A lot of interesting opnions here. Halloffamer2000 kudos to you on Santana vs CC. Santana has a whopping 7 in Fenway and is a middling pitcher in the playoffs. And for all the people who keep on spitting out Santana’s name, I mention one fact over and over again: Bill Smith liked the Red Sox package much more than the Yankee package. PERIOD! To get Santana the Yankees would have had to give up a ton of top prospects AND give him money. No one thinks that that is pure insansity. The Yankees needed another centerfielder so add 15-18 million dollars to the mix. This whole Santana situation is spilt mix.

As for the injuries, the Red Sox, Rays and Jays have all had injuries and are not spending 210 million dollars. So for the owner to excuse this is ridiculous. Hank is being pragmatic BUT you can’t say that to this the public. You wanna see an empty Yankee stadium come September, just wait Hank. No one has sympathy for a team that spends so much money. Internally, they might have said no playoffs but externally they are committing a grave error.

You’ll have to explain “all the time” as the Yanks holding on to their prospects is a fairly recent phenomenon.
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Yup, I think Fred McGriff, Doug Drabek, Jose Rijo, Mike Lowell, Jay Buhner, Carl Everett, JT Snow, Juan Rivera, Nick Johnson, Ted Lilly, among others would agree that that is fairly recent phenomenon.

Who wasn’t praising the Beckett deal? And his average 2006 let them sign him for a huge below market deal.
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Beckett was cost controlled and arbitration eligible (and expensive), the reason why the Marlins traded him. The Sox extended him sometime during the 2006 season, through 2009, IIRC. He was supposed to be the ace of the staff. Tim Wakefield is a good pitcher, though I don’t think he’s anyone’s definition of an ace. He’s outperforming Beckett this year. That’s two out of the 3 years that he has been with Boston that he hasn’t lived up to his billing

Ramirez was the Sox’s top prospect, Hughes was the Yanks’ top prospect.

Whether or not the Sox are regretting not trading for Santana is debatable. I’m sure that like the Yanks, the asking price + contract extension wasn’t worth it to them.

You’ll have to explain “all the time” as the Yanks holding on to their prospects is a fairly recent phenomenon.

“Time will tell. No one was praising the Beckett deal after 2006.”

Who wasn’t praising the Beckett deal? And his average 2006 let them sign him for a huge below market deal.

And Hughes isn’t Hanley Ramirez.

Now they are going to overpay in yrs and $ for a starter who isn’t as good as Santana.

Heck, the Sox right now are regretting not trading Clay B for Santana.

SOmetimes you over value your prospects. Something the Yankees do all the time.

“Hence, the push.”

You forgot the part where Wang – healthy – could actually get better than Ponson or Rasner would ever be.

“And, Matsui was replaced by Nady pretty quickly in the line-up.”

About a month – what was their record over that time? Same deal with A-Rod? What was their record while he was out? I’m willing to bet that you take those *seven* weeks and give them their current WPCT over that same time, they’re 1 or two games out of the wild card, if that. Indeed, they were 6-12 while A-Rod was out, and 16-10 in the time between Matsui and Nady. Tell that to all your A-Rod hating friends!

“FWIW, I think Santana is less of a long-term risk than CC because Santana is not a fat tub of goo. So, IMHO, there’s a huge (pun intended) difference between the two.”

And the part where Santana’s peripherals have been consistently getting worse over the last few years? And where Sabathia’s peripherals, after the slow start, have only gotten better this year (more Ks, fewer hits) after three straight years of solid consistency? Besides Steve, I know you know better than to judge a player like a scout from the 1940′s.

Andrew has it exactly right.

How is that possibly irrelevant??
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Because the decision of Chamberlain going to the rotation was not contingent on Hughes and Kennedy. He was going into the rotation whether they both won or lost 20 games.

It was a huge mistake passing on a veteran ace in his 20’s.
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Time will tell. No one was praising the Beckett deal after 2006.

“That Hughes and Kennedy didn’t perform to expectations is irrelevant.”

How is that possibly irrelevant??

They were expected to come in and pitch reasonably well. 10 wins each. Nothing too great as back end starters. They have given ZERO wins.

They weren’t traded because the front office thought they were front line starting pitchers.

If you hit on one young pitcher you are ahead of the game. They knew Joba was a sure thing. Those 2 were totally expendable.

Especially with pithcing being the strength of the farm system.

OK, here’s my rub here. Yes, losing Wang hurts. However…no one expected Mussina to be the ace that he is this season. So, yeah, the Yankees lost an ace in Wang – but they gained an ace in Mussina.
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Still, no matter which way you cut it, they lost Wang. If they gained an ace in Mussina and maintained an ace in Wang, then things are different, no?

As for Joba, there were plans all along to move him to the rotation. That Hughes and Kennedy didn’t perform to expectations is irrelevant.

I love how everyone is assuming CC signs here. Sorry but it’s not a given. Plenty of teams have money and he likes the West Coast. it is no guarantee.

Santana was a sure thing. The whole diminished stuff is total bunk. He’s a great athlete, lefty and in his prime. This team is in 1st place by 5 games if he’s in the rotation.

We have all seen what Kennedy is. Worthless.
Melky is less than worthless.

And Hughes? You can’t say Santana has diminished stuff than praise Hughes because Santana still has a better fastball than Hughes and Hughes is 22 yrs old!

It was a huge mistake passing on a veteran ace in his 20′s.