THE CLOCK WINDS DOWN & SO DOES MY PATIENCE

Wake me up when the clock strikes 4:01pm.....

I am not sure if it is the high level of anticipation or anxiety that has me ready for the trade deadline to finally come to a close. This season has been packed with all kinds of rumors. I love rumor season, but some of them this year made me point and laugh. I just want it to be over and done with. July needs to go away and it's time to focus on August and a push for the postseason.

Photo: UPI

The bullpen has been reinforced, and the starting rotation got a band-aid fix. I can't call it an upgrade exactly but, whatever. Jaime Garcia is a veteran lefty that adds some stability to the back of the rotation. Now the question is.....can Billy Beane and Brian Cashman finally get this Sonny Gray deal done?

Credit: USA Today Sports

So again, my anticipation and anxiety are heightened. Would it be cool to have Sonny Gray? Sure. I like the idea of young, controlled starting pitching. But, I like the idea of keeping our farm in tact more. Some people call Gray an "Ace" and I disagree. To those who do, that's fine. On some teams Gray is an ace but on the Yankees he just isn't. If I had my way I would continue to hold to my "Prospect hugging" ways (that comes from readers here at BYB) and hold firm.

Photo: Newsday

I was having a friendly debate with some fellow baseball fans this week. Quite a few made the argument that the Yankees have "an army of up and coming outfielders" to which I agreed. We do. Because of that the Yankees should get rid of some of them and go "all out" and trade them for Gray which I again disagree. The name that kept being tossed around was Clint Frazier and like Cashman I say he is "untouchable" and is worth a lot more than Gray is. Pitching wins baseball games, but the Yankees can still win a bunch of baseball games with other less costly pitchers. Not for nothing, Gray would pitch once every five days while Frazier is an EVERYDAY guy and he is a FIVE TOOL player. I'm not trading him for an injury prone pitcher. Frazier is a guy you build an entire team around and he is the guy that helps gets fans to the ballpark EVERY game.

Photo: Jason O. Watson, Getty Images 

Cashman and Beane should and will continue to talk about Gray. He is a difference maker but Cashman already showed he wasn't giving up top prospects TWICE with the Chicago White Sox. He said no to not only Jose Quintana, but to Chris Sale prior to that why would he do it for Gray now? The market may be very soft for starters but he doesn't command a better package then Sale does.

Something tells me this will be a nail bitter to the last few minutes. There has to be a limit here for Gray, because he comes with some risk and the Yankees have a lot of promising talent. So who gives in first?

Please don't let it be Cashman. I can't wait until this is finally OVER!



--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ