Each season, Bill Simmons of ESPN.com posts his NBA trade value rankings, in which he lists the top 40 NBA players in terms of their trade value. I figured that I would steal the idea and apply it to the 2009 Yankees. Essentially, I am asking the following question: If Brian Cashman decided to turn over the entire roster, who would garner him the highest return on the trade market? I listed my top 25 in terms of trade value, and hope that you might vehemently disagree with me. Just remember, salaries and age do matter.
1) Joba Chamberlain: I think he is obviously the most valuable asset that the Yankees have. If he is on the table, the other side will never be able to hang up the phone without giving the deal plenty of thought, regardless of the player they would be relinquishing.
2) Alex Rodriguez: I know that not all teams would be willing to take his contract or his drama. However, I think that the Yankees would be able to find someone who wants him, and the return for him would be very strong.
3) Chien-Ming Wang: A young, consistent top of the rotation starter is valuable commodity.
4) Mark Teixeira: Similar to A-Rod, with less drama, money, and talent.
5) CC Sabathia: Young aces, no matter their salary, are worth their weight in gold. For CC, that is a lot of gold.
6) Mariano Rivera: If he became available at the trading deadline, the auction for him would be fierce.
7) Robinson Cano: Young middle infielders who have hit .340 are a pretty rare commodity.
8 ) Phil Hughes: He still is viewed as a top prospect among MLB evaluators.
9) Derek Jeter: Coming off 2007, he would be a lot higher. But his age suggests a decline rather than an isolated poor year.
10) Jesus Montero
11) Austin Jackson
The Yankees top 2 prospects, both of whom could be the centerpiece for a major deal.
12) Nick Swisher
13) Xavier Nady
These two players have similar value, but Swisher’s higher upside and affordable contract likely makes him worth more.
14) Ian Kennedy
15) Dellin Betances
16) Andrew Brackman
17) Mark Melancon
18) Zach McCallister
19) Dave Robertson
The next level of prospects, each of whom could probably bring in a solid player on their own, but would need to be packaged in some sort of combination to obtain a high end talent.
20) Damaso Marte: As Yankees fans, we know how scarce good lefty relievers are.
21) AJ Burnett
22) Jorge Posada
Injury concerns and expensive contracts would likely severely diminish any returns, and may require the eating of salary to get anything of value.
23) Brett Gardner
24) Brian Bruney
25) Melky Cabrera
Not entirely worthless, but unlikely to get you too much more than a Wilson Betemit type in return.
Related posts:
So, I disagree on CC/Teix/Arod.
The Yankees gave these guys the biggest contracts on the market. That means that no one else was willing to offer the those players the amount of money for the amount of service that the Yankees were. Their trade value is actually very low, because little has changed since each signed their contract to boost the demand for their services.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
February 13th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I think Boston and Washington wanted to give Tex a large contract, and I am pretty sure the Angels and Dodgers would have been in on A-Rod. The Yankees may need to eat a bit of money, but they would get good packages for those players. I think CC could be the kind of deadline deal that would earn you a huge return, as teams throw caution to the wind when they see a playoff spot on the horizon.
But I see your point, it is a fair one.
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Hmm, very interesting post, Moshe. I would have to disagree with A-Rod, especially and Teixeira and Sabathia, secondarily, just because, in this economy, no one can possibly afford any of them. We landed these guys because we outbid everyone for them. If no one was willing to pay what the Yanks paid for them in the first place, why would they want to pay their salaries now AND give up players in return? The case is particularly true w/ A-Rod, whose value has dropped since last year b/c of the economy and his off year and the steroids. A lot of these guys are simply untradeable, esp in this economy, due to their contracts. My list would be:
1) Joba
Jackson
2) Wang
3) Cano
4) Hughes
5) Swisher
6) Nady
7) Mariano
9) Montero
10) Marte
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
February 13th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
See my response above. Let’s just assume a neutral economic climate, just to take this particular market out of the equation.
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We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one
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bruney probably has a lot more value than you gave him credit for
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