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Hughes would have moved to the pen

Posted by Steve S. at 8:05 pm 11 Responses »
Jul 102010

"Can we talk about this?"

(Friend of TYU) Evan Roberts broke a bit of news with SI’s Jon Heyman this morning on his radio show when discussing the Yankee plans for the rotation had the Cliff Lee deal went through. I transcribed it, so here’s the link to listen for yourself and here it is to read in it’s full context:

Evan Roberts-“Obviously Cliff Lee is an elite pitcher, he’s one of the best pitchers in the sport right now, that’s how good he is. So you can understand why the Yankees would want him. But what was the plan if they pulled this off? Was Javy Vazquez going to be turned around and traded right away?”

Jon Heyman-“No. As it turns out, from what I’m hearing and I’ve talked to a few people today as well, they were going to use Hughes in the bullpen, even though he’s been an All-Star as a starter. Their plan was to have excess, to give Hughes some extra breathing room, and see how it went there. And I don’t think that’s a bad plan. If you have Cliff Lee, and you’ve got Sabathia, and you’ve got all these pitchers, you strengthen your bullpen, I think it’s not a bad idea. “

Evan Roberts-“Wow, that’s incredible. “

They went on to discuss whether or not that would mess him up, like some people think it did with Joba. But Heyman dismissed the idea as “illogical”, and I would agree with him there.

We all know the Yanks operate differently than any other team, but this just goes to show how there was absolutely no need for Lee on this team, since the next move would be to send an All Star starter to the bullpen. I’m sorry, but this would-be trade makes less and less sense with every additional detail that comes out about it. Why not just make a much cheaper deal for a reliever, keep Montero and leave Hughes where he is? And still get Lee next year as a free agent.

UPDATE 8:32 PM-Andrew Marchand of ESPN-NY had a similar take, but was much less definitive than Heyman. Girardi and Eiland denied it, but Phil was quoted as saying this:

“I figured I might go to the bullpen, but I’ve done that before,” Hughes said after the Yankees’ 6-1 victory over the Mariners, which extended their season-best winning streak to seven games.”

(h/t to Nathan @ RAB for the heads up)

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Odds and Ends

Posted by Steve S. at 2:00 pm No Responses »
Jul 102010

In all the furor over a potential Cliff Lee deal this week, some other stories have flown under the radar that our readers may be interested in. I’ll put them all here, since none of them require a full length post.

Yanks sign Columbian Catcher-(translated) In what appears to be their first signing of the July 2nd IFA period, the Yanks have inked 18 year old Catcher Alfredo Junior Castellon. They’ve already sent him to the DSL and he’s seen some game action. No word on the bonus, but for a deal that flies this far under the radar I wouldn’t expect much.

Dealin Dellin gets some love from BA-Red hot Yankee prospect Dellin Betances got a nice write up from BA last week. Here it is:

Using his 95-97 mph fastball that originally made him a top prospect before injuries took their toll, Tampa RHP Dellin Betances (Yankees) is proving that he is too much for the Florida State League. His 39 strikeouts compared to just six walks in 34 innings are impressive, but what really jumps off the page is his league-leading 0.559 WHIP. Betances has allowed a paltry 3.4 hits per nine innings and has only been touched for 13 knocks this season, nine of them singles. Add it all up and you get a 0.53 ERA, which is second among all pitchers in the FSL. Don’t be surprised if the Yankees soon choose to reunite Betances with former teammate Andrew Brackman in Double-A Trenton.

Mark Newman has urged caution with promoting Dellin, citing his recent return from surgery. But as BA said, it will be hard for the Yanks to hold him back with the way he’s pitched this year.  I like the idea of keeping Dellin and Brackman on the same team whenever possible. Both are very tall and can help each other out staying on track with their mechanics.

Yankee farmhand Hector Noesi had a nice write up in the New York Post this morning. Check it out, he’s someone who gets very little fanfare and should have a bright future in the bigs someday. Although it will probably be on another team.

Chien Ming Wang update-Have you been wondering about the status of the ex-Yankee pitcher? I have. The reason why we haven’t heard much is there’s really nothing to report. He’s still rehabbing, and according to Nats GM Frank Rizzo the nature of the injury makes it difficult to establish a timetable. He said Wang’s shoulder was “dislocated” like what would happen to wrestler. Other players have come back from this, but it’s not something teams deal with all that often.

Aubrey Huff disses All Star Game-This is just funny. Aubrey manages to offend the developmentally disabled and pretty much everyone who loves the game of Baseball in one fell swoop. Way to raise your popularity among the voters, champ.

Folks, never doubt me again-Sorry, but in the wake of all the Cliff Lee rumors I just couldn’t resist. :wink:

Questions Linger About Failed Lee Deal

Posted by Stephen R. at 11:00 am 7 Responses »
Jul 102010

Steve S. took a long-form look at the breakdown of the Cliff Lee saga earlier this morning.  To me, there are five huge unanswered questions that remain about this deal.

1. Who leaked the information to Joel Sherman? The Yankees were apparently intent on striking quickly and making a big offer to the Mariners, snagging Lee before other teams had a chance to react.  This is precisely what they did when they acquired Javier Vazquez from the Braves.  Reporters knew that a deal had been completed before they knew the players involved.  This time, the Yankees were a bit further away from consummating the deal when the information was leaked to Sherman.  Did the Yankees think that they were further along than they were?  Were they overconfident?  Worse, did the Mariners lead them to think they were further along than they were?   This leads to a second, bigger question.

2. Did the Mariners operate in bad faith? Hard to see how they didn’t. All indications seem to be that they had an agreement in principle with the Yankees and led the Yankees to believe that they deal was finished apart from physicals.  They then took that offer, shopped it to the Rangers and demanded Smoak. Joel Sherman and George King of the New York Post broke down the saga this morning and it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re interested in the backstory and the mechanics of the deal.  This quote in particular, which I saw on Jamal G’s Twitter this morning, is intriguing:

A trade is not complete until all paperwork is finalized and approved by the Commissioners Office. However, baseball — like many businesses — is based on relationships and trusting the word of other people, and that is why the Yanks are so irate about how this negotiation transpired.

“I don’t think 30 general managers would agree that what the Mariners did was real ethical,” another Yankees official said.

Other club officials also were irked about the Mariners’ actions. “It’s disappointing to hear that Jack shopped that around, that’s not right,” an executive from a team not directly involved in this trade said. “You don’t do that with any team and you don’t do it with the Yankees, because [GM Brian] Cashman will drop you in a heartbeat. You don’t use the Yankees because they never forget.” [emphasis added]

It’s fairly awesome to hear others talk about Cashman like that.  He does not forgive, and he does not forget.  All of that said, it seems pretty unequivocal that the Mariners’ negotiations were in bad faith.  It’s not the end of the world, but it’s hard to blame the Yankees’ officials for being irritated with Seattle.  Bad faith negotiations are ugly.

3. What about Jesus Montero? Has the organization given up on him as a catcher long-term, or was this simply them taking advantage of an opportunity to lock up the AL East?

4. Why did Cashman change his modus operandi? Let’s see: he refused to deal Hughes and prospects for Johan Santana.  He refused to deal prospects for CC Sabathia when he was on the Indians, and refused to deal prospects for Lee on two separate occasions: when he was with the Indians and when he was with the Phillies. He was willing to deal Montero for Halladay, but only in a 1 for 1 swap.  So why would he deal the organization’s best hitting prospect and two other prospects now, with a rotation full of healthy starters, when the team was in first place, and when Cliff Lee was merely months away from free agency? Is it related to their diminishing valuation of Montero?

5. Will Cashman attempt to acquire another starting pitcher? Obviously he isn’t completely satisfied with the staff and was willing to bring on another frontline pitcher and deal Vazquez at a later time.  Was this a one-off deal, or will Cashman continue to monitor the starting pitcher trade market?  My indication is that he will now stick with Sabathia-Burnett-Pettitte-Vazquez-Hughes.

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Wrapping up the Cliff Lee saga

Posted by Steve S. at 7:38 am 11 Responses »
Jul 102010

On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...

First and foremost, congrats to Seattle GM Jack Z for getting this deal done. According to reports, he was the one who approached the Yanks, then the story leaked out all over the place (likely from the Seattle side) and he started a bidding war that netted him at least one terrific prospect in Smoak, a good pitcher in Beavan and two other prospects who may be useful parts. Former Reds and Nats GM Jim Bowden said on his Sirius-XM radio show yesterday that he thinks Seattle got back even more than they gave up for Lee in the off season. If so, it’s a huge win for his franchise. He sold season tickets on the hopes of being a contender with Lee, and then netted more talent than he had for his rebuilding when things didn’t work out the way he hoped. You can’t beat a deal like that.

Now I want to get into the mechanics of this story from the media perspective and how it all went down, which is always interesting when it comes to trades. I have to think Sherman’s report came from sources on the Seattle side. Always remember that it’s in the seller’s (Seattle) interest to leak this story, not the buyer (Yanks). The nature of Sherman’s initial report, titled “Yanks on brink of landing Cliff Lee” seems designed to get any team that wanted Lee to run to the phone and start bidding. When most deals happen, they simply get reported on after the fact. This one seemed deliberately strung along. The Yanks got to the one yard line, a “deal was imminent” and then . . we waited and waited for hours only to find the deal had fizzled. What also makes me think Sherman had a Seattle source was the way he was still clued in on this long after the Yanks made it clear that they had dropped out. The Yanks should have been out of the loop at that point (having made their final offer) so Joel had to be talking to people from Seattle. He was also one of the first to get the eventual deal that was consummated with the Rangers, so that may have been his reward for helping Jack Z out with the initial report. If you’re going to leak and do it right, you give the info to somebody from the other city, so it looks like it’s coming from their side. It makes the rumor look more credible to 3rd parties, since a rumor coming from a Seattle reporter would figure to be coming the Mariners. Jack Z is a smart guy, I’m sure he knows how to play the game. He did a nice job playing the media and marketplace to his advantage.

I’m still not totally convinced the Yankee interest was 100% legit. While Lee is certainly an upgrade, there was no need on the Yanks for a starter. Many observers responded to this deal as “overkill” by the Yanks, and it was overpriced to boot. Overkill and overpriced were trademarks of the Steinbrenner years, not Brian Cashman’s term. This was a very expensive deal and Brian typically steers clear of those trades. Brian Cashman has also long been against giving up top flight prospects for rentals that he can simply sign a few months later. By dangling Montero, they got Texas to give up Smoak (which they resisted prior) and a good AA starter. That hurts the Rangers long term, and Texas may very well be a playoff opponent for the Yanks both this year and in the future. The Rangers are also no threat whatsoever to sign Lee to an extension, given their financial woes. When a trade is “imminent” and doesn’t happen, I smell a rat and sometimes both teams in the rumor are playing along. How many times were the Red Sox “very close” to landing Johan Santana? About every two weeks back in 07. Johan (Lefty fly ball pitcher) never made as much sense for the Sox as he did for the Yanks if you assume they would be paying a fair market price for him in terms of prospects. I always thought those rumors were designed to make the Yanks panic, which thankfully they didn’t.

But it’s also possible that the Yanks are more down on Montero than we realize. Baseball America recently released their Top 25 prospect list, and said this about Montero:

5. Jesus Montero, c/dh, Yankees (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre): Montero hasn’t improved this year, and for some he hasn’t impressed. After generating positive defensive trends and reports at the end of 2009 at Double-A Trenton, Montero has convinced scouts this year that he won’t be a long-term catcher. He was leading the International League with 12 passed balls and was getting run on at will—87 attempts in 63 games, throwing out 19 (22 percent). He’s experiencing his first adversity offensively, but scouts are confident his bat will still be strong.

If Montero winds up as a 1B or DH, he loses a lot of value to the Yanks. But whatever the Yanks motivation was in this deal, it still turned out OK for them. From the Yankee point of view, they really didn’t need Lee, they keep Montero, Adams and McAllister for future considerations and helped get a potential playoff opponent to overpay for a rental. Plus, they didn’t have to face Lee last night, which I’m sure no one on the Yanks was complaining about. With Nick Johnson’s injury and recent setback, the Yanks could be looking for a DH. If they’ve given up on him defensively, Montero could suit the bill.  So things worked out pretty well for the Yanks, at least for now. But if they have to face Lee in the playoffs (which they probably wont in the ALDS) I may have to reconsider that.

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