From George King (NY Post):
At Friday’s trade deadline, the Yankees added utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. and nothing else. Not wanting to add payroll, the Yanks weren’t serious players for lefty Jarrod Washburn, who went from Seattle to Detroit.
So, what are the chances of making a deal now that a player has to clear waivers in order to be traded?
“Who knows — if it makes sense we will look at it,” GM Brian Cashman said. “There will be opportunity for people to do deals in the new deadline. What that means for us remains to be seen.”
If Hal Steinbrenner didn’t allow Cashman to take on significant money before July 31, it’s unlikely he will do so now. However, the Yankees are locked in a tight race with the Red Sox, and if Aceves isn’t right and Mitre continues to get spanked, they will be forced to make upgrades.
Multiple sources said yesterday that players will get through waivers this year more than in recent years due to teams not wanting to get stuck with a contract via the claim process.
King is basically saying that Hal Steinbrenner prohibited significant payroll additions at the trade deadline. He also says that, because of financial concerns, the Yankees were never serious players for Jarrod Washburn. That can be disputed, however, as Bryan Hoch notes that the Yankees didn’t make a serious play at Washburn because Seattle’s demands were too high. They reportedly wanted Austin Jackson, which wasn’t going to happen—not for a 2-month rental. Still, as Steve Lombardi points out, the Yankees could have bargained with the Mariners, right? Sure they wanted A-Jax—everyone asks for a team’s top prospects at the outset—but considering what they got for Washburn from the Tigers, it seems as though they would have lowered their demands if Cashman was truly persistent. What, then, is the truth? Did financial concerns limit Cashman or was it the Mariners and their unreasonable requests?
In the end, I believe that the Yankees didn’t want to take on Washburn’s contract which ultimately explains why he isn’t with the team today. Everything they’ve said about the M’s wanting A-Jax is simply disinformation to make it look like they actually tried to get Washburn. We heard numerous reports leading up to the trade deadline claiming that the Yankees wanted teams to pay the salaries of trade targets like Bronson Arroyo and Brian Bannister, which support this theory. Based on the information at hand, it really seems like the Yankees aren’t going to make anymore moves this year unless they are absolutely forced to—not because of unfair trade packages, but because of Hal Steinbrenner’s fiscal philosophy.
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I disagree. They did bargain with the M’s- reports that I saw had them giving the M’s a list of players they could have, and one of the Seattle reporters said they were close to a deal that the Yankees decided against because they did not like it, not because of fiscal constraints. That does not mean that Hal isn’t being more prudent with the money, just that it did not hold up a deal here.
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I wouldn’t trade Austin Jackson for two months of Washburn but what prospect below him him in the Yankees system would you expect the M’s to prefer over Luke French? French was part of the Tigers rotation and pitching decently, at least based on what I saw in his start against the Yankees. Sometimes you just don’t match up.
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I hope the reports that the Yankees have shied away from deals because of the cost are untrue. Otherwise, it would be a classic example of being penny-wise, pound-foolish. Why spend over $400 million on free agent contracts and take on a $200+ million payroll for the season and then stop when another couple of million $ might be the difference between making the post-season or not?
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Yeah, I went to the MARINER blog site, where the “disinformation” was disseminated…What a SURPRISE !!!..it was full of bitter Mariner fans who have never won anything. Even when they set a regular season mark of 116 wins, the Yankees knocked them out of the playoffs…The whole blog beat up the Yankees.
So I think we can all disregard the “disinformation” since it orginated from “bitter Mariner fans” (redundant ??), and NOT from the Mariner front office.
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Whether we like it or not the Yankees just didn’t get it done before July 31. Martinez is HUGE for the Sox. Kudos to Epstein and kudos to the phillies for lee. Cash didn’t get it done. I don’t know what the reason is but we struck out with the bases loaded. “cash” is the most over-rated GM in the game.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Struck out? The Yankees did their shopping before the season.
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YOU ARE A CASHMAN APOLOGIST! BWHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHA!
iF WE DON’T GET THERE THIS SEASON, HOW MANY YEARS IN A ROW WILL BE THAT WE DON’T ADVANCE TO A WS WITH THE HIGHEST (BY FAR) PAYROLL IN mlb?
cASHMAN IS A GENIUS.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Well argued. If they do get there, will you give Cash credit? His teams make the playoffs, and at that point it is up to the players.
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Lefty, you are exactly right. Moshe is a cashman fan bar none. Moshe you love cash because he is articulat and, like you, loves the analytical side of the game. But as a baseball man, he just doesn’t have a feel. I mean that, absent the stats,
Cash would not know a good player if he sat on his face.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Lol, that is some funny imagery. I disagree, but you are entitled to your opinion. I think that you don’t build a team that made the playoffs for ten straight years just by throwing money out there. Also, I can’t think of one trade he made that I didn’t like at the time.
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He traded $50 million for Igawa
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
August 5th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Yeah, that’s not a trade. Not saying he’s perfect, but he has done pretty well.
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I just wonder if the Yankees are very in on Yadel Marti and that he is the real reason for no big trade deadline splash.
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Here is your new starter and 4th outfielder for playoff push friends!
Yesterday, ESPN.com’s Jorge Arangure Jr.that Cuban defectors Yadel Marti, Yasser Gomez and Juan Yasser have all been declared free agents. This morning Peter Abraham informs us that the Yanks are among the many teams interested in these players, especially Marti and Gomez. Gomez is a 28-year-old outfielder and Marti is a 29-year-old right-hand pitcher and as Abraham points out is thought to be the best of the group.
Arangure also posted this info on Marti on his Twitter page:
Marti was Cuba’s best pitcher during the 2006 WBC. He pitched 12 2/3 scoreless innings. Could boost any potential playoff team’s rotation
As far as his stuff goes, this quote from Baseball-Reference.com was all I could find:
Martí is not a hard-throwing pitcher as his fastball ranges around 87-90 mph. He relies instead on a slider, sinker, curveball and control.
In other related news, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com said that he spoke to a talent scout that has seen both
Marti and Gomez play and said that they’re both “ready to play in the majors.”
If Marti is “ready to play in the majors” and could “boost any potential playoff team’s rotation,” then wouldn’t it make a lot of sense for the Yankees to sign him?
We already know that Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t want to add to the team’s payroll, but if Marti is as good as people say he is the Yanks would be foolish not to snatch him up, especially when they clearly are in need of another pitcher.
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