WHY THE YANKEES & ANGELS SHOULD MAKE A TRADE

I've never been a big fan of trade proposals. It’s easy for us to sit at our computers and fire away trade proposals on Twitter, Facebook, the comment section at BYB, Internet message boards, etc. because we want to see our team improve its personnel. Unfortunately, 95%, if not 99%, of our trade proposals simply won’t happen. I for one have thrown around some bad trade proposals in the past, so I’m in the same boat as everyone else. But, I was thinking, after the Andy Pettitte signing the Yankees now have seven starters for five rotation spots. Someone is clearly on the way out.

Who is that someone you might ask? Well, it has to be Freddy Garcia, right? Following the trade for Michael Pineda and the signing of Hiroki Kuroda, the general consensus, although not officially made, was that Freddy Garcia—who is due to make $4 million in 2012—would be “demoted” to the bullpen with Phil Hughes getting the fifth spot. Now it seems as though the nail in the coffin was made when Pettitte signed several days ago. Garcia didn’t seem too excited with the Pettitte signing by saying; “I don't really care. That's their decision. I'm here to pitch and that's what I want to do.” Read HERE.

Of course Freddy’s going to be upset, but to say he doesn’t care just shows he’s on the way out unless an injury arises. In fact, just recently, the Yankees offered Freddy Garcia to the Miami Marlins (Read HERE), though it was denied by Miami. Garcia would have to approve any trade prior to June 1.Now, the Yankees have a hole at DH. I hated the Raul Ibanez signing from day one for a variety of reasons; one being of his offensive production, or lack thereof. Ibanez had a career low slash line of .245/.289/.419 while hitting .256/.307/.440 vs. right handed pitching last year. Don’t ask how he did vs. lefties, he was pretty awful against them and shouldn’t come anywhere near them this year. Secondly, over the last three years Ibanez has a DRS of -36, FRAA of -21.3, and a dWAR of -1.8 as an outfielder. In other words, he’s pretty bad defensively and can only play left field to boot. Finally, he provides zero speed. Ibanez stole two bases last year and 10 the previous three years. The problem with Ibanez is that the Yankees inexplicably gave him a guaranteed Major League contract so it’s unlikely he gets cut anytime soon. We’ve seen stranger things happen before, though, so don’t rule anything out.If the Yankees do cut Ibanez there happens to be an unhappy camper who plays for the Angels that the Yankees could grab. He’s an old friend and would be a good fit in a trade, as, believe it or not, the Angels are looking for starting pitching, read HERE. His name is Bobby Abreu. Abreu, who is set to make $9 million during the final year of his contract, has made it known that he’s upset with the Angels’ current DH situation. Mike Scioscia has told Abreu that he’ll get 400 plate appearances in 2012, though Abreu has called that BS saying “"I've learned not to have much confidence in these people, but I hope they live up to what they told me.” Read HERE for more.If Abreu came to the Yankees he’d get plenty of DH at bats against right handers. Abreu hit .259/.366/.400 against righties while playing in a pitcher’s park, and he can at least fake it against lefties. Abreu also still has some wheels as he stole 21 bases last year, and has always been known around the game as a good base runner. The problem with Abreu, like Ibanez, is that he’s a poor fielder (-16 DRS, -14.2 FRAA, -3.2 dWAR last three years), but hey, at least he can play both left and right field which gives him some versatility.

Although this trade seems like a match made in heaven, there may be a couple more small hurdles. First, the Yankees would be trading with a team in the Angels that is a legit contender. Some people may worry that this trade could come back and haunt the Yankees, though Garcia would be the Angels’ fifth starter and the Yanks would unlikely see him in the playoffs if they were to meet. Secondly, the money; Hal Steinbrenner and co. have expanded the budget numerous times during the off-season. Are they willing to expand the budget again? Even if they keep Ibanez and he struggles during the season they’d likely look for a replacement in the trade market which would cost them anyways.

Those are two small hurdles that can be avoided, though the latter hurdle is dealing with money that’s not ours so it’s easy for us to sit back and say they can do it. Either way, this is a trade that makes sense for both clubs. Garcia would thrive in LA, as the Halos play in a pitcher’s park, and Abreu could find his old power, as Yankee Stadium is a launching pad. Don’t be surprised if Brian Cashman and Angels GM Jerry Dipoto each pull the trigger on this deal.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse



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