Yankees Trade Bait
From the New York Times:
One general manager, who asked not to be identified because of baseball’s tampering rules, said the Yankees relievers T. J. Beam and Matt Smith would have value in trades.
Pitching prospects like Steven White and Jeff Karstens have also drawn interest, but the Yankees’ best prospects, pitcher Phil Hughes and outfielder José Tabata, are unlikely to be dealt.
Well, Beam gave up 6 ER in two-thirds of an inning tonight. So, I’m sure that impacts his trade value.
Looking at what the Yankees are willing to give up tells you something about what they potentially might get back in a trade. If the Yankees are peddling “Grade C” prospects like Beam, Smith, White, etc., then, at best, anyone who they acquire will be someone in the last year of their contract and/or someone who’s presently making too much money. And, it will not be someone who’s a superstar.
Players like Jeromy Burnitz, David Dellucci, Aubrey Huff, Phil Nevin, Paul Byrd, and Javy Lopez come to mind – in terms of the kind of players that you might get for a “Grade C” prospect (or two) now.
I also think this tells us that the Yankees have just one trade in them – because they have so little to offer. It probably makes sense to go for a hitter and then try and fix the rotation from within.
On the whole, it’s not very exciting out there – the market is not very good now. This helps someone like Washington with Livan Hernandez. He’s not great – but, because he’s one of the best of the mess out there, the Nationals can get more for him.
During the course of the game tonight, I did come up with a “Plan B” for the Yankees this year. Here it is: In their next game, they intentionally walk the first batter, and, they keep issuing free passes to every batter who follows – non-stop. This way, the inning will never end, and the game will never end, and therefore their season will never end. Maybe this will buy some time until Hughes and Tabata are ready to help the big club?
Yes, I’m kidding.
Steve, Beam, Smith and White aren’t “grade C” prospects.
John Sickels does not agree.
Sickel’s rating system is tough. To him, Hughes isn’t an “A.” Also, John isn’t the end-all word on prospects. Actually, he’s considered somewhat of a clown because he doesn’t actually see most of the players in person and goes on scouting reports from others. He continually gets information wrong and drives hometown fans nuts (since they can see firsthand that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about). I like John, but if you’re going to quote him often on this site, you’re going to be spreading a lot of misinformation. He’s a one-man operation and it shows.
And since his book comes out before the season, those ratings were based on Beam before he even got to AA, Smith before he got to the majors, and White before he bounced back from injury.
Grade-C prospects are normally considered people who cannot help a major-league team or are old. Someone like Nick Green is a grade-C prospect.
Hughes and Tabata are As. Eric Duncan, Austin Jackson and Clippard are B-pluses. Beam, Smith, White, Gardner are Bs. Colter Bean and Jorge DePaula are Cs.
Beam, Smith and White can all help out teams, are still pretty young, and they’re pitchers. They won’t get you a Soirano, but calling someone a grade-C prospect is like calling someone a bench player (that’s the equivalent). They’re better than that.
bailey, while I agree in substance on Sickels, I should point out that he, unlike a lot of BA writers, does actually go on road trips to see many of the prospects he talks about. Still, he is, beyond his above-average ability to read and manipulate sabermetric data, little different from you or I in terms of actual scouting acumen. And, as you reference, he’s gotten it wrong a lot. What he has going for him, like all the other “prospect” prophets, is that 97.3% of these guys never make it beyond a cup of coffee in the Show. Always easy to say, “I told you so.” That said, as Omar Minaya would say, Yankees prospects have much more value than the press allows…it’s just that every GM worth his salt has to “rip off” the Yankees in order to save face with the fans and, of course, the baseball establishment. I think the determining factor right now is that Cashman is committed to a longterm view of protecting the developmental assets he has. I can see a Huff or Craig Wilson or Ibanez but no Abreu or Andruw Jones…not for what they’d be asking in return. And, games like last night notwithstanding, I’m o.k. with that. My sense is that the race will go down to the wire (don’t forget Toronto)and it would be disappointing not to make the post-season. But, I’d rather have Hughes, Tabata, Gardner, et al. than even a season or two from Bobby Abreu or Andruw Jones.
“[I]t would be disappointing not to make the post-season. But, I’d rather have Hughes, Tabata, Gardner, et al. than even a season or two from Bobby Abreu or Andruw Jones”
JohnnyC, you took the words right out of my mouth.