subsequent subtraction from the pitching staff.

By the way, Jeff Karstens is pitching a two hitter against the Cubs, yes, the Cubs who are at home where they never lose and are coming off a complete demolition of the Brewers.

I wanted Karstens to do well for the Pirates, but not this well!

I agree Jim A. In order of impact, Nady 1st, Marte, then Pudge.

After watching Nady play and observing his mannerisms, I get the gut feeling he is a "gamer" in the same mold of O'Neill, Tino, Brosius, and Bernie. Time will tell if this comes true, and his offense isn't quite in the same neighborhood as our champion Yanks, but there is something about this guy I like. He isn't into the excessive celebrations and seems very focused on the job. Very professional. He is gonna be a fan favorite.

Nady will prove to be our most important pick-up over the next 2 months, I would bet on it.

I must say, I've recently changed my stance on Sabathia (who I favored not signing most of the year) because it seems like stacking the rotation will be the only thing that can compensate or offset the lack of offense we've seen from this team and the necessary changes they need to make headed into next season.

Quite frankly, if you stack the rotation with Sabathia, Wang, Pettitte, Joba, and Hughes - you give yourself a great chance to win almost every night.

And since the Rays' pitching staff is only going to get better the next couple of years with Price and Wade making their presence known - the only equalizer is to stack the rotation with as many studs, innings eaters, or strong arms as possible.

They need to let Abreu, Giambi, Moose and now Pudge walk at the end of the season and find a way to get another bat to play the outfield every day.

The bullpen should be in pretty good shape next season as well with the addition of Melancon and probably Humberto Sanchez competing for prominent roles.

I do think the status of Posada will keep the Yanks away from Teixeira. If Posada can’t catch every day next year, he’s got to play somewhere - and DH will be occupied by Matsui.

Oops, above comment was intended for Jim.

Viper

I must say I'm impressed and pleased that you've had a change of heart regarding the Sabbathia issue.

I have to say that we are now in complete agreement and the points you make about Tampa and the logic behind stacking the rotation are cogent and well founded.

It feels really good actually!!

;-)

Cheers mate !!

Funny stuff.

Jeff Karstens pitched 6 shutout innings against the Cubs today but there are probably several contributors for that.

The Cubs just had a huge series against the Brewers and kicked their butts all over the field. This could be just an emotional hangover similar to what the Yanks usually deal with after a series against the Red Sox.

Plus, the Cubs have never faced Karstens and he had been pitching very well for Scranton his last several outings so he’s pitching with some confidence.

The Pirates are catching lightning in a bottle with Karstens just like the Yanks did with Rasner early in the season.

Karstens will never amount to anything more than a #5 starter in an inferior National League. No worries.