The Red Sox apparently will pay Gagne the extra $3.6 million — on top of the remaining $2 million he’s owed in salary — he would have earned had he met his bonuses for games finished, which he has little chance of doing while setting up in Boston. The Rangers will get Kason Gabbard, David Murphy and Engel Beltre. (Source)

Yeah, Texas gave the Red Sox Gagne for the pu pu platter of Gabbard (spot starter), Murphy (Blown 1st round pick in ‘03, Baseball Prospectus ‘07 says “he has a long way to go with the bat”) and some guy who just got his drivers liscense (Engel Beltre is so young nobody can project what he’s going to be).

I understand that Texas accepted this deal where they don’t acquire anything of substance because they are stupid, but why were they asking so much from all other teams that were interested?

They wanted Alan Horne from the Yankees in one deal, Ian Kennedy in another and Melky Cabrera in another. Horne is more valuable than anyone in the Sox trade. So is Kennedy, 1.76 ERA in 117 IP this year in the minors. So is Cabrera, a 22-year old CF with a .899 RZR and is hitting .336 since the end of May.

They wanted Carlos Gomez from the Mets. Gomez is easily more valuable than anyone in the Sox trade.

It makes no sense to me. Who asks for guys like Gomez, Cabrera and Horne and then accepts a deal for no real prospects (Gabbard, Murphy and Beltre)? I’ve never seen anything like this, Jon Daniels should be ashamed of himself. He should’ve given the Mets and Yanks the same chance to rip him off.

I don’t know what I’m more mad about: the Sox getting Gagne for nothing or the Yanks still having Farnsworth.

Well, it looks like this trade that was shot down about two weeks ago, is now going to happen.

Ca$h has been trying to get Betemit for years (he offered Proctor for Betemit last year when Betemit was on the Braves), he loves his game. I like the guy too, but Betemit just isn’t going to play that much. Still, his versatility, youth and low salary are worth getting.

I like the player, Betemit, and I guess I like the trade. It is a proactive move; trading a 30-year old Proctor with 135 appearences and 156.2 IP the last two years and not much left in the tank for Betemit, who is only 25.  

Proctor can easily be replaced by Britton, Ramirez or Chamberlain. I would’ve rather traded Farns, but all dreams don’t come true.

Joba Chamberlain just made his bullpen debut here in Rochester. He came in to pitch the seventh inning and struck out the side.

He hit 100 mph twice on both the stadium radar and the Yankees gun. He hit 99 at least three times maybe more. Chamberlain threw 13 pitches, 10 of them for strikes. All three balls came to the first batter he faced. (Source)

Although I still don’t like the idea of Joba in the pen, I have calmed down a bit. I know that Joe Torre, the dumbest bullpen manager in the game, won’t be calling the shots. Ca$h will. Nardi will. And Newman will. I feel safe with those guys. I trust them.

They believe that Joba will pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the year, then go to starting again. For April ‘08, he’ll probably be at AAA working on his changeup, which we probably won’t see a lot of this year. Then, he’ll join the team in May. Since we don’t need a fifth starter until May, it’ll all work out.

They have a plan, hopefully it all works out.

According to the pythagorean W-L the Yankees should have a 5 game lead in the wild card race and be only 2 games back in the division.

Red Sox 65-40

Yankees 63-42

Indians 58-47

In real life, the 10-6 win pulled the Yanks to 56-49.

On Sunday, Joba Chamberlain was moved to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bullpen. His name was no longer listed as Monday’s scheduled starter, instead it was Steven White. Farm director Mark Newman said that Chamberlain is instead scheduled to pitch one inning of relief on Monday.

Newman made no attempt to hide the reason for the move — the Yankees want to test Chamberlain in a relief role to see if he could possibly help them out of the bullpen in New York — but Newman was also careful to say the Yankees still see Chamberlain as a starter in the long term. (Source)

If it were up to me, I wouldn’t do this because I think it can hinder the progress of a pitcher that we ultimatly want in the starting rotation. But, Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano, Andrew Miller and Adam Wainwright will tell me to f— off.

Another reason not to do it is Chris Britton and Edwar Ramirez can be just as if not more effective seeing as they project to be big league relievers and have dominated the minors this year.

This is a sign that either Proctor or Farnsworth will be traded by Tuesday, let’s hope it’s Farns.

I feel safe about Joba as long as Ca$h, not Torre, is calling the shots. It appears to be that way.

Damon: 0-4, 2 GIDP, 6 LOB in 7-5 loss.

Ian Kennedy posted a line of 6 IP 0 ER 2 HA 2 BB 6 K in his AAA debut.

Joba Chamberlain went 5 IP 0 ER 4 HA 1 BB 10 K in his AAA debut earlier this week.

Ca$h owned the ‘06 draft, these two guys are awesome.

The Yankees have had serious discussions with the Rangers about reliever Eric Gagne, two major-league sources confirmed Friday night. Gagne is closing for the Rangers but would be a setup man for Mariano Rivera if he were to come to the Yankees. If the Yankees could add Gagne, the back end of their bullpen would be hugely upgraded.

The teams have not been able to agree on a return for Gagne but can continue to haggle over players until the 4 p.m. Tuesday non-waiver trade deadline. The Rangers want pitching in return and have interest in minor-league righthanders Ian Kennedy and Jeffrey Marquez. They also like centerfielder Melky Cabrera, but the Yankees are unlikely to surrender him for Gagne. (Source)

I would like Gagne as the 8th inning guy, he’s been dominant this year with a 213 ERA+, as long as we don’t give up Ian, Hughes, Joba or anyone of real substance in the minors. I’d give up Marquez for Gagne.

Now it appears the Yankees are prepared to cut ties with another international free agent, Kei Igawa. Talent evaluators with six different teams indicated Friday that he is very much available in a trade, and while some have serious reservations about what they saw in his performance this year — the erratic command, the tendency to leave pitches in the middle of the plate — you do wonder if this is going to turn out a little like the Contreras departure. (Source Insider)

Is it me, or is it a great sign that the Yankees are looking to get rid of Farnsworth, Igawa and Damon, three mistake signings? I think Farns is for sure gone, Igawa is 50/50 and Damon is very likely to stay here.

Buster went on to say, in that same link, that he thinks Dan Johnson will be traded to the Yankees in the next 72 hours. I like Johnson more than most (27 years old, 110 OPS+ and 4th out of 11 AL 1B in RZR), but I don’t see what use the Yanks have for him with all of the lefty bats they already have in the lineup, Giambi coming back very soon and Phillips and Duncan producing in the interim. The need for Johnson just isn’t there (Phillips has a higher OPS+ and a higher RZR).

Does Brian Cashman think Johnson can be the 1B of the future? We know that’s not going to be Phillips (age 30). I can’t give a definitive answer here. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out.

The Yankees were offered Johnson for AAA outfielder Brett Gardner, they declined.

I don’t see a deal for Johnson getting done, but maybe Buster knows something I don’t.

I have a feeling Ohlendorf could be bumped from the rotation to the bullpen. I don’t know that for sure, but Ohlendorf seemed like a different pitcher in his two-inning relief appearance last night. He was grunting through his pitches and hitting 94-97 with his fastball. I talked to Mark Newman today, and Newman did not say one way or the other that Ohlendorf would or would not move to the pen, but he did say that he was impressed by what Ohlendorf did Thursday night.

If the team does move Ohlendorf to the pen, they’ll still have a rotation of Chamberlain, DeSalvo, White, Igawa and Kennedy. Again, I’m not sure it will happen, just saying it seems like a possibility. (Source)

I think this is a good move. Look, Ohlendorf simply hasn’t had enough success as a starter to be in the Yankees long term plans as a starter. Especially, with Hughes, Joba, Ian, White, Rasner, Clippard, Sanchez, Karstens and possibly others ahead of him for big league starts. 

If he continues to pitch as a reliver, he has a chance to help the big club in the bullpen this year and in the future. Who wouldn’t want a guy who throws 95+ mph with more stamina than most relivers (having a starters pedigree)? I think we might end up doing the same thing with Sanchez, if he doesn’t come back all the way healthy.

With Randy Johnson springing for season-ending back surgery, I figured it was a good time to take another look at this trade. For the record, I always liked this trade because I was against Johnson from the start. I didn’t like the idea of getting and old, soft (physically and we later found out mentally) pitcher who peaked years ago.  

Here is a trade breakdown that Baseball America did at the time of the deal.

Anyway, here’s what we got:

Luis Vizcaino, 32, ERA of 1.03 since June 1st. Viz should be out 8th inning guy the rest of the way. I would make this trade Viz-RJ straight up, all of these prospects are total steals and just gravey.

Ross Ohlendorf, 24, is (3-4) 4.90 ERA with 50-33 K-BB in 60.2 IP with the GCL Yankees and SWB Yankees. This was a step back from last season (10-8, 3.29 with a 125-29 K-BB ratio in 27 starts at Double-A Tennessee in ‘06), but he was hurt to start the year. He could find his way into the Yankees bullpen down the line, but I never see him in the starting rotation for the big club.

Alberto Gonzalez, 24, here are his numbers. To sumerize, he was overmatched at AAA and is now dominating AA. He might be used in a trade at the July 31st deadline.

Steven Jackson, 25, has been awful all year.

I’d still make this trade, no doubt. I give Cash and A+ for getting anything of substance for RJ.

Cash’s worst signing was sent down for good Friday, I doubt he pitches for the Yankees again.

Yankees delivered a nice glazed in a 7-0 loss to the Royals. Thanks Igawa, nice last start. Bring on Franchise Phil Hughes.