Hundreds of players have already been passed through revocable trade waivers this month, but the Yankees have yet to run Alex Rodriguez though the process according to Ken Davidoff. A-Rod is currently sidelined with a broken hand and given the five years and $114M left on his contract, no team would claim him anyway. We can dream about the Dodgers taking on his contract, but I suspect they’ve already satisfied their quota for nine-figure commitments this month.
The Yankees and August trades
The trade deadline has come and gone, but as you know teams can still swing deals via the waiver system. Any player on the 40-man roster has to pass through revocable trade waivers to be dealt this month — he can be traded anywhere if he clears but only to the team that claims him if claimed. That’s why there was such a big stink when the Dodgers claimed Cliff Lee, the left-hander was officially off the market for the other 28 clubs. We’ve already seen guys like Joe Blanton, Kurt Suzuki, and Jeff Baker change teams through trades this month, and there will inevitably be more moves to come.
The Yankees haven’t been all that active during the waiver trade period these last few years, with their most notable August pickup of the last half-decade being Chad Gaudin in 2009. They acquired him from the Padres for cash and he went on to solidly soak up some innings as the fifth starter late in the season (3.43 ERA in 42 IP). They also traded for Freddy Guzman that month and actually carried him on the postseason roster as the pinch-runner/defensive specialist. Other than that, the Yankees claimed spare lefties Aaron Laffey and Raul Valdes off waivers last year, and that pretty much wraps up their recent August transactions activity*.
With this year be different? I don’t have any reason to believe it will be, but that can all change in a hurry depending on the injury news. If Andy Pettitte’s leg continues to heal slower than expected, they could be forced into looking for an extra arm, especially if Ivan Nova doesn’t start improving. Alex Rodriguez’s hand is doing fine but I have to believe any kind of setback would push the Yankees into looking for a bat. I fully appreciate and respect Ichiro Suzuki’s historical greatness, but his offense these days doesn’t scare anyone, let alone qualify as a replacement for A-Rod. The bullpen is one of those things that is always is need of tinkering, so there could be some random claims for warm bodies if nothing else.
The Yankees seem to have taken on the mindset that all of the heavy roster building is done in the offseason and the only in-season moves should involve minor tweaks to deal with injuries and whatnot. That’s perfectly fine and it really is the ideal way to run a big market team, but it’s so much easier said than done. I think that more than any other time in the last three or four years, there are some obvious parts of the team that can be supplemented with August moves, specifically on the pitching side. The whole “wait for so-and-so to get healthy” strategy scares the crap out of me, especially when you’re talking about older players like A-Rod and Pettitte.
* The Yankees did claim Carlos Pena off waivers last summer, but the Cubs pulled him back and no deal was reached.
Update: Yankees did not place a claim for Cliff Lee
August 4th: Via Danny Knobler, the Yankees did not put in a claim on Lee. Not all that surprising, but c’mon, a man can dream.
August 3rd: Via Jon Heyman and Jon Morosi, Lee has been claimed off trade waivers by the Dodgers. Because the Yankees are in the AL with the second best record in the league, every team other than the Rangers was ahead of them on the waiver totem pole.
August 2nd: Via Jeff Passan, the Phillies have placed left-hander Cliff Lee on revocable trade waivers. This is completely routine, literally hundreds of players will be placed on trade waivers this month. If a player is claimed, he can only be traded to the team that claims him. If he goes unclaimed, he can be traded anywhere.
As Matt Gelb explains, the Phillies were open to trading Lee prior to the deadline but were unwilling to eat any of the ~$95M left on his contract, and they wanted top prospects in return. The Yankees won’t place a claim because they won’t risk having that financial obligation foisted on them, but us fans can dream of a scenario in which they acquire Lee just by absorbing his contract and not giving up any prospects, high-end or otherwise. It would throw a massive wrench into the 2014 payroll plan, but man … that rotation.
Giants tried to acquire Eric Chavez before trade deadline
Via Buster Olney, the Giants tried to acquire Eric Chavez from the Yankees prior to the trade deadline by offering outfielder Nate Schierholtz. I’m curious about the timing of the offer; I assume it came before San Francisco acquired Marco Scutaro. That trade happened four days after Alex Rodriguez got hurt and five days after the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki.
Chavez, 34, is having a fantastic season off the bench (113 wRC+) and is indispensable following A-Rod’s injury. I like Schierholtz more than most, he would have been a nice and cheap left-handed platoon outfielder for the next two years as the Yankees try to get themselves under the $189M luxury tax threshold in 2014. He ended up going to the Phillies in the Hunter Pence trade. I do think the offer was more than fair (if anything it favors the Yankees) but this isn’t a vacuum, the timing and roster pieces didn’t really fit. For shame.
More on Carlos Lee and the Yankees
The Yankees only swung one move prior to the trade deadline, acquiring Casey McGehee from the Pirates for a bag of Qualls*. The Marlins tried to foist Carlos Lee on New York however, but the former Astros slugger invoked his no-trade clause to prevent a possible move to the Big Apple. Lee had previously vetoed a potential trade to the Dodgers while with Houston, mostly because he didn’t want to move far from his family. The Marlins were not included in his limited no-trade clause, so he had no choice to accept that move.
What the Yankees would have done with Lee is unclear, especially since their need was at third base and not first base or DH. Fernando Ballesteros has the answer after catching a conversation between Lee and a teammate, however. Here’s the translation**…
“Lee said that he talked with the Yankees and asked them what his role would be if (Mark Teixeira) was healthy. They told him that then he would be sent to left field and that they would alternate him in the lineup with Andruw Jones, Raul Ibanez, Ichiro Suzuki, and Nick Swisher. Lee said that he told them an emphatic ‘no.'”
Lee, 36, has been playing first base exclusively for just about a full season now and was a disaster in the outfield before the move. I mean, legit worst defensive outfielder in baseball type of stuff. He’s also been declining steadily at the plate, even against left-handers. Jon Heyman says the Yankees agreed to buy Lee from the Marlins for $1M before he put an end to things, but even at that price the move wouldn’t have made much sense. Lee just isn’t a fit for the roster he wouldn’t have helped the offense much either. McGehee makes immeasurably more sense.
* I have no idea who came up with that for where I first saw it, but it’s brilliant.
** The translation comes courtesy of Nick Collias, who digs up rumors from Spanish language media outlets for MLBTR.
The trade deadline and the AL playoff picture
The trade deadline passed yesterday, and as usual there were a number of deals. While blockbuster trades for the likes of Justin Upton, Cliff Lee, or Matt Garza never happened, there were still a number of impact players that changed teams Contending teams looked to bolster their squads for the stretch run, while the teams who are out of the playoff hunt dumped assets to save salary and strengthen the farm. In this post, I will take a look at the moves made by the Yankees and their competition, both within the division and within the AL, to see how these deals will impact the 2012 playoff picture.
Yankees
As has become customary for the Yankees this time of year, Brian Cashman and crew did not make any big, splashy moves, citing the excessive costs demanded in prospects and players. However, they did make a few moves to improve the team’s depth, fill holes created by injuries, and set the Yankees up for a deep run in October.
The Ichiro Suzuki acquisition was one where the hype and excitement is probably disproportionate to the expected impact of the player. Nonetheless, it was an important acquisition, giving the Yankees speed and defensive prowess that they have missed because Brett Gardner has missed most of the season, and shows no signs of returning anytime soon. While Ichiro had had a disappointing 2012 so far, anything the Yankees can get from him offensively is gravy. I think he still has something left in the tank, especially against right-handed pitchers, and he can be an effective table-setting presence from the bottom of the order.
The swap of Chad Qualls for Casey McGehee served two purposes. Not only did the trade rid the Yankees of an ineffective bullpen arm to clear a spot for the return of Joba Chamberlain, it also brought in a backup corner infielder with some right-handed pop who can fill in for the injured Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, and give the notably fragile Eric Chavez some extra rest.
Red Sox
While Boston is 7.5 games out and just 2 games over .500, the team is too talented to count out. However, they didn’t do very much at the deadline in terms of either buying or selling. They re-acquired lefty reliever Craig Breslow, but they didn’t make any moves to deal underachieving pitchers Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, as some speculated they might. Rob Bradford of WEEI reported that they did discuss a blockbuster deal with the Rangers that included Josh Beckett, Kelly Shoppach, and Jacoby Ellsbury, but nothing ever emerged from those talks. While the Red Sox did not wave the white flag by selling off any impact players, they didn’t exactly do anything significant to improve their team. This indicates that they think that they will improve naturally as their players get healthy and start playing better, or consider them too worthwhile to give up long-term assets to increase the small likelihood that they make the playoffs (though they are only 3.5 games out in the Wild Card).
Rays and Orioles
The Rays are 6.5 games behind the Yankees in the division and 2.5 games back in the Wild Card standings, and the Orioles are a game ahead of the Rays. Nonetheless, neither team showed a sense of urgency, as they didn’t make any trades that would increase their likelihood of winning the Wild Card or catching the Yankees.
Angels
The traditional thorn in the Yankees’ side made one of the biggest moves of the trading period, acquiring RHP Zack Greinke for Baseball America’s #55 prospect Jean Segura and 2 others. Greinke, who was having a strong season with the Brewers, adds another frontline-caliber pitcher to an Angels rotation that already includes Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, and Dan Haren. With Greinke in the fold, the Angels’ deep rotation becomes even deeper, and that quartet of starters could prove formidable come playoff time. As a Yankee fan, it’s hard not to be nervous about a Weaver-Greinke-Wilson-Haren rotation come playoff time, especially when paired with Yankee-killer Mark Trumbo and 20 year-old superman Mike Trout.
Rangers
The Rangers, the current AL West leaders, made two moves to improve their team in expectation of a trip to October. They acquired RHP Ryan Dempster, who was also connected to the Yankees, Dodgers, and Braves in trade rumors. Dempster is currently #2 in the majors in ERA, and while few expect him to finish that well after moving to the AL and Texas’ hitter-friendly park, Dempster should be a big addition to a pitching staff with some injuries and question marks. They also added catcher Geovany Soto, who will improve the Rangers’ defense behind the plate and allow them to use Mike Napoli at DH or 1st base more often. These two moves strengthened an already-formidable team, and while the Rangers still have questions in the rotation due to injuries, adding Dempster will provide some important stability.
White Sox
The White Sox own a 2.5 game lead in the AL Central and made some additions at or around the deadline. While GM Kenny Williams reportedly tried and failed to acquire Zack Greinke, he did make a cheaper addition to the rotation in the form of Francisco Liriano. While Liriano has had an uneven season and injuries have kept him from fulfilling his incredible potential, he is talented enough that if he figures things out, he could be a major force in the Chicago rotation. Although the deal happened well before the deadline, the Kevin Youkilis acquisition has already paid dividends for Sox. He provides their lineup with some power and patience, and can adequately fill the 3rd base slot that was causing the Sox problems earlier in the year.
As we can see, almost all of the Yankees’ playoff competitors made significant improvements this trade season. The Angels adding Greinke is the move that scares me the most, but Texas’s acquisition of Ryan Dempster also provides a major upgrade to an already-strong team. The Yankees’ divisional competition didn’t do much to improve, which bodes well for their chances to win the division. While the Yankees failed to make any flashy trades, they filled some holes and should be well-positioned to win the AL East and enter the playoffs as a World Series contender. Healthy and effective returns by Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte will be of utmost importance here.
Marlins hoped to send Carlos Lee to Yankees
Via Jayson Stark and Buster Olney, the Marlins approached Carlos Lee about waiving his no-trade clause to accept a trade to the Yankees, but he declined. The two sides were not close to agreeing to a deal or anything, talks didn’t advance after Lee said no. I have no idea what the Bombers would have done with the (former) slugger; I suppose use him for spot starts at first base and at DH against left-handed pitchers. Anything more would have really been pushing it. Casey McGehee makes much more sense given his ability to actually play the field without being a hazard to himself and those around him.
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