Well that’s interesting, why do the Yankees want Ted Lilly (again)?

Let me click on that link and find out:

Oh, I guess they don’t then.

There are two MLB teams in New York, please make sure that you are referencing the proper one in your link titles. You are professionals, after all.

Yankees may be a third-place team, according to one scout who saw them in Anahiem. They need a starter and are looking at Ian Snell of the Pirates. Yanks could move Phil Hughes, plus prospects.

Beyond the obvious (duh any scout looking at the Yankees against the Angels thinks they’re bad), the thought of the Yankees purposely acquiring Ian Snell to fill the hole in the 2009 rotation frightens me.

(And before anyone freaks out the paragraph in question is saying the Yankees “could” move Phil Hughes for Halladay, not Snell.)

If you’re unfamiliar with Ian Snell, he was considered a good pitching prospect with the ceiling of a #3 starter. In 2003 Baseball America ranked him as the 10th best in the Pirates system (he was then known as Ian Oquendo if you’re looking it up), noting that he had a good fastball that “looked deceptively faster” and a very good curveball.

In 2005 Baseball America ranked him as Pittsburgh’s 4th best prospect saying

Snell has a lively fastball that sits around 93 mph and touches 95-96. He throws a sharp curveball with such late break that some opposing hitters and scouts call it a slider.

They then noted that his fastball doesn’t have much movement on it and that his changeup still needed work.

Starting in 2006, Snell found himself in Pittsburgh permanently where he put up the following lines:

Snell was recently was demoted to AAA by his own request, after getting into a bit of a tiff with Neil Huntington, so it seems that the maturity issues that were red flagged years ago haven’t really resolved themselves yet. Pirates fans and maybe even the management think that many of his problems are in his head (maturity issues again!) and sometimes a change of scenery does help. In his first AAA start he destroyed the opposing team, striking out 17 and has posted two solid starts this then. Don’t take this as a sign that he can come in and immediately be awesome, though, as people like Brett Tomko do extremely well in AAA and never carry it over to MLB.

There are concerns beyond what’s going on in Snell’s head as well: As he is a guy of small stature (5’11” and about 200 pounds) there has always been some concern his body wouldn’t be able to handle the workload of a starter. Plus, relying on two pitches is always bad juju if you’re a starter (there aren’t many guys out there like A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett).

More importantly, beyond his 2008 elbow injury, he just hasn’t pitched that well. While he’s been getting a bit burned by the Pittsburgh defense, the difference between his FIP and ERA isn’t enough to tag him as a major rebound candidate to come in and bolster a struggling/underachieving rotation.

Snell is definitely worth a look by the Yankees if he comes cheap (think Eric Hinkse cheap) as a project or depth guy for this season and next, but if they are viewing him as a piece who can improve the rotation right away the team is going to be very disappointed.

Starting us off, Mark Feinsand says that the Yankees chances to get San Diego’s Jake Peavy are getting better and better.

The Yankees could put together a package built around Phil Hughes and Austin Jackson, according to a source, although they would likely have to include two or three more players, one of which could be Ian Kennedy. The Padres, according to the source, have no interest in Robinson Cano. Hughes was the closest thing the Yankees had to untouchable last year during the Johan Santana saga, but after the righthander’s subpar 2008 season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Yankees would move the 22-year-old.

Inexplicably, Feinsand doesn’t mention that the Yankees would have to give Peavy more years and/or more money to waive his no-trade clause and come here, and that apparently he only added the Angels and Yankees to his list of places that are okay if the Padres could absolutely get nothing done within the National League. I really highly doubt that the Yankees would move both Hughes and Austin Jackson in a deal with Ian Kennedy included especially if you take into account the money that would be involved, so I think this is reaching of the extreme variety.

Both Joel Sherman and Ken Davidoff agree with me, take that as you will I guess. Davidoff addressed the article directly, even.

Speaking of those two, Sherman says that the Brewers and Yankees might make a Cameron-Cabrera swap.

The Yankees New York Yankees have inquired about the availability of Mike Cameron and the Brewers are weighing whether to deal the center fielder.

Brewers officials have been asking around about Melky Cabrera, trying to determine why he struggled in 2008. The Yankees are willing to deal Cabrera and pitching to land Cameron.

Earlier this week the Brewers picked up the $10 million 2009 option on Cameron. Nevertheless, Milwaukee believes its lineup is too right-handed plus it needs pitching. Cabrera’s numbers as a lefty were not great (.267 with a .361 slugging percentage), but were far better than his stats as a righty. The Yanks also have talked to several teams about Wilson Betemit, another switch-hitter like Cabrera who is superior from the left side.

I’m not sure what constitutes “pitching”, Jose Veras? Cameron would be a one year thing for a variety of seasons (including his contract), so I doubt any significant pitching would swap hands for him. Certainly not any starter that has much projectability unless they are going to give up completely on say, Alan Horne.

Trading Betemit wouldn’t bring much in return sadly, but it’s probably the best thing to do right now. The Yankees do need to address their bench, and while he was originally meant to be a big part of it he is clearly not in their plans right now. He hasn’t hit well enough to be a good bat off the bench and his fielding isn’t good enough to keep around as a utility guy. He’ll land somewhere and probably do a decent job. I was pretty high on him going into the season (and so were the Yankees) but so much went wrong with him from needing glasses to careless fielding that he doesn’t have a spot anymore.

There’s also some wild speculation that the Yankees are going to trade Robinson Cano for Matt Holliday. There is no way that is true (though I find it amusing Cano and Hughes are getting traded for every good player ever, either together or separately). Here are the base reasons for that:

• Sure the Yankees will trade Cano for the right deal, but that isn’t one year of Matt Holliday. Holliday is exceptional, for sure, but he is a Boras client and is not coming over with a guarantee of extension.
• The Rockies have a young second baseman they are very invested and high on in Ian Stewart. He was the 10th overall pick in 2003 and held his own when he got at bats this year. An IsoD of 100 is very good if he can keep that up, and honestly makes him more valuable than Cano unless Robbie suddenly decides it’s not against his religion to take a free base.
• Aside from Ian Stewart being at second for them already, the Rockies have made it clear that they want pitching in return for Holliday as they currently only have one starter they can really count on in Aaron Cook. Robinson Cano is not a pitcher.

Lastly for laughs, check out Scott Boras’ book on Oliver Perez. Here are my favorite chapter names: “Perez Is One of Baseball’s Top 5 Left-Handed Starting Pitchers” and “Perez Eats Innings”.

George King (surprise!) says the Yankees want Larry Bows back as third base coach.

The Yankees New York Yankees will have a clearer idea of who their third base coach will be later this week.

That’s when Larry Bowa will meet with Dodgers brass to discuss his future. Bowa, who is the Yankees’ No. 1 choice to replace Bobby Meacham, recently finished the first of a two-year deal to coach third for the Dodgers. Nevertheless, Bowa has an out in the contract.

Bowa, the best third base coach in baseball, was with the Yankees in 2006 and 2007 but not retained when manager Joe Torre didn’t return for the 2008 season. Instead, Bowa joined Torre in Los Angeles.

If Bowa decides to stay with the Dodgers, the Yankees might turn to Mike Gallego or Dale Sveum.

Why would the Yankees want Dale Sveum? Seems like typical George King pulling names out of a hat there.

Fangraphs wrote an article on Mark Ellis’ hidden value that is worth a read.

Bobby Abreu still wants to stay in New York which is okay with me as long as it’s Queens and not the Bronx.

Ken Rosenthal takes a look at the Peavy Rumor mongering. Brings up Cano as someone the Yankees would have to include in a trade with other stuff, to which I say “no thank you, good Padres”. Whine about his overall year all you want, the Yankees will not be able to replace Cano with a player of his offensive caliber at 2B and most of what is available is a stop gap when there’s nothing coming up. Additionally, I don’t see the Yankees getting a deal with the Padres done for Peavy because it will cost too much. The Padres are looking for a “near major league ready outfielder” I can’t believe that would mean Melky or Gardner, which points to Austin Jackson. Nope, I do not like that.

If not an outfielder (let’s say Cano makes up for that–still don’t like anything involving Cano for something that is not another premium position) they would surely ask for Phil Hughes which is still too much all things concerned. The Yankees can sign some free agent arms, why give up a ton to trade for one? Doesn’t make much sense.

I see Peavy landing on the Braves, he makes a lot of sense there and they can offer a lot and still have leftovers in their system.

Dodgers have an interest in Robinson Cano and might be willing to deal Derek Lowe and outfielder Matt Kemp, but the Yankees aren’t inclined to part with the red-hot second baseman unless there is a front-of-the-rotation-type starter coming to The Bronx. Lowe, who has the stomach for big games and has AL East experience with the Red Sox, doesn’t fit that bill.

Kemp, 23, would be viewed as a replacement for Bobby Abreu in right field next year. Kemp is batting .287 (104-for-362) with 11 homers and 55 RBIs in 94 games this season. His biggest downside is striking out 107 times.

Matt Kemp is a very fine baseball player and he is going to become even better, but Robinson Cano has great offense at a premium position and has a great glove (a few mistakes don’t make him bad, folks). Cano has actually been somewhat decent all year, his April was just that awful. Here are his splits by month:

April - .151/.211/.236
May   - .295/.333/.432
June  - .287/.302/.416

I know you have to give up good stuff for good stuff, but I don’t want the Yankees to give up Cano and I know the Dodgers fans don’t want to give up Kemp. It’d probably be a trade of equal value but the Yankees don’t really have anyone of even half Cano’s ability to plug in at 2B.

Other Things Cashman Shouldn’t Do

Take on Jose Vidro along with Jarrod Washburn

The Mariners apparently aren’t satisfied with just dumping Jarrod Washburn and calling it a day. No, they also want to straddle the Yankees with Jose Vidro. Washburn is under contract for two more years, sucks, and could be kind of useful which is why I am okay with that. Jose Vidro just sucks and will not be useful in any way. He has no power and is gimpier than Hideki Matsui to the point where he absolutely cannot play in the field. If the Mariners want to dump Vidro they should just DFA him before they accidentally trigger his option for next year (or who knows maybe they’ve already done this, the number of plate appearances he needs for it to vest has been a closely guarded secret).

To put it briefly: Justin Christian is a better option off the bench than Vidro in a million ways. Salary dumps are for good players, not bad ones.

Give up anything of worth for a lefty reliever

A lefty reliever for the Yankees would be a luxury and really shouldn’t be as high on their list as it is. The bullpen has been good, Edwar is good against lefties. There is no room for one given that someone (probably LaTroy Hawkins) is going to get the boot once Brian Bruney is ready. Who are you going to toss into AAA for this mystical LHP on the 25 man? The asking price for Brian Fuentes is allegedly Ian Kennedy, even with Ian Kennedy’s diminished value that would be a bad trade for the Yankees.

Trade for a catcher

Yes, it sucks that Jorge Posada is not going to be behind the plate for the rest of the season. However, there really aren’t any better options out there right now. You can overpay for say, Jarrod Saltamacchia who is probably not a better option than Jose Molina or Chad Moeller at this stage in his development and then have nowhere for him to stick on the roster next year unless Posada moves to 1B permanently which he doesn’t seem ready to do yet.

Kei Igawa will never be useful, ever, in MLB for the Yankees. Major League hitters don’t swing and miss on his pitches often and he is the most extreme flyball pitcher ever in the world. Maybe he can transform into a magical pony for another team, but not one in the Bronx.

It’s true that Washburn is not good either but if he is simply awful the Yankees can just eat his contract and dump him. It’s one of the benefits of being the Yankees. I feel like Igawa is a cloud hanging over the organization that needs to be shooed away, and they keep blowing chances to do so.

Beyond Matsui’s value as a player and any emotional attachment I have to him, Matsui also brings the Yankees a lot of coverage and money from Japan that I think it would be foolish to give up. Of course that is also the exact reason why the Giants (maybe) want him. Beyond that whole problem they have scoring runs, with the departure of Barry Bonds they are looking to put people in the seats.

In the end, though, I think Cashman is too smart to make this trade unless a player who is considerably better than Noah Lowry is involved (say that Matt Cain guy mentioned earlier).