A crazy idea to fill the 2010 outfield
ByWe’ve just finished two days without Yankee baseball and we still have two to go. Once the playoffs started, I hoped we’d be busy enough to avoid the hot stove talk. Alas, I underestimated the Yankees awesomeness. Their sweep gives us a big break in the action, and inevitably we’ll stray into non-playoff topics. I promise, this is crazy enough that it might not even qualify as a hot stove post.
The biggest issue the Yankees face this season is of their outfield. Nick Swisher will be back in right field, but beyond that everything is up in the air. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner are still under team control, but they’re an average tandem. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but it could be a problem because of the imminent left field vacancy.
Johnny Damon is a free agent at the end of the season, and despite numerous reports of his desire to return, it’s no guarantee. He’ll be 36 last season and his defense has declined markedly. I’m guessing that the Yankees would sign him if the price were right, but if it’s not they’ll probably let him walk, leaving a left field vacancy. That will connect the team with Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, but there’s another possible solution.
This guy on MLBTR linked to a Mets.com mailbag regarding the Mets’ off-season. One of the letters mentioned trading Carlos Beltran. See? I told you it was crazy enough to not even qualify as a hot stove post. But that won’t stop me from elaborating a bit.
Beltran would replace Damon in every way. He could replace him in left field and at the two spot in the batting order. Beltran is a better hitter than Damon, getting on base at around the same clip but hitting for more power. He also plays better defense. Both hit for a good average, and both are excellent base stealers. In almost every way, Beltran would be a great addition for the Yankees.
The problem is that the Mets won’t give him away. If they can’t get something they can use to rebuild their team, they’ll just keep him. The Yankees are one of the few teams that can eat Beltran’s $37 million salary between 2010 and 2011, but I’m not sure the Yankees and the Mets match up well for a trade.
Then there’s the issue of the Yankees’ opportunity to sign Beltran after the 2004 season. The team had already signed Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright, and had traded for Randy Johnson, when Scott Boras laid it out for the Yankees: $100 million over six years. Had they signed him then, he’d have just one year and somewhere between $16 and $18 million remaining on his deal. It would hurt to trade for him under the terms the Mets negotiated.
If Carlos Beltran were a free agent, the Yankees might consider signing him. He’ll be 33 in the 2010 season and is coming off a pretty serious knee injury, so there are risks — risks that make trading for him a likely nonstarter. More than anything, it makes me wonder what the Yanks would be like if they had kept Vazquez and signed Beltran that winter. I think the team might be a little bit stronger.
It has enough merit to give it some serious thought, especially since AJax needs some more time in the minors.
Would be a hefty, hefty price tag, however.
Publicly, the Mets mgmt and ownership are gonna try to make a 2010 run at the division and hope they get MVP campaign out of David Wright to lead the way. They’ve got a glaring void at 1B and 2 rotation spots.
Minaya would ask for Jackson; easy to say yes too. Minaya would however want a front-end arm. Honestly, I’d overpay Holliday than lose Joba or Hughes for only two guaranteed years of Beltran. Minaya would be parting with a dynamic CF; maybe only 2nd to Sizemore. Minaya would be in the right to ask for one of our best arms.
I would rather they sign marlon Byrd…
I would love to see Beltran in pinstripes, though it probably won’t happen. The Mets need some stability in their overly organic outfield and I doubt they’d move him, although it could be a wise decision if they intend on saving a few pennies for some actual pitching. That team is just a mess.
I was waiting for you to say what you thought would get the deal done…
Nope. Fool’s game.
Maybe I’m a fool but when you take into account how far the 2009 Yankees have gone, despite whatever drawbacks they may have, I say, if it ain’t broke…
Definitely not a fool. Can’t hurt to upgrade, though. I think Holliday is the best option out there for left field (assuming we can’t nab a Beltranesque player in a trade). He may be out of Hal’s price range, however.
We have a price range now?
But seriously, with Damon and/or Matsui and Molina coming off the books we could potentially afford Holliday or someone else.
Damon is making either 13 or 16MM per year if I’m not mistaken (don’t take my word). Matsui is making around that much too, and Molina is making around 1 million or so (1.5-ish I believe). That frees up at least 25+ Million per year.
Say we resign Matsui to a 4 Million deal, say we sign someone (a bullpen arm, bench depth etc) to a 5 million deal, that still leaves us with about 15 million a year to offer Holliday.
Just my $0.02
Yea, perhaps we can afford it money wise. But it doesnt make sense to have another long-term contract, especially to a corner OFer who is really not all that good (at least no way near being worth that much money).
My bad, correct salary figures are
Damon 13MM
Matsui 13MM
Molina 2.1MM (a bit overpriced IMHO)
So that gives us 28 Million to play around with.
I believe that Holliday can be had for 5/80-5/90, which translates to about 16-18 per year, leaving us with about 10 million more to shore up.
It’s still about money, though.
Unless it was a fabrication to keep the Yankees out of foreseeable bidding wars (or at least to keep the price down in such wars), Cashman and crew made it clear that they had to persuade Hal to add the Teixeira contract and that it would be the last big deal for a while. I don’t know if the Yankees are simply saying that to help their engagement in the FA market or if it’s true, but it has been said.
They’ve also talked about cutting payroll in ‘09, though they could obviously rescind on that one (especially if they win the WS).
don’t forget CC’s backloaded contract–he makes $9M more next year
With Holliday, I don’t think it’s an issue of money so much as years. I’m guessing Cash isn’t looking to give Holliday a 5+ year deal, which is probably what he’d demand.
Woah woah woah. Matsui for 4 more years? His knees would explode. If we resign him its’ goign to be 1 or 2 eyars.
Yikes, forgive the typos. It’s late. My brain is fried from HW.
and then there is the issue of the ginormous mole on the side of his head.. just saying
i was thinking aboot a buy low of Hermida or something he must be arby this year, and if they won’t listen, we counter with Maybin!
-1
Johnny Damon is in a horrendous slump right now, but he has been a vital and productive part of this team, and has carried the team at numerous points this year, and in other years.
Yes, his age is scary, but a part of me would miss him next yr if he leaves, and a part of me wants to see him get his 3,000th hit with the Yankees in 4 years.
A lot of the problems would be erased if he gets hot either in the ALCS or Series, (like I think he will do in at least, one). Also, if the Yanks win the big banana, usually there are strong inclinations to “keep a winner together”.
Perhaps, a yr to yr contract for a vastly reduced salary, and a migration, part time, to other roles (DH or 4th outfielder?) might be the answer. But a large salary reduction for a proud star player is a tough topic to even broach. Brian C. couldn’t even begin the discussion with Abreau last year.
It’ll be interesting to see how this works out.
Oh yeah,–somehow, I don’t see Damon striking out looking, with the bases loaded, down one run, in a game 7.
Beltran Career: .283 .360 .496 .856
He has actually bested that by a bit over the last 4 years, so if his knee is OK, he is still a very good player. But at $18.5m in this economy, he is WAY overpriced
I don’t mind overpaying in $$, ’cause that’s what the Yankees have, and losing JD and Matsui frees up $26m, so we can afford to pay for an outfielder. But because of the price tag, if the Mets want to move him, I don’t think that can get a king’s ransom.
So if we could get him without trading any of Joba, AJax, Phil or Montero, it’s worth discussing. While AJax ain’t Beltran, you don’t trade a cost controlled OFer when we are short of OFers, to overpay for 2 years of Betran. We have lots of arms on the farm with potential. I’d try dangling a few of those.
Any chance to get Carl Crawford? TB still has a thin payroll and they still have plenty of talent on their farm. I don’t think they can afford to keep both Crawford and Pena, and they need to bank some money for Price.
Price won’t even hit arbitration for a couple years yet.
And Carl Crawford costs maybe 10 mil and has one year left. If they’re even looking to trade him — which they may not be — EVERY team thats not like…the Pirates and Royals can afford to be in on him. They’d be bidding against every contender and pretender in the league.
Joba and Melky for Beltran. Do it Cash.
Please don’t Cash
Roger, why would you want this? We’ve spent years getting away from deals like this. Why trade 2 young improving cost-controlled players for a 33 yr old center fielder making 18.5mm+ for the next 2 years coming off knee surgery?
This so bad for the Yankees that even the Mets would be smart enough to grab it.
Just keep Matsui and Damon
+1
No way the Mets would trade Beltran to the Yankees for anything. Their ownership would come under an infinite amount of criticism if Beltran flourished in the Bronx while the Mets continued to struggle in Queens.
i can’t speak for the masses, but my met fan ammigos have given up the notion of catching up to us. you got to think about your organization, and it is going to be awfully tough in that division. Johan, Reys, Beltran and Wright is a good core, but they are not the same as they were a year ago for assorted reasons. It would be a hit when beltran flourishes anywhere but losmets, in theory
i dont see the mets trading beltran unless they got alot in return. what about signing someone like chone figgins to play left field?
or maybe some sort of 3 way trade sending halladay to the mets and beltran to the yanks. but then if that were the case i would rather have halladay on the yanks.
You mean the guy who has started 24 games there in his career, only 1 since 2006 and has a -17.1 UZR/150 there is 36 games?
And the guy who had a 107 OPS+ despite this year being called his career year?
And that too as a 31 year old and about to start his decline phase.
wow didnt know about those stats i figured he would be a legit outfielder because of his speed. maybe a cano for beltran swap then?
Nah, doubt it. Who replaces Cano for us? I dont want to take the risk of Beltran’s injuries and give up Cano. On top of that, I think Luis Castillo is signed until 2011 for them so they wont have room for Cano. The trade wont really make sense for either team.
Cano for Beltran? I wouldn’t do that straight up, Cano’s improving every year and a force at a typically non-offensive position. I say we sign a 1 year stop gap and wait for either A-Jax to be ready or there is a certain OF from Tampa that will be a FA after next year and would look great in the leadoff spot and center/left.
I would not do that deal if I’m the Yankees. First, we do not know if Beltran can even play. Second, he’s 33. Third, he’s being paid more than three times as much as Cano next season. It’s not as nice as it looks.
Completely agree, lets not make up for a mistake we made in the winter of 2004 by making one in the winter of 2009 when said mistake is 5 years older, over-priced in this economy, and coming off knee surgery at a position where speed is critical.
I would like the Yankees to keep Matsui as DH and let Damon walk. A low risk, high reward replacement for Damon would be Rick Ankiel. He’s coming off a really down year but so did Swisher in’08 and he rebounded pretty nicely his first year in pinstripes. Ankiel would give them another lefty in YS who could hit 20-25 HR and the added bonus that he actually has a good arm. Remember these throws:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1AdqfkqYCo
Eh, I think Ankiel is a different case than Swish. Swish was hurt by poor luck in BABIP. Ankiel, I think, was just exposed and the league probably figured him out, resulting in a LD% that was only 15.2% compared to 19.0% in 2008 (while Swish’s LD% actually went up from 17.5% to 20.9% so he was really really really unlucky). He doesn’t have good OBP skills either. He has good power but he has to make contact first. He’s a -7.2 UZR/150 CFer too so his arm wont really matter much.
He also has trouble staying on the field. Ankiel, IMO, is not an attractive option at all.
Beltran loses a ton of value in a corner outfield position. If the Yankees were to get him, which they won’t, he would be in CF.
That being said, the Yankees don’t need a premium bat in center with the lineup they have. Especially when you consider that Beltran is coming off of a major knee injury and will be 33 next year. The ideas of giving up Cano or Joba are crazy. Why give up talent like that when you can just as easily resign Damon to a short term deal and wait for a free agent that fits better to become available?
Looking back on not signing Beltran is one thing. Thinking about trading top young talent for him when the Yankees can get similar production out of short term free agent signings is completely another.
The Mets aren’t trading Beltan to the Yankees and have him be a part of some very contending teams. Their fanbase would go nuts. Furthermore, even if they thought of trading him to the Yankees, they would want Montero instead of Jackson.
I don’t think we can underestimate the seriousness of Carlos Beltran’s injury. The last thing the Yankees should be looking to do is spend big money on anything resembling a health risk.
I think there are two options: (1)sign Matsui and Damon to one-year deals, avoid giving big contracts to Bay or Holliday and target Crawford in 2011 (with Werth as a possible fall back); or (2)let both Matsui and Damon go and sign Holliday.
In a perfect world, you could target Holliday AND bring back Matsui/Damon on a one year deal because you will still need a DH, but the money might be too much. Then again, if they don’t spend anything significant on pitching, they could afford Holliday and Damon/Matsui because $32.5mn would be coming off the books (Damon’s $13, Matsui’s $13 and Nady’s $6.5).
We don’t have $28m to work with – there will be raises in a lot of contracts and the players in arbitration are going to get raises as well
Revenues this year will be a disappointment so I think the Yankees really want to restrict spending next year
I’d try to bring back Matsui to be a dh/ph on a 1 year deal ($6-8m?). I know Posada/Jeter/A-Rod will need to see DH duty but a bat like Matsui’s off teh bench is worth a lot even when he isn’t starting and would be a nightmare for opposing teams
I’d probably pass on Damon.
Melky/Gardner/Swisher is far from ideal but I don’t like Holliday in the AL, I don’t like the price and I don’t like the duration of the contract he’ll be looking for.
Most other options seem unlikely (we’d all love Crawford but that ain’t happening). I expect to see Ajax called up second half of next year unless Gardner and Melky surprise on the upside
Yeah, agreed. Cano is getting a nice raise per his contract, Swisher too. Jeter is getting a small bump too, I think.
The only arb eligible guys I can think of are Melky (definite raise) and Bruney (non-tender candidate). Joba, Hughes, Robertson, Aceves, Coke, Gardner, all those guys are still in their pre-arb years.
Jeter’s raise is $1mn, Cano’s is $3mn and Swisher’s is $1.4mn. In other words, Nady’s $6.55mn salary more than covers those. That still leaves $28mn from Molina, Matsui and Damon. The Yankees could be generous with some raises, but as you mentioned, they don’t have many arbitration cases (except for Wang, but he isn’t likely to get a raise).
I also think it’s silly to think that revenues will be a disappointment. Even though some of the premium tickets weren’t sold, the Yankees not only drew very well, but also experienced a significant bump in YES ratings. Furthermore, playing at least 4 home playoff games will also lead to a boost in revenue.
And Alex’s contract was set up so the most money gets taken out this year and next year…and then goes down from there…which doesn’t help us right now
CC too
I’d like to see more of Gardner next year. He could steal 70 like Ellsbury. Hasn’t played full-time/full season yet and his speed could create a lot of good things for the Yanks on offense and defense. He and melky are young and should improve lots in the next few years. I’d try to keep Damon and Matsui at a much lower price-but more than any one else will offer. 2 good Yankee stadium swings. Get rid of Molina and make room for Cervelli-big time…
70??
Gotta work on that .345 obp first if he even wants to think about 50 steals…
maybe
Ellsbury stole 70 this year with a .355 OBP, and 50 last year with a .336
Ellsbury stole 70 with a .355 OBP in 691 PAs. Gardner stole 26 with a .345 OBP in 284 PAs.
Ellsbury was on base 246 times with 70 steals, so that’s a steal every 3.5 times on base. Gardner was on base 96 times with 26 steals, so that’s a steal every 3.7 times on base. If Gardner got the same playing time as Ellsbury did, he could’ve stolen close to the same amount of bases.
Note: this is only successful steals per time on base; I didn’t include CS.
I stand corrected. Guess the brainwashing over at ESPN (Everything Sox Propaganda Network) led me to believe that ellsbury improved his obp, thus leading to the higher steal totals.
In this case, I would recommend letting Gardner start in center since his defense there imo is ++, let him bat out of the 9 hole and trade melky and some arms (mcallister, kennedy, kontos, nova?) for a LF. I say this since I like Melky, but with his skill set imho he is a great option as a 4th OF and starting to get expensive with his upcoming arbitration years.
If his knees are healthy, they’d have to play him in center, not left. Beltran is insanely good on defense, the best in the league right now. Or at least before his injuries.
Gardner in LF + Beltran in CF + potted plant in RF = amazing outfield defense.
I say we just trade the farm for Hanley and put him into CF.
There is no way the Mets are trading Beltran to the Yankees (Their fans would go crazy, and they will have difficulty filling Citi Field to begin with). That said, from a Yankee perspective, I would not do it. They do not need to have a star at every position, and they can afford to try Austin Jackson in the outfield (Knowing they can make a trade in July if necessary). In addition to that, they are going to have to find a spot for Montero in 2011 (Which could be left field, if they don’t think he will catch 120 games), and keeping the DH slot open for Posada (For the next two years, while waiting for Romine)).
Nice to dream would love to have him, but at what cost?
Plus the Mets don’t have the balls to pull of a trade like this with the Yanks.
Well I agree it’s crazy…
Watching Damon struggle in the ALDS, I was wondering would the Yanks go with Cano in the 2 hole next year – he doesn’t walk, but with Tex and A-Rod behind him I’d like to see what he could do.
I thought about Beltran and the Mets possibly needing\wanting to unload the 37 mil, but unless they replace him with a more exciting free agent, I can just imagine the outrage from their fan base – maybe some would be glad to unload the possibility that Beltran will have health issues and decline the next two, but if Beltran was good in the Bronx, the Wilpons would have even more agita.
The other element, maybe the market for Beltran is really only the Yanks and the haul the Mets get is pretty minimal – in exchange for the Yanks eating the 37 mil.
Don’t know, just asking.
Its worth looking into in the offseason.
If the Mets want to rebuild fast, then maybe they unload Beltran and his 37 mil for Ajax, Kennedy, and Melancon. Not much of a haul, but Beltran is 33. I wouldn’t consider Beltran an option if he cost us Joba or Hughes.
ajax and kennedy for beltran is quite interesting. mets might consider something like this if they’re really looking to get out from under beltran’s $37M.
Beltran should have been a Yankee starting in ‘05. One of many bad calls made after the ‘04 alcs.
While it would be a smart move for the Mets to try to get out from under the contract to go after all their other holes they won’t.
Im for keeping Damon as our DH/5th OF and trading for Seth Smith of Colorado.
Plug Seth Smith in LF and keep everyone the same. A-Jax probably works his way into CF by midseason.
Meh. I doubt the Rockies would be interested in trading Smith. He just had his best year (so his value would be at his highest) and he is still pretty young. He also has a fairly prominent H/A split in terms of power. Pass.
Who would the Yankees trade to the Mets for Beltran though? Regardless of whether he loses value playing in LF or coming off major knee surgery, he’s still valued pretty high. What do you give up? We don’t have nearly the same overhype as the Boston prospects do…
I think it would start with what Reggie said above: Jackson, Kennedy, and Melancon.
Meh. We have to wonder how the Mets financial situation is. Would they rather ‘replace’ him with Pagan and use some of the money owed to Beltran towards a guy like Lackey, Harden, Jason Marquis. Guys like that who could give them pitching. I know their offense is bad but there has always been talk of breaking up their core. Beltran seems like the most reasonable guy to trade.
I wouldn’t move Wright, because ya know… he’s awesome. Reyes, his value would be too low but the same could be said for Beltran. It’s a sticky situation.
I wouldn’t be too fond of giving up A-Jax AND an IPK or Z-Mac just because Beltran really isn’t that missing piece(cause we all know the Yankees don’t have a missing piece
)
good punto, we are greedy indeed
What are the Rays doing with Crawford’s $10M+ club option for next year? I would say that he’s worth a lot of money and I’d love to see him in pinstripes.
Chances are they’re gonna pick it up no matter what. Whether or not they trade him is unsure. If they were open to trading him, I think the Yankees would only have lukewarm interest. The cost would probably still be relatively high and trading to an in division contender isn’t too wise.
“trading to an in division contender isn’t too wise.”
I’m calling you out for this fallacy. Just because people say it over and over again doesn’t mean it’s true. If the best possible return comes from a team in your division, it is wise to take it. Yes, you’re trading a player to a team that can hurt you, but you’re also taking something from that team — more, in the receiving team’s eyes, than any other team is willing to offer.
Forget division. Take the best possible deal. Division status should be a tie breaker at most.
I agree. But if you have an almost identical offer from an outside team…you obviously take that over the team in your own division (depending on their stance of course). They could think that the Yankees giving up some good prospects that are cheap is hurting them more because the Rays are only losing 1 year of Crawford. I guess, like most things, it’s all relative.
As I said, tiebreaker.
Fair enough. Perhaps I should modify that for this situation:
trading to an in division contender for a player with only one guaranteed year of a player is not wise. If this theoretical trade was for Bossman Junior, I’d be much more open to a trade.
If the player from the division rival (trading for C.C. in this case) represents a significant upgrade over what the other option is (re-signing Damon in this case), then, sure, do it. However, I don’t see that upgrade as worth giving up the players. Again, though, if we’re talking B.J. Upton over Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera, then I’m all ears.
If this theoretical trade was for Bossman Junior, I’d be much more open to a trade.
Is he the son of the Big Bossman?
Bossman Junior, man if Yankees fans were mad at Melky and Cano not running things out or looking disinterested, wait until we get a hold of this guy…
“disinterested” means unbiased, like a third party.
“uninterested” is what you’re looking for.
Thank you sir for the grammar correction
Agree totally. It’s a complete fallacy. make the best deal you can.
No, you don’t want to help your division rival improve, but who says they’re not going to deal with someone else and improve anyway?
i say we explore a trade for bj upton. i think he’s worn out his welcome in tampa and he still has a ton of talent.
I think the whole “lazy” thing does get blown out of proportion…but I still think Cano, Melky, and Upton on the same team…around the same age…has a chance for disaster
Having Melky, Cano, and Upton on the same team would be fantastic.
Having Upton would be epic!
Hope that he has more years like 07 or 08 and his great defense. Again, I doubt they’d want to lose both BJ and CC. There is only one Desmond Jennings.
I doubt they’d trade both unless they were absolutely blown away.
yeah, they’re not trading both. personally, i’d rather have upton and now’s the time to nab him coming off such a down year. he’s still only 25.
Tampa Bay isn’t trading anyone to the Yankees unless they’re getting our entire farm for it.
I’m all for this idea. Doubt it happens though.
I don’t know where he is in terms of coming back from his injury but …what about taking a chance on resigning Nady?
I think they’ll try that regardless. They’ll offer him arbitration since he’s still a type B. If he accepts, it’s not that much money and he could be useful towards the end of the season if he’s ready to hit. If he declines, he’ll be gone.
I’m guessing the Yanks and Mets could definitely match-up for a trade, if for no other reason than there is no part of the Mets farm that is “stacked”
Crazy idea, but any thought of an Andruw Jones type deal for Holliday? Overpay for 2 years, say 20-22mm per year, but only for 2 years? That way he can inflate his #’s here for a couple years in the new ballpark, give us some time to develop A-Jax and Montero. Also, it will allow him to hit FA again at 31 and still get a huge payday, possibly when the economy is better.
this is a good idea
Its a crazy idea. And simply not realistic at all.
Holliday is 30 years old and coming off a very solid season. Border-line All-star. Put Holliday in the new YS, and Holliday could put up better power numbers than Damon. Holliday will get 4 year offers. That’s not a problem for me if the Yanks offered 4 … its a question of AAS.
Why crazy and unrealistic? The Yanks have the money, if he finds the market to not be what he thought it would be why not take the higher aas for a couple years and hit the market again in a couple years after boosting his #’s and still be young enough to get a good 4-5 year deal then? If I’m Boras and not finding the offers I’m looking for why not offer this deal to the Yanks?
How about wang and gaudin for beltran? maybe throw in miranda or shelly duncan for their first base power vacum.
The mets are starving for starting pitching and if they don’t get it they don’t have a shot next year. Of course we have to resign those two (wang & gaudin), but who thinks we won’t? If for nothing else trade bait.
i think they might match up in a good way. and beltran has always wanted to be a yankee. so for him it would be personal.
That wouldn’t go down.
If Wang was healthy it’d be a little more reasonable.
Here’s one to ponder..lets says the Yanks really want Holladay..we know he’s a free agent and all that stuff, but we want him now, so we start with Doc and tell Toronto we will take Wells too..and that big contract..thats addition by subtraction for them and we get a power outfielder. We dont resign Damon and Molina to make up some of that cash, plus we reduce Matsui’s $$’s. I think Wells has more upside then Damon. What else do we give Toronto? IPK, one rightie from the bullpen (Robertson or Bruney) and a couple of position players (Grade B from the minors)..maybe Duncan and Miranda. Toronto can do a lot in the free agent market by not having to pay Wells $20M.
we will take Wells too..
And this is where I stopped reading. No.
+1 Wells is bad enough to negate Halladay’s presence.
Put the pipe down….
IF Beltran were here, I’d rather see him in RF with Swish in LF. That would be optimum OF D with Gardner/Melky in CF.
However, as Joe said, the cost to trade for him is probably too high. I’d rather Cash sign Marlon Byrd for RF and keep our assets.
any interest in Josh Willingham as a LF? It would take a trade obviously, and his fielding while not great is better than Damon. He would give us another right handed power bat as most of our power comes from the left side. I know our park is more conducive to lefties, but it would be nice to have another righty bat with pop. think of him sort of like a Nady type i think.
I like Willingham as well; however, the Nationals are in an organizational position in which they need some cost effective power bats. Willingham is exactly what the Nats are looking for, so unless we look to overpay (IMO, overpay a fair amount), Willingham is probably out of the question.
I really hope the Yanks stay away from both Bay and Holliday, and let them sign elsewhere– particularly Bay, even though I like Bay as a fellow Knuck. The Yanks have enough large contracts on the table and have Jeter approaching his final free agent contract (he will sign with us, obviously). And I truly think neither Bay nor Holliday will play worthy of their contracts.
Byrd is an interesting option…
NO NO NO… A million times NO
you guys are all dumb carlos beltran is garbage now and cant stay healthy and did you dumb ppl know that the best young LF in baseball is a free agent this winter and he goes by the name of ryan braun he is better at every aspect of baseball then beltran
Ryan Braun is under contract until 2015. He signed an extension in May.
I still like Brett G. Love having a guy who can fly and create havoc on the base paths for-how much a year are we paying him? 500K? a steal
the guy hasn’t played a full season yet and he is a homegrown guy. Not every position in the lineup has to produce 20HR”s- just 7 or 8 of them….