This
trade rumor seemed to spring out of nothing more than the imagination of a few crafty writers, but it's gaining steam, so I thought I'd weigh in.
On the face of things, it looks like sending Johnny Damon to the White Sox for Joe Crede is a win-win. The Sox have a glut at third, the Yanks have a glut in left. When you look a little closer, I'm going to have to vote nay on this one, for a couple of reasons.
- The rumor has the Yanks picking up at least a portion of the $26M owed Damon over the next two seasons. That seems outrageous to me. The Sox are getting the better player, a player they pretty much have to move to make room for uber-prospect Josh Fields, so they are not in a positions of power. Not to mention the fact that they can't exactly cry poverty.
- Damon is absolutely the best lead-off man the Yanks have. I assume Melky will take over the role if Damon departs. I'm probably a bigger Melky fan than anyone else you'll find on these internets, but even I don't think he's the solution at lead off in '08. He needs another year at the bottom of the lineup.
- If you subtract Damon, there's very little speed left on this roster. Abreu is good for 25 steals, Jeter will probably get you 20, by default, so long as his knee heels. Beyond that, no one else is going to contribute much more than 10. Girardi is a small ball guy by definition, and the Yankee lineup is going to be down at least 20 home runs, depending on who they bring in to replace A-Rod. I think they need to add speed to the roster, not subtract it.
- There's plenty of dead weight the Yankees would love to move (Giambi and Mussina top my list), Damon is not dead weight. He came into Spring Training out of shape last year, and his body paid the price in the first half. Once he healed up, and moved to left, he was a very productive bat at the top of the order, and he played a very good left field as well. Damon's range is a huge asset in left at the Stadium, and I don't think Matsui is up to covering that ground these days.
That being said, I do like Crede. He's one year removed from a 30-HR season, he has a great glove at third (10 errors in 453 chances in '06), he'll only be 30 years old for the 2008 season, he's cheap (probably about $4M in arbitration for 2008) and he's a scrappy guy. Damon is just too much to give up for him. He's coming off an injury-plagued year in which he only appeared in 47 games. One major strike against Crede, though, is his agent. You guessed it, Lucifer Boras himself.
I'm putting the likelihood at 25% right now, based solely on the where-there's-smoke-there's-fire line of reasoning. I've added the rumor to the Yankees' offseason spreadsheet I'm keeping. You can
download it here.
Hat tip to
MLB Trade Rumors for somehow staying on top of absolutely everything trade-related in baseball.
Mornin Brian-
Freakin Cowboys. What Can I say except they spoil a lot of seasons.
Anyway I thought I might get your take on a possible move to third for Jeet? Do you think it's too early in Jeter's career to make a move? He could probably handle the move (it worked for Cal).
Are there any shortstops on the market that are enticing? I guess the whole move to 3rd thing hinges on that possibility.
What do you think though?
I'm in favor of moving Jeter to third under a couple of conditions.
1. They need to get a decent bat back to play short, because Jeter's power numbers are going to be below-average for a corner infield position.
2. They need to get a guy with a really good glove to play short. The only reason to make the move is to improve defense at short, because Jeter's range is decreasing.
So if you can get a ss with a good bat and very good glove, then I'm fine with it.
Here's the list of free agent shortstops. (I've also heard that Miguel Tejada is more than available from Baltimore, but he's too old IMO).
David Eckstein (33)
Cesar Izturis (28) - $5.45MM club option for '08
Alexei Ramirez (26)
Juan Uribe (29) - $5MM club option for '08
Omar Vizquel (41)
I don't think any of those guys fit the bill.
Wow, I didn't realize that the crop was so thin for Shortstops. Tejada would leave bmore in a heartbeat if he thought he could go to a winner, but as you pointed out he is too old. Plus Tejada has been on a steady decline of late.
What do you think they do with first? Is Adam Dunn a possibility? I know its a done deal(with the Tigers), but could you have seen Renteria on the Yanks?
One last question, who is available for middle relief? I keep hearing the "Joba will set up if we don't resign Mariano", but we still need someone to get us to Joba or Mariano. Who is that pitcher?
The Reds exercised their club option on Dunn for 2008 ($13M).
Renteria is fine, he's not going to hit for a ton of power, but he plays a good short. He may have fit the bill if you were going to move Jeter to 3rd.
The middle relief market is really, really thin. I suppose Francisco Cordero could be signed to set up, but I'm not too high on him. He's going to want closer money to come here and set up, and I have a feeling we'll wind up with another Farnsworth on our hands.
Linebrink is another guy, but he really tailed off last season. I think we're going to have to go with what we got in the middle relief department, although there is one guy I'd like to see the Bombers trade for: Damaso Marte. JJ brought up his name in a comment a couple weeks back, and he could probably be had for a low-level prospect.