If you went to bed at a reasonable hour last night, you might have missed the semi-late breaking rumor that had the Phillies in talks with the Astros to acquire Roy Oswalt. Why does this matter to the Yankees? Because a sister move would involve a trade of Jayson Werth (for payroll reasons, apparently), and the word on the street has the Rays as the front runners to land him. Philadelphia would then call up top prospect Domonic Brown in an effort to field an all lefthanded lineup.
As far as we know, the deals are not close, but Tampa certainly has the pieces to get a Werth deal done. Given their respective track records, Andrew Friedman will probably take Ruben Amaro to the cleaners if the trade does in fact happen. Tampa already has a good offense (.337 wOBA, sixth best in baseball) and a great defense (+22.7 UZR, third best), and adding a player of Werth’s caliber will only make them better. Given the Yanks’ current designated hitter situation, I can’t help but hope that Brian Cashman swoops in ninja-style and steals Werth away from Tampa.
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