yankee trade

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Gander

Melky is named after a great candy bar though. The Milky Way is an art form among candy bars. All that gooey caramel underneath the delicious chocolate. Try one frozen but dont bite down on it, just savor the amazing combination of chocolate & caramel.

Dude ... it's a Snickers without the peanuts.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Do Mark Grace, Ryan Sandberg, and Andre Dawson still play baseball?


Does Harry Carry still call games?


Thought so ... it's the most unwatchable sport ever. Even for a stats geek like me. I can't even watch it when I'm bombed.

[SniperSB23]

gales, are you living in a bubble? I'm a Mets fan and this is the biggest raping of the offseason since Cliff Lee. Vazquez will come to the Yankees and have close to a 5.00 ERA and still be a success. Melky will be lucky to last 5 more years in the majors. Just like the Phillies with Lee, this is another salary dump. No one that knows baseball and doesn't have some sort of salary cap on them ever considers this trade.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

gales, are you living in a bubble? I'm a Mets fan and this is the biggest raping of the offseason since Cliff Lee. Vazquez will come to the Yankees and have close to a 5.00 ERA and still be a success. Melky will be lucky to last 5 more years in the majors. Just like the Phillies with Lee, this is another salary dump. No one that knows baseball and doesn't have some sort of salary cap on them ever considers this trade.

This isn't entirely true. The prospect the Braves got is very highly thought of and has dominated as an 18 year old against older players. If Cabrera was the main piece then I would absolutely agree with you. But he wasn't and the Braves are loaded with starters.

From BP

Acquired RHP Javier Vazquez and LHP Boone Logan from the Braves for RHP Arodys Vizcaino, LHP Mike Dunn, and OF-S Melky Cabrera; signed C-R Mike Rivera to a minor-league contract. [12/22]

Let's be clear, the Yankees didn't just use money muscle to make this happen, because Vizcaino's no small thing to surrender. The rest of it was parts they could afford to put into play, because they didn't have any immediate use for them that exceeded their value as chits to convert into one year of Vazquez. Cabrera was fungible from the moment they traded for Curtis Granderson, regardless of whether or not they make Brett Gardner their starting left fielder or add another veteran for left, and regardless of whether or not they consummate the rumored deal for Nick Johnson. Instead, Cabrera's role on the 2010 Yankees was fourth outfielder-to-be, and that may well be his role in Atlanta, if he isn't re-packaged off by them. (Experienced young veteran or no, it's worth remembering that the Braves didn't all run out and get Casey Kotchman tattoos, after all.)

With the exchange of southpaws, Dunn's a noteworthy talent who may well shine in his new organization, but relief help's not that hard to find. Logan's a relatively better-known if inconsistent quantity, and if he fits into the third row of the club's rotating cast of thousands taking turns setting up Mariano Rivera, no harm done. If he doesn't, so what? For the Yankees, this deal isn't won or lost on who their fourth outfielder is, or who their second lefty in the pen is.

Instead, it's won or lost on the proposition that Vazquez has something like another 2009 in him. If he does, he's the power right-hander to line up behind CC Sabathia that A.J. Burnett isn't reliably going to be. If he isn't, he's a lot like Burnett, only more so, in that he's had worse seasons as well as higher highs. Was that worth chancing Vizcaino's upside? Of course it was. Could it turn out badly, as badly as Vazquez's previous summer in the Bronx back in 2004? Of course it could. But how many reliable starters are there on the market? Do you really want to revisit the Carl Pavanos or the Kei Igawas on the thought you're adding adequacy, and then wind up with even less? Instead, Cashman's playing for higher stakes, and betting that he gets the good Vazquez in his walk year instead of the one the White Sox got tired of, the guy who wears down early and gets hammered in the sixth inning while slogging through his rounds in the DH league. It's not a safe bet, but then neither is it certain that Vizcaino's going to be the next Pedro Martinez and make you look bad in short order.

So, which Vazquez will show up? That is the $11.5 million question, after all. He was complete murder on right-handers, which could come in handy against a Red Sox lineup beginning to lean right among its best players. And consistent with Cashman's acquisition plan last year, like Sabathia and Burnett, Vazquez is a power pitcher who will be less defense-dependent, not a bad thing at all on this club, especially if the infield defense gets worse with another bit of mileage on the treads of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Cano. Last year, Vazquez did an exceptional job of getting over the sixth-inning hump, holding hitters to .261/.333/.357; he didn't struggle after his 75th pitch either. That's great, but it was also in the National League, in a park that's probably friendlier than NuYankee, and certainly friendlier than the Cell. To dial the wayback machine to 2008 to reflect what the less-happy Vazquez might be like, his sixth innings as a White Sock were bloodbaths (.360/.380/.570), and his performances on pitches 76-100 equally gory (.325/.361/.550). Maybe he's dispelled those bogeymen. Maybe it was all mean old Ozzie Guillen, hurting his feelings, and a dose of Bronx charity will make all the difference. And maybe it's the difference between facing full lineups in the better league, because it pushes up when you're catching the batting order in-game the third time around, and because you don't get to see the pitchers and the Bonifacios in the AL East. It'll certainly be interesting to find out.

[gales0678]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

gales, are you living in a bubble? I'm a Mets fan and this is the biggest raping of the offseason since Cliff Lee. Vazquez will come to the Yankees and have close to a 5.00 ERA and still be a success. Melky will be lucky to last 5 more years in the majors. Just like the Phillies with Lee, this is another salary dump. No one that knows baseball and doesn't have some sort of salary cap on them ever considers this trade.

success is in the playoffs in the bronx . we'll see what he does , his track record ain't great at all

[jms62]

Originally Posted by gales0678

success is in the playoffs in the bronx . we'll see what he does , his track record ain't great at all

He'll eat a chunk of innings and win 5 more than he loses and will be put in the pen during the off season. Exactly what the Yanks need now that they have given up on Wang.

[pgiaco]

I always liked Melky and thought he was a little better than most thought and could be a very good player once he got his head on straight. That being said I like Vazquez and I think his tenure with the Yankees would be looked upon in a better light if Torre didn't stick him in that impossible spot against Boston in '04. I think he'll fit in very well this season and eat up a chunk of quality innings at the back of the rotation.

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Other than make a lot of starts, I don't think you can predict what this Vasquez will do. Always has seemed like the moody choker type (wasn't Ozzie pretty much making fun of him, and now he is somehow great?)