Our colleague Peter Gammons is hearing that the Twins want this three-player package from the Yankees, in any Santana conversation: pitcher Phil Hughes and center fielders Melky Cabrera and Austin Jackson. (Source)
I really want Johan Santana, but there is just no way I would endorse the Yankees giving up Hughes, Cabrera AND Jackson.
The Yankees and Twins are in early talks and we haven’t even got to the Winter Meetings yet. A Johan trade can still happen, but it likely won’t be this offer.
Rodriguez has long been known for subtly putting his personal agenda ahead of whatever team he happened to be on. He doesn’t even talk a good game — his attempts at humility and deference come off as ghost written at best, gratuitously insincere at worst. It doesn’t help that he has aligned himself with Boras. Together they give blood-sucking avarice a bad name. (Source)
Look, I know ARod is a dick. I’ve written it before.
But, saying that he “subtly puts his personal adgenda ahead of his team’s” is just wrong.
Also, how come everybody is all of a sudden an ARod expert? A columnist from the ContraCosta Times is writting this? That’s 3,000 miles away! Are you kidding?
George Kontos P – Honolulu Sharks (New York Yankees) 34 IP 42K 10BB
The peripheral numbers of 11.12 K/9 and 2.65 BB/9 are outstanding and his .479 opponent’s BABIP is unfortunate and what highly contributed to his 3.71 ERA which is good but not as good as Kontos pitched. Kontos has made drastic improvement with his offspeed pitches and now compliments his plus fastball with a change up and a hard, late-breaking slider, all of which come off of nearly the same arm action, release point, and flight path. (Source)
Yeah, AJack got all the hype, but he wasn’t the only one who preformed in Hawaii.
Someone close to Santana said he would be willing to waive the clause to go to a winning club. The friend said Santana would be open to playing for either the Yankees or Mets.
One source said the Yankees plan to make a “good, strong offer” and that they believe they have more to offer the Twins in a trade than anybody else does. (Source)
Let’s get something out of the way first. One thing that will not be up for debate: the merits of Johan Santana.
He is the best pitcher of this generation. He has a career ERA+ of 141. He has the best changeup in the game. He had an “off-year” and still led the AL in WHIP. He is a guy who gives you a great chance to win every 5th day and an excellent 220 IP every season. Acquiring him now still gets you three years of his prime (Johan turns 29 in March).
But, in order to get value, you have to give up value.
I’ve heard others try to build a trade around Chien-Ming Wang in hopes to keep Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. They have all come up very short.
Why would the Twins, who have a reputation for being cheap, want to pay all of the arbitration money on Wang (who might be a Super Two now and will be arb eligible after ‘08) when they can get players who won’t hit arbitration for a while from other teams? Not to mention that Wang’s ground ball propensity would cause disaster on the turf in Minny.
If the Twins are stupid and would do a Wang+ type deal, okay. But, it is very doubtful.
Another trade that has been talked about is Cano+. I wouldn’t do it. I think Cano is an untouchable. He is 24 years old and already an elite offensive 2B as well as an above average to excellent fielder with a plus arm.
Dan Graziano (of the Newark Star-Ledger) mentioned this trade to mlbtraderumors.com: Melky Cabrera, Alan Horne, Jose Tabata and Jeff Marquez. I’d do this trade, but it is almost certain to be topped by one of the other teams that is in on Santana.
It is difficult to make a trade proposal because it is impossible for us to know what players the Twins like from the Yankees system. But, here is a package that might get it done:
Melky Cabrera
Ian Kennedy
Jose Tabata
Cabrera can fill the hole that Torii Hunter left in center field for the Twins, Kennedy gives them an ML-ready SP and Tabata is the number one prospect in the Yankees organization.
There is a realistic trade that is good for both sides. We keep our untouchables: Cano, Joba and Phil. They fill holes with good, young, cost-controlled players. Oh, and we get the best pitcher of this generation.
Jesus Montero: .358/.448/.630, 4 2B, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 14 BB, 14 K in 81 AB.
He leads the league in almost every importan offensive category. I’m serious, of qualifiers he is 1st in R, H, HR, RBI, TB, BB, BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS.
Did I mention that he’s 17?
Anthony (nyc): Does Austin Jackson project to better than Ellsbury or worse?
Jim Callis: Jackson has a higher offensive ceiling because he has more power, but Ellsbury is a better athlete, is capable of playing center field (and at a Gold Glove level) and has proven it at higher levels (not to mention the World Series). I’d take Ellsbury. (Source)
Callis failed to mention that Ellsbury is four years older than Jackson (that would take away the “he’s proved it at higher levels thing”, which is like comparing a HS senior to a middle school kid).
How the hell is Ellsbury a better athlete than Jackson? Did Ellsbury project to be a first round pick in the NBA draft too? Even if Ellsbury is a better athlete than Jackson now (which I don’t think he is), Jackson still has a few years to fill out.
Austin Jackson isn’t capable of playing center field? It is jaw-dropping how much he hates the Yankees.
If you don’t, chances are you’ll be getting 50 cents on the dollar. Or worse.
Francisco Cordero – Reds $46M over 4
Torii Hunter – Angels $90M over 5
Scott Linebrink – White Sox $19M over 4
The Yankees, Brewers, Giants, Astros and Rays are among the teams in the running to land Troy Percival, who first must decide what he wants in his next deal, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports. (Source)
This is a man who will be 38 in ‘08 and didn’t throw a pitch in ‘06. Stay away.
I heard on the PP message board that the following minor leaguers will start 2008 with the Charleston RiverDogs:
Abraham Almonte
Carmen Angelini
Austin Romine
Jesus Montero
Dellin Betances
Jairo Heredia
Brandon Laird
This should be a very exciting team.
The Yankees signed C.J. Henry to a minor league deal after their No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft asked for and was granted his release by the Phillies. He was dealt to Philly in 2006 as part of the Bobby Abreu deal.
“He came to us,” scouting head Damon Oppenheimer, the man who drafted the 21-year-old Henry, who batted .184 for Lakewood (Single-A) this past summer. “He told us he wanted to play for us and asked would we want him back? We made sure he wanted to play baseball and we found out the last month of the season he was fitted for contacts and hit .300.”
“He will play the outfield in the [Single A] Florida State League,” said Oppenheimer, who wasn’t sure where in Tampa’s outfield the speedy Henry would play.
“People have a feeling for him,” Oppenheimer said. “We all have a stake in this one. He means more to us than if he was with another team as a released player.” (Source)
Getting Henry back is really just a symbol of how one-sided the Bobby Abreu deal was. The Yankees got one of the best offensive players in the game (career OPS+ of 134) and gave up nothing.
Anyway, this isn’t news because Henry has a tough time hitting his weight and when he does that it isn’t by much.
Reynaldo (Boston): Buchholz or Hughes and why?
Keith Law: Buchholz. Two knockout secondary pitches. Even at full strength Hughes doesn’t have that. (Source)
In 2008, KLaw will eat these words.
Brett Gardner: .343/.433/.380, 16 SB, 27 R
Juan Miranda: .295/.423/.551, 5 HR, 17 RBI
I think we’ll be seeing both in the Boogie Down Bronx sometime in ‘08.
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