On the Yankees beat

Kat, I agree with your article where you said that there is a chance Abreu and Moeller come back. If Moeller doesn't get a major league contract I could see him going back to Scranton as Cervelli's back-up/tutor.

I think, in the end, Abreu's going to wind up with the Cubs.

I don't know where Pudge is going to land. That's going to be an interesting one to watch. He was plain awful with the Yankees but still believes he's an everyday catcher. Where he and Ken Griffey land are really interesting to me - I think in the end they could be this year's Mike Piazza/Kenny Lofton. Guys who wait and wait and wait for the phone to ring and it never does.

Incidentally - Pat Burrell turned down a 2 year 22 mil offer from the Phillies. Any interest in him if the team either moved Damon or if Burrell were willing to go back to first base (where he broke in as a young player)?

I still think Adam Dunn is a viable option if the team doesn't get Tex, especially given how right handed they'll be with Giambi and Abreu leaving. Yes he strikes out a ton which often hurts when you're trying to drive in a runner from third with less than 2 outs, but his on base numbers are staggeringly good and you can count on him for 40 hr a year.

On another topic - and since I seem to be talking to myself - I was thinking about who could be the next Carlos Quentin. You know, a player who is devalued by his own organization, traded away from next to nothing and then blossoms into the player he was supposed to be.

To me this guy is: Jeremy Hermida.

Hermida's another guy that the Marlins are looking to move before he starts making too much money. He's still young (24) but has been dogged by injuries and some scouts have questioned his desire. I think he's an ultimate "change of scenary" guy and could come cheap. I mean real cheap - like Wilson Betemit and Edwar Ramirez cheap.

These were all the same knocks that Quentin had against him when the D'backs shipped him out for a nothing prospect. Look how well that worked out for Chicago. I think getting Hermida for the Yankee outfield could be a coup.

Chip,
I live in FL and I hear everyday how Willingham and Hermida are ready to go out the door, but honestly I don't bother with NL baseball especially the overgrown farm team the Marlins put together (yeah yeah they won a couple rings watever, Legends field has more season ticket holders than the Marlins). But if either one of them can't cut it with the fish in front of the 150 fans who show up and don't leave before the 5th, do you (or anybody) think they could cut in NY? I get change of scenery, and your comparison with Quentin from laid back AZ to the southside is pretty similar but listening to sports radio here you would think that Hermida was a complete waste of time to develop.

p.s. Just trying to show you your not the only one here on the boards :)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/75577-colorado-rockies-trade-buzz-willy-taveras-to-ny-yankees-for-ian-kennedy

I ran across this today and had read it elsewhere last night. I know tis the season of rumors and don't believe anything until it happens, just thought I would get some of your guy's takes on it.

The kid stole 67 bases...some nice speed there!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Taveras

Seems he k's alot and doesn't walk alot, though led the league in infield hits...3.57 seconds from 1st to 3rd as a rightie...wow!

Anyone know about his Defensive skills?

Realist,

He's very good defensively. But here's my thought. If the Yankees want a CF who can go after the ball, steal a ton of bases, and hit for no power whatsoever, why not just play Brett Gardner?

Chip,

I agree with you regarding Gardner plus he is younger...and IPK could be used in a different deal. Just posting what I read and was curious what some of you thought or possibly had read about it. Now, if it is the beginnings of a bigger deal, hmmm???? ;-)

I am however amazed at Willy's speed...that's incredible.

Oh I agree with you completely. If the Yankees get Taveras back along with another player (Atkins?) for a package of Kennedy and maybe Gardner and McAllister I would be all for it.

Here's an interesting thought. Keith Law, whom I loathe, while killing the Royals for trading for Mike Jacobs, has said that Trey Hillman and Dayton Moore have both soured on Billy Butler.

How about Ian Kennedy for Billy Butler? Butler's not a great fielder, heck he's not even a very good fielder, but he's about average at first and the kid (22 years old) projects as a prolific hitter. The Royals are always looking for pitching. I think this would be a good trade of two young players who, for one reason or another, have quickly fallen out of favor in the organization. Maybe expand the deal to get them to include Gil Meche?

While I agree that Abreu & Moller have the best chance at a return to NY I hope that Abreu goes elsewhere. Chad is a solid back up catcher and assuming Posada goes back behind the dish he'll likely be needed at some point in 2009. Barring a Tex signing I personally think that Posada should move to firstbase. If not for his offence he'd be considiered a subpar catcher at best. At least at first his bat should be in the lineup 150-155 games realistically and we wouldn't have to hear about his wearing down over the second half. As for trading with the Rockies I would't do anything till they decide what they're doing with Holliday.

Why do you folks want to trade young pitching talent for the likes of Willy Taveras? Atkins is going nowhere.Gil Meche? Adam Dunn a "viable option"?Marlins trading Hermida for a utility infielder Betemit or a reliever Ramirez ? Never happen.

Last time I looked Molina was the backup catcher and a good one at that.Cervelli doesn't need tutoring from Moeller.He's probably a 1/2 yr removed from joining the club if anything happens to Molina or Posada.I doubt NY carries 3 catchers if Posada proves to be healthy.Hmm slow afoot Posada at 1B for an entire season ?? No way.We barely survived 7 yrs w/Giambi at 1B now NY is going to turn it over to an aging catcher? C'mon.

Any hole NY needs to plug will come via FA .Pitching pitching pitching.The only player rumored to be on the block and worth trading for is Peavy .

Ruse,

No one on here said they wanted to trade Taveras for IPK...I only posted the rumor...go back and read. Chip and I wondered if it possibly could lead to a bigger deal...it's all speculation on what's being thrown around.

I personaly wouldn't do the Taveras for IPK straight up, though if it was part of a bigger trade then I would be happy to hear it...one involving Holliday of course ;-)...which I know isn't gonna happen :-)

ruse -

You're kidding yourself if you look at the team the Yankees have and think that they don't need help offensively.

Abreu and Giambi - GONE

Matsui and Posada - coming off injury marred seasons

Jeter - not as effective at the dish as he was as a younger man.

You know what you get if you have a ton of pitching and no bats in the lineup? The Toronto Blue Jays. Which, I suppose, is fine if you don't actually want to win anything. Personally I would like to see this team have an actual balance between pitching and hitting.

As for Peavy - come on man, do some research. First of all, he wants nothing to do with the American League. Second, even if he did - his ERA in PETCO (which is only slightly smaller than Yellowstone) was 1.75, everywhere else, 4.30. He's a great pitcher in San Diego. He's a very good pitcher in other NL parks and he's horrible against the American League.

Oh, and Atkins most certainly will be on the move. With Ian Stewart up at third and Todd Helton not going anywhere at first, they are going to use Atkins to try and fill some other needs.

And I'm not talking about carrying Moeller as a third catcher - I said that if he couldn't get a ML deal somewhere else he might come to the Yankees on a minor league deal to play at Scranton.

On an entirely different note -

The Yankees have rehired Bill Livesly - the scout who is credited with scouting Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Andy.

Ruse,
I could not agree more with your post at 22:37. Pitching, pitching, pitching!

The offense will need to be addressed with the exits of Abreu and Giambi, but some of that should be made up for by the return of Posada. If Tex is convinced to sign, then the team will only need to address the bench and some defense.

Let's keep in mind this team won 89 games without it's number one starter; they got zilch from two rookie starters; they had Rasner and Ponson as important parts of the rotation for most of the season; their all-star catcher missed almost the entire season; their all star 2b slept for most of the season and Andy Pettitte did not have a good year.

Makes us appreciate what Mussina did huh?

Yanks in '09 will be a very good team, I can feel it!

CHIP

Abreu gone ? not yet .Nady could easily switch to RF if they don't resign Abreu with Damon in LF and Matsui as the everyday DH.

Tex is the only offensive player they might need.Anyway where are they going to plug in all these players NY will sign or trade for?
Gardner will be given every opportunity to play CF with Melky as the 4th OF.So it comes down to 1B and possibly RF.

Of all the position player prospects NY has Jackson is the only one other teams are looking at.NY would be very foolish to trade pitching .

Jeter is entitled to an off season no reason why he can't play at the same level at least offensively for 3 or so more yrs.

Helton is on the downside of his career moving Atkins to 1B makes sense to me.Why would the Rockies trade him? All the Rocks need are a couple of FA pitchers to contend.

CHIP

Abreu gone ? not yet .Nady could easily switch to RF if they don't resign Abreu with Damon in LF and Matsui as the everyday DH.

Tex is the only offensive player they might need.Anyway where are they going to plug in all these players NY will sign or trade for?
Gardner will be given every opportunity to play CF with Melky as the 4th OF.So it comes down to 1B and possibly RF.

Of all the position player prospects NY has Jackson is the only one other teams are looking at.NY would be very foolish to trade pitching .

Jeter is entitled to an off season no reason why he can't play at the same level at least offensively for 3 or so more yrs.

Helton is on the downside of his career moving Atkins to 1B makes sense to me.Why would the Rockies trade him? All the Rocks need are a couple of FA pitchers to contend.

http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2008/10/hank_steinbrenner_new_york_yan.html

Hank needs a muzzle and I hope this doesn't have an ounce of truth to it! Btw, on another thread someone called Hank "Fredo", "Sonny" would be more appropriate ;-)

CHIP

Abreu gone ? not yet .Nady could easily switch to RF if they don't resign Abreu with Damon in LF and Matsui as the everyday DH.

Tex is the only offensive player they might need.Anyway where are they going to plug in all these players NY will sign or trade for?
Gardner will be given every opportunity to play CF with Melky as the 4th OF.So it comes down to 1B and possibly RF.

Of all the position player prospects NY has Jackson is the only one other teams are looking at.NY would be very foolish to trade pitching .

Jeter is entitled to an off season no reason why he can't play at the same level at least offensively for 3 or so more yrs.

Helton is on the downside of his career moving Atkins to 1B makes sense to me.Why would the Rockies trade him? All the Rocks need are a couple of FA pitchers to contend.

I apologize for all the posts.I don't know why it happened

I've said it about two dozen times now and I'll keep on saying it. With the resources the Yankees have it shouldn't be get pitching or get hitting. It shouldn't be splurge here and look for stop gaps there. With over 150 million in freed up revenue, YES, and a new stadium that virtually allows the team to print money this team should be able to get the best of both worlds. It should be able to find "pitching pitching and more pitching" while also finding "hitting hitting and more hitting."

Anyone who believes that you can count on Jorge Posada returning to his 2007 form is setting themselves up for a fall, and a hard one at that. Posada is 38 and coming off a lost year. We have no idea if his shoulder is going to be sound this year. Matsui too is coming off an injury plagued season (his second in the last two years) and we can't count on him to reverse that trend. Personally I would be shocked if he plays over 100 games this year.

The Atkins proposal is a fall back in case Tex doesn't sign here. And if he doesn't then Atkins alone is not enough to help the offense. Posada's return is not enough to help the offense.

Again, it all boils down to this: why does it need to be one or the other? When did the Yankees become the Royals or the Twins where they have to make a sacrifice in one area at the expense of another? Of course they need pitching - but they shouldn't be so blinded by that need that they allow everything else to fall by the wayside. Keep in mind that with Giambi and with Abreu this team struggled all season to score runs. That won't improve by just getting more pitchers.

One more thing on Posada - even if he's completely healthy next season (which I doubt). Even if he's physically able to sustain 140 game season (which I doubt even more) who is to say that he won't go on a Jason Varitek like nose-dive offensively?

Counting on a 38 year old catcher to help stabilize an offense that struggled all season is folly.

And Ruse - Abreu is looking for 3 years $45 million - the Yankees aren't going there. The only way he comes back is if he accepts their arbitration offer.

Ruse -

They would trade Atkins because they can't trade Helton. He's arbitration eligible and Ian Stewart is on his way to being a big time player at 3b.

Colorado (unlike the Yankees) can't afford to play in the free agent pool for the upper level guys. Sabathia, Burnett, even Lowe, Sheets and Perez, they're not going there.

Ian Kennedy is a hard headed kid who seemed to think last year that success in the minors was more important than poor results in the majors. He's a back of the rotation starter for a good team and the Yankees have lots of depth in terms of right handed pitching. What's more, he's going to likely not have a spot in the rotation this year if the team brings back Andy or Moose and goes out and gets a CC and/or Burnett. Behind him, Andrew Brackman is a far superior pitcher and so is Dellin Betances. So moving Kennedy in a deal for Atkins would not be the worst thing the Yankees could do.

CHIP

Ian Stewart if he sticks w/ the parent club will more than likely start the season at 2B where he's shown good range but on the down side his strikeout totals are appalling.

Chip everything you say is predicated on the health of the young pitchers and the demise of older players.It clearly remains to be seen.
Brackman hasn't a professional resume so to claim he is better than so and so is putting the cart in front of the donkey.
It is also a well known fact that there is a 50% failure rate among top pitching prospects.

Colorado will go after 2nd tier pitchers such as Garland etc.

Ruse -

Jeff Baker is the Rox starting 2b. They tried Stewart there but he lacks the glove.

Whether it is to the Yankees or someone else - Garrett Atkins will be moved.

And why, in the name of Zeus, would the Rockies go after Garland? He struck out 90 in almost 200 innings. In case you missed it, contact pitchers and Coors Field are a toxic combination.

You're right, pitching prospects do fail at an outstanding rate - so what makes you think that Ian Kennedy is more likely to succeed than Brackman? Kennedy has shown that he doesn't think he needs to make any adjustments to what he's been doing because it has gotten him great results in the minors. Unfortunately for him, it hasn't done anything to help him succeed in the majors. Unless the off-season goes spectacularly poorly for the Yankees and they get shut out of the pitching market and both Andy and Moose retire, Kennedy will likely open the season at AAA, where he will do a wonderful job striking out hitters who have no business on a major league roster.

If he gets his head out of his butt, realizes that he doesn't know everything there is to know about pitching and starts listening to his coaches, I think his ceiling, if all goes right, is as a number 3 starter, a Brian Bannister type. So yeah, if the Yankees can get a young 1b or CF for a package with Ian Kennedy, you do it.

And for the record, no one has answered my question about why the Yankees can't address both pitching and offense in the same offseason.

CHIP

Milton Bradley is injury prone and a head case .No way in hell.

I'm not saying Kennedy is less prone to injury or a better prospect than Brackman but he is a head of him on the depth chart.

Rasner is a Bannister type not Kennedy .

You keep flailing away.Keep trying!

CHIP

Milton Bradley is injury prone and a head case .No way in hell.

I'm not saying Kennedy is less prone to injury or a better prospect than Brackman but he is a head of him on the depth chart.

Rasner is a Bannister type not Kennedy .

You keep flailing away.Keep trying!

I'll throw another name out there - if the Yankees do lose Abreu - which seems likely - Milton Bradley is a type B free agent, meaning he won't cost a draft pick if the Yankees sign him.

Bradley would be risky but but at the right price may prove worth the risk?