Not really. There are a number of other factors in play. No one knows how much salary the Yankees would have had to take on if they traded him to SD, or if RJ would have vetoed a deal there. San Diego's farm system, outside of Kouzmanoff, is arguably the worst in all of baseball, so you get absolutely nothing there. And the decline in many of Linebrink's splits over the last two seasons is incredibly troubling, he could very well be another Quantrill in the AL East. Not to mention Vizcaino had a better year than Linebrink did last year, and has already had a very strong year in the American League, something Linebrink hasn't done.
I think the biggest key to trading him to Arizona is that is where he wanted to go. Unfortunately, Randy held the cards in this deal. With the power to veto, Randy could have gone anywhere he chose, regardless of what we got in return. I'd think at this point he would want to pitch as close to home as possible. San Diego may never have been serious at all, at least in Cashman's mind. He may simply have used their interest to force the D'Backs to put more on the table. I like that article 10P10. Looks like we really did get a steal here. Cashman rocks!
They just said on the morning news that we will be paying $2M of Randy's salary, and the D'Backs will be extending Randy for one year @ $10M.
Bob Klapisch has an interesting take on the Johnson deal. Amid other interesting things in this article, one paragraph stands out in particular: If we could trade Hughes and Sanchez (and maybe another prospect or two) for Santana I would personally go to Brian Cashman and kiss his feet. I don't see the Twins moving Santana at least until next offseason, but he is currently the unquestioned best pitcher in baseball (and he's only 27 years old.) Hughes and Sanchez are both great prospects, but Santana would make the Yankees the almost unquestioned favorites for a title.
I dunno about that, Santana is amazing but from what I have read about Hughes he will be up next year and will become a top pitcher in baseball and of course Sanchez is bigtime, either way cant go wrong with me.
Hughes and Sanchez are both studs. But the odds of having both pitchers pan out in the big leagues are very slim. If the Yankees are very, very lucky, one of the two will one day compete with Santana for Cy Youngs. Johan is already there, and the Yankees are looking to win now. You aren't going to get a pitcher like Santana for the Clippards and Karstens of the world. You have to give value to get value. And if the Yankees have an opportunity to move Hughes for Santana and you say no, then you lose the right to complain when the Yankees don't win titles.
The reason that Cashman is stockpiling all these arms is so he wouldn't have to trade Hughes to get him. In all likelihood, a deal wouldn't get done unless Hughes was included, and that won't happen.
I agree. I'm sure Cashman wants to make the move without including Hughes, but the Twins have no urgency to trade Santana yet. He still has 2 years until free agency, so they can wait it out. In all likelyhood Hughes will be up by midsummer and we'll see whether it was a good move to hold him or not. In any case, I don't expect Santana in pinstripes until he hits free agency (if then, even.)
If the deal was on the table for Hughes and another non-pitching prospect (or Melky) for Johan, I say do it yesterday. Sure, Hughes has the potential, but like KH said, Johan is the best of the best now. Waiting two years, until he's almost 30 is a mistake. If we don't bring him in now, he's not worth pursuing. At that point, our youth will have matured. This is an exciting time for us Yankee fans. Suddenly Cashman has the farm stock, and the cash on hand, to make anything possible. If we could put Santana in pinstripes this year, with this rotation: Santana Wang Pettite Moose Igawa/Clemens I don't see how we can be beat.
All of this hype about Hughes he better start out like Weaver, Verlander, or Lirano. Yankee fans have him going to Cooperstown already.
I don't know Shade. I, for one, am nervous about him. That's why I'm so willing to trade him right now for Santana. I still remember a young kid named Eiland. When he came up he was supposed to be a rocket armed phenom. Well, his first game at Yankee Stadium he got so nervous he was shaking. That caused him to pull I believe it was his groin. Either that or his hammy. His career went crashing down in flames. He's now a pitching instructor or coach down in the minors I believe. Rookies are always a risk for the Yankees. Honestly, the best thing the Yankees can do with thier farm talent is cultivate it, then trade it for young, but experienced major league talent. Yankee Stadium is too tough a place for a rookie to play. You've got to have balls of steel to pitch there.
I don't know about that. He has been great in the minors and I think we would just like to have a pitcher work out well from our own organization rather than signing old crap like RJ.
If a prospect of Eiland's caliber was in the system today, he'd barely be a top 5 pitching prospect in the organization. He couldn't strike anyone out, his K/9 in the minor leagues was barely over 4 before he was called up, and didn't have a great out pitch for the majors to make up for that. Hughes, on the other hand, has 4 plus pitches (would be 6, but the Yankees wanted him to shrink his repetoire to focus on each pitch a little better), and has a K/9 over 10 to go with his incredible BB/9 and WHIP. The bottom line here is that, unless Cashman can get Santana to sign a long term deal way below his market value, Hughes will not be traded for anyone. He has Hughes under cost-control for many years once he's called up, and he, like every scout in the world, expects Hughes to be at the very worst, a top 10 pitcher in baseball. At WORST.
In other news, the Yankees re-sign Miguel Cairo, bringing Cashman's grade down from an A/A- to around an A-/B+.
Torre has to be behind this. I am not looking forward to the day that Cairo starts at first over Giambi and eyechart. I would also rather see almost anyone else give Jeter a day off than Cairo,
Yeah, I saw the thing about Cairo. The paper (I think it was the Daily News) said that because of this move, Bernie's time in the Bronx is done. (I find that a bit strange since there's no way I'd put Cairo in the outfield, but I guess they mean for the roster spot.) This move does do one thing though. If Bernie is done, then that makes Melky the #4 OF. He should see at least a couple games a week, and that should keep our starters fresh all year. BTW: 10P10, I'm not looking at Hughes poorly. I'm just a little standoffish. I take a wait-and-see attitude with any guys brought up from the minors. Eiland was one case, but look at Melky. He was a top prospect in the system when he was first brought up. His first stint in the majors was less than stellar. It's tough to start your career with the Yankees. You have to play in Yankee Stadium and Fenway, two of the toughest parks in the majors. It doesn't matter how talented you are, that's daunting. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not against Hughes, but if we had an honest shot at Santana, I can't see anything standing in the way. Cashman may not agree, and that's fine, but if I were the GM, Santana would be in pinstripes.
Perhaps, but a lot of times it does matter how talented you are. Melky was a good prospect, but barely a top 10 prospect in the system. Hughes, OTOH, is the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, and top 3 prospect overall. Melky was also a guy who was rushed up through the system because the CF situation was a major emergency, he went from playing in AA to playing in Fenway Park in a matter of a few weeks. Regardless, it doesn't really matter what they do early on. Melky was a very special case in the sense that he was so young, and so rushed, yet he has still turned out to be a solid OF. A poor start hasn't hurt him at all. And Hughes, who is above and beyond Melky as a prospect, and especially known for his confidence and character at such a young age, wouldn't allow it to bother him, either.
I hope you're right. I'm definitely rooting for him. And if what you wrote is true (not that I am doubting you) then I will change my stance on the Santana situation. I've been honest all along saying I don't really know much about the guys in the system, other than what I see here, so I don't know how good Hughes is. From what you're saying, we have a dominant pitcher in our ranks for years to come. I like the sound of that!
