The trade deadline came and
went quickly. The Yankees are always tied to a lot of names,
but this year it felt different to me. Maybe it’s because this year we
weren’t chasing after a huge void on the team, or that front of the line
pitcher. This year it was about the extra support, so that sounds
easier to get, right? Well….there was a lot of hype right down to the
wire but all the talk didn’t pan out to be as exciting. Check out some of the names and how it went down.
Casey McGehee: Welcome to pinstripes! The
Yankees do get some infield help with McGehee, trading him to the
Pirates in exchange for Chad Qualls. McGehee is a right-handed hitter
who primarily plays 3rd base and hits with some power. His .230BA isn’t
particularly impressive but, he has does have a nice .807 OPS against
lefties this year, which will come in handy. He is a decent defender,
and gives Girardi some extra versatility freeing up Jayson Nix to take
some starts in left field if needed so Andruw Jones can take some more
turns as a DH. McGehee is an upgrade over Ramiro Pena because he is a little
more consistent offensively. He definitely gives the Yankees some more
options, just don’t count on him stealing any bases, speed is not one of
his strengths. Another positive to this trade is he is under team
control and arbitration eligible through 2014.
This move
definitely gives the Yankees more help in the infield, and frankly, I am
surprised that the Pirates gave him up in exchange for Chad Qualls who
had a 6.14 ERA during his brief role with the Yankees. In the end,
Qualls would have inevitably been cut now that Joba has been activated
from the disabled list so there is no down side to this move.
Carlos Lee: The Yankees checked in on Lee. With the uncertainty with Tex’s
injury, I can see why they were talking to the Marlins. Lee has a
no-trade clause, so when the Marlins asked him about him accepting a
trade to the Yankees, he was quick to turn it down. I guess playing as a
back-up to Tex wasn’t an option for him. This talk quickly went
no-where and he is still in Miami.
Ryan Dempster: The one that
got away. The Yankees expressed interest in him on Monday, and they were
in heavy discussions with the Cubs. The buzz about this on Tuesday was
crazy. Sources were reporting new information every hour. Dempster even
said that he would be interested in waving his 10-and-5 rights to join
the Yankees so it sounded promising, and who wouldn’t like to see a
reunion between Larry Rothschild and Dempster in the Bronx? As the last
hour of the trade deadline approached, it still sounded like both the
Cubs and the Yankees were very far apart. The Cubs had interest in
Angelo Gumbs and Dante Bichette Jr but the Yankees didn’t like the
asking price. In the last 10 minutes a teaser was leaked saying that the
Yankees “may have” acquired Dempster, but it was just that…a tease and
he is now a Texas Ranger.
Shane Victorino: The Yankees were
definitely interested in him before Ichiro. The asking price was too
steep for us, but the Dodgers were willing to pay up.
Brendan Ryan: The Yankees made an offer to the Mariners, but they declined.
Brendan would have been a nice upgrade over Ramiro Pena because he is
one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. He is also arbitration
eligible for one more year making him very affordable and his
experience at also second and third base would have been a plus, but no
such luck here.
The trade deadline has come and gone…but teams can still make some
moves. It will be interesting to see what else develops over the next
couple of weeks, and how teams benefit from these moves. The race to the
postseason is here….can you feel it? Get ready; it’s going to be a
fight to the finish!
The Waiver wires next...let's see what the Yankees do.
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