Joel Sherman compiled his list of top 10 players to watch in the 2010 season, and Brandon Webb was mentioned:

BRANDON WEBB, DIAMONDBACKS
The pitching version of Reyes: a 2005-08 iron man who led the majors in innings and wins before breaking down last year. So far, so good on his shoulder. If Webb is 2006 Cy Young healthy in tandem with ace Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson, Arizona will have a rotation front three among the NL’s best.

I would keep an eye on Webb’s performance, but not because I think he will give Arizona a top rotation. Rather, the 30-year old Webb is a candidate to be traded if he can recapture some of his old glory. If Arizona is not a legitimate playoff contender when the trade deadline rolls around, the Diamondbacks will likely seek to extract some value from the impending free agent. While his shoulder issue and the fact that he will be a 2 month rental player will limit the return, he should still fetch a nice package of prospects, as his last 3 healthy seasons yielded one Cy Young award and 2 second place finishes. I fully expect him to be moved at the deadline unless he accepts a below market deal from the Diamondbacks.

Now, I certainly do not expect the Yankees to need a pitcher at the trading deadline. With CC Sabathia, Javier Vazquez, and Andy Pettitte all consistent 200 inning pitchers, AJ Burnett seemingly having figured out how to stay healthy, and Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes available to fill out the rotation, the Yankees should be set at starter. However, the unexpected seems to be the norm when it comes to major league pitching, and there are scenarios under which the Yankees would be looking for a starter come the end of July. If they are in fact short one pitcher at that time, expect to hear a multitude of rumors regarding Brandon Webb.

According to Fanhouse’s Frankie Pillere, they have:

Heard whispers that Nelson Cruz is a name the Yanks inquired on. Not confirmed and no word if talks even got off the ground or not.

I highly doubt that discussions got past the inquiry phase, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Texas is likely to ask for a lot for Cruz, who is at the peak of his value after a career year. With the Yankees not really needing a bat at all, I doubt they would be willing to meet the asking price. Furthermore, I think Cruz is a bit overrated, as he is not great at reaching base (.332 OBP last year) and is already 29. He does have great power and is good defensively, but this is a player who is nearing the end of the typical peak years for a hitter, has had one good season, and has extreme home-road splits. The price-tag will almost certainly exceed his value. I would pass unless Cashman stumbles upon a bargain type deal, which is incredibly unlikely.

A few days after the Yankees acquired Javier Vazquez, Joel Sherman suggested that the Yankees may try and move some of their surplus starting pitching depth to a club seeking back end rotation help, with Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre most likely to go. At the time, Ben Kabak of RAB said the following:

On the basis of quality, Gaudin would command more interest and a higher return, but he will be owed nearly $4 million in 2010. Mitre should re-sign for around $1.5 million (Edit: Mitre only ended up with 850,000 in guaranteed money, with the chance to gain more in incentives) and would be a more attractive target for some cost-conscious teams. Less than a year removed from Tommy John surgery, Mitre struggled to find any consistency with the Yanks in 2009 while Gaudin was adequate as a long reliever and spot starter.

I was reminded of this discussion when I read Buster Olney’s column this morning, in which he suggests 10 holes around MLB that need to be filled, and noted two clubs that were searching for a 4th or 5th starter:

Dodgers, No. 4 and No. 5 starters. If the season started today, L.A.’s rotation would be Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda and … well, they are looking for help. They’ve got some young internal candidates, but continue to hang in the conversations for veterans. The perception of some agents is that the Dodgers — who are in nickel-counting mode because of the impending divorce of the McCourts — want to wait until they wade through their mass of arbitration cases and get a clearer picture of exactly how many pennies they can spend on starting pitching.

Cardinals, starting pitcher and third base. St. Louis got its man in re-signing Matt Holliday, but they’ll have to save some nickels as they identify a third baseman and another starting pitcher. To be clear, the Cardinals appear to have a tremendous team in the making, but they don’t have a lot of organizational rotation depth behind the front foursome of Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse and Brad Penny. It is unclear whether the Cardinals will give a full shot to David Freese to be their third baseman after his repeated off-field troubles.

I would prefer to trade Mitre, but Gaudin likely has more value to the Dodgers, as he could likely be a #4 in the NL. Mitre may fit better in St. Louis, as they seem to be financially tapped out and would be attracted to Mitre’s small deal. Furthermore, I would like to trade one of these players for someone who can help the Yankees this season, either as a bench bat or as a bullpen option that fits the Yankees needs better than the pitcher that they are relinquishing.

Looking at the Dodgers roster, they have incredible depth in the bullpen, with Broxton, Kuo, Sherrill, Troncoso, and Belisario. The Yankees could not get any of the first three without adding prospects of considerable value, but Troncoso and Belisario are solid young relievers who have been relegated to 6th inning roles. A reliever of that caliber can make the Yankees more comfortable in deciding to send the loser of the Joba-Hughes competition to the minor leagues. There may be a match here than can serve the needs of both clubs.

A match with St. Louis seems a bit more difficult to find, but one intriguing name is Skip Schumaker. Schumaker possesses a solid bat for a utility man, with a career wRC+ of 107. He can play 2nd base and all of the outfield positions, although his UZR in very small samples has him as a poor fielder everywhere but left. He is not a spectacular player, but if you can get him in a deal built around Gaudin or Mitre, you should consider it.

In a bit of a surprise considering the number of options available on the free agent market, the Yankees are apparently moving in on acquiring a starting pitcher via trade. Buster Olney first reported it, Ken Rosenthal confirmed that a trade was in the works, and Mark Feinsand noted that it was nearing completion, but nobody knows who the trade is for or even which club is involved. Here are some of the interesting names that have been thrown about by fans (most at RAB), with Aaron Harang and Carlos Zambrano having been ruled out:

Ted Lilly
Derek Lowe
Javier Vazquez
Roy Oswalt
Brian Bannister
Josh Johnson
Jonathan Sanchez
Gil Meche
Ricky Nolasco
Wandy Rodriguez
Matt Cain
Zach Duke
Chad Billingsley

Who do you think it is?

With the Yankees suddenly flush with outfielders and likely to add another bat before the end of the offseason, clubs are moving in on Brett Gardner as a cheap, reasonably productive option for their open center field jobs. From MLBTR:

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times hears from a scout familiar with the situation that the White Sox covet Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner. The Yankees, who just acquired Curtis Granderson, have extra outfielders so the White Sox and Royals have inquired on Gardner.

I’m not sure about the Royals, but I do have one name picked out on the White Sox. Lefty reliever Matt Thornton had a stellar year, his second consecutive good year after muddling through his first 4 seasons in the majors. He is 32, so the Yankees would be trading a young CF’er for a guy on the wrong side of 30, but Thornton is a better fit for the Yankees over the next two seasons, as he would fit nicely in the slot held by Phil Hughes in 2009. Thornton was worth 2.5 WAR this past season, while Gardner came in at 2.1 in part time duty. Money-wise, the White Sox have options on Thornton for 2010 and 2011, both coming in under 3 million dollars.

So what is the catch? Word out of Chicago is that the White Sox have soured on closer Bobby Jenks. If that is true, I would not be surprised to see Jenks be moved while they hand the ball to Thornton for the 9th inning. Jenks had a poor year in 2009, has attitude issues, and has apparently lost some velocity. I would be hesitant to give Gardner up for a bad body pitcher with injury issues.

What about you? Anyone on either club that intrigues you?

On the face of it, the Yankees options for this offseason seem obvious. They have 3 of their own free agents that they may want to bring back. On the starting pitching front, John Lackey is the big fish while a handful of injury prone arms litter the remainder of the market. There are a handful of reliable relievers available, while Holliday, Bay, and Cameron represent the market on outfielders. On the trade front, Halladay is the big name while Felix Hernandez seems like a bit of a pipe dream.

However, nobody would have expected Nick Swisher to become a Yankee last offseason, as Brian Cashman stunned us all with that move. The question I pose today is: Do you have any outside the box ideas for the Yankees offseason? Any free agents that are not getting any buzz that you would like them to sign, or trades that you would target that others have not mentioned? The writers of The Yankee Universe will be chipping in at the start of next week with their own “outside the box” offseason ideas, but would love to hear yours today. Chime in, and do not be shy, nothing is too wacky for this post.

From the Daily News:

A source told the Daily News that the Red Sox are “putting on a full-court press” to acquire Halladay, hoping to add the former Cy Young winner to the top of their rotation to go with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.

“They would love to get it wrapped up before the Winter Meetings,” the source said of the Red Sox.

If the Red Sox make a serious push for Halladay, can it be very long before the Yankees get involved?

Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos seems willing to deal Halladay within the division, but it will take a big-time package from either the Yankees or Red Sox to land the ace righthander, who would probably require a long-term extension worth more than $100 million to waive his no-trade clause.

Boston would likely have to include Clay Buchholz, the organization’s top young pitcher, and Casey Kelly, the 20-year-old pitcher/shortstop who was drafted in 2008 and signed with the Red Sox instead of playing quarterback for Tennessee.

What should this mean for the Yankees? Almost nothing. I think that as Yankees fans, we need to realize that sometimes, the Red Sox are going to get their guy, and there is nothing constructive that the Yankees can do about it. The Yankees need to make moves that are in the short and long term best interests of their club independent of what the Red Sox do. The Sox threatening to get Halladay does not mean the Yankees should jump in and try to trump a Buchholz/Kelly offer with Montero and Chamberlain. If Brian Cashman feels that trading for Halladay is the right move because he feels Doc would provide more value than the prospects he would give up, then he should make a deal. But emptying your farm system and making a deal that is not in the best interests of the club just to block Boston would be silly. Luckily, Cashman’s actions during the Santana saga suggest that he has a firm grasp upon this concept.

From Jim Ingraham:

This much we know for sure: Sizemore has signed his last contract with the Indians. There is no reason to believe when Sizemore becomes a free agent after the 2012 season he won’t leave whatever team he is with and sign a monstrous contract with one of the big-market teams.

The Yankees, who will need a new center fielder by then, are one team that comes to mind.

The only question regarding the Sizemore era in Cleveland is how much longer it will last.

With the Indians looking primed to be a losing club for the duration of Sizemore’s contract, it might make sense for the Yankees to attempt and blow them away with a deal now. Sizemore struggled with ineffectiveness and injury in 2009, but is one of the league’s best and most unique talents when healthy, and is likely the best all around CF’er in the sport. While the cost would be hefty, it would allow the Yankees to stay away from handing out contracts to players such as Matt Holliday and Jason Bay.

The Yankees could resign one of Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon to DH, and have Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner share LF. That would make for a great defensive outfield, and the club would not miss a beat offensively with Sizemore’s stick in the lineup. Of course, as with any move, the question is the cost. Any deal would almost certainly start with Phil Hughes, Austin Jackson, Zach McCallister, and Austin Romine, and might require some more arms to fill out the package. While I am loathe to give up prospects like those, Sizemore is an exceptional talent who would fit seamlessly into the pantheon of great Yankee center fielders. It is a tough call. Would you pursue it?

From ESPN/BPro:

Plus there’s the fact that Garland is a bona fide innings-eater, on pace to top 190 innings for the eighth straight year. Given the Dodgers’ and Yankees’ innings-cap concerns surrounding Clayton Kershaw and Joba Chamberlain — not to mention those two teams’ deep pockets — Garland’s presence would allow those two teams to pace their youngsters more judiciously, and at a salary those deep-pocketed teams could afford.

I have been generally dismissive of Garland, but he would not be a terrible option. As the excerpt notes, he is an innings eater, so he is likely to soak up frames and keep your bullpen relatively fresh while providing league average pitching (career ERA+ of 104). He also has pitched well in two career postseason starts, for whatever that is worth. He should come cheap in terms of players, and is not terribly expensive at 6.25 million for 2009. He does have a 2010 mutual option at 10 million, which would require a buyout of 2.5 million if the Yankees chose to decline it.

What do you think?

Via MLBTradeRumors:

Baker hears that the Red Sox gave the Mariners the chance to choose five of the following players in exchange for Felix Hernandez:

Clay Buchholz
Daniel Bard
Justin Masterson
Nick Hagadone
Michael Bowden
Felix Doubront
Josh Reddick
Yamaico Navarro

It seems that the Red Sox were protecting Lars Anderson, Casey Kelly, and Ryan Westmoreland, among others. As we learned this morning, Brian Cashman was one of the GM’s who called to inquire on Hernandez. An equivalent list from the Yankees would probably read as follows:

Phil Hughes/ Joba Chamberlain
Austin Jackson
Zach McCallister
Ian Kennedy
Dellin Betances
Austin Romine
Mark Melancon
Kelvin DeLeon

Would you be willing to give up 5 players on that list to get Hernandez? I certainly would. If I could get King Felix without giving up Jesus Montero, I would almost certainly make that trade. The fact that Hernandez may be available in a deal makes it less likely that he ever sees free agency. If so, a preemptive strike to acquire him might be required to obtain the fledgling ace, who is certainly a unique talent. What would you do?