WILL WE BE STUCK WITH ELLSBURY?

Photo: New York Post

All of this Jacoby Ellsbury possible trade talk recently has been driving me nuts! It makes perfect sense for the Yankees to try and move him. They have too many outfielders and all of them are better options than Ellsbury who is expensive and not needed to be blunt. It makes sense for the Yankees to try and move on, but for Ellsbury it makes no sense to leave.

Photo: New York Post

Now don't mistake me here...I WANT Ellsbury to be moved. I just think all of this trade talk hasn't been as advanced as some sources may like for us to believe. The best outfield for the Yankees would be based around Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and....Brett Gardner? If he truly isn't the one who is trade bait here. Let's face it Ellsbury has the job security here compared to Gardner and Hicks just continues to improve so the Yankees aren't ready to give up on him either.

Through out all of these Ellsbury talks I have always had a hard time believing that he would be AS WILLING to waive his full no trade clause to play with the San Francisco Giants as rumors have stated. Sure, I can see him waiving it because he is a fifth outfielder and would be a bench warmer. I can see his desire to want to play would be a great motivator to be traded but....to the Giants?

If you break it down, the Giants were a bad team last year. It's hard to go from a contending team who have even higher expectations this year to go play for the last place NL West Giants. Maybe another appeal to get him to go would be to play with an improved team now that they have Evan Longoria and be back in an everyday role since they need an outfielder. Or maybe the idea of playing so close to home would be intriguing too since the Giants spring training home is in Arizona and Ellsbury has a home there.....but maybe once again, it makes more sense for one side than the other.

On paper, Ellsbury and the Giants match up well but the Giants have been chasing two other options. The Giants have been talking to Jay Bruce for awhile now and now according to MLB Trade Rumors HERE the Giants and Reds are active in talks that would send Billy Hamilton to the Giants. I could see why the Giants would prefer Hamilton. He is one of the best defenders in the game and he has speed. He could cover a lot of ground in AT&T Park and be a great fit. On paper, he may be an even better fit than Ellsbury especially since the Reds have interest in one of the Giants prospects.

I think it is going to be even harder to trade Ellsbury than we already knew it would be. If Ellsbury is traded it won't be until late in the off season after all of the outfield free agents like Lorenzo Cain, Carlos Gomez, Jon Jay, Jarrod Dyson, and Austin Jackson sign. Any teams that miss out on those guys could check in on Ellsbury and see how much salary the Yankees are willing to eat but by then they likely won't have any extra money to spend and stay under the luxury tax threshold. I guess at this point the Yankees just have to assume that they will still have Ellsbury at the beginning of the season.

This contract sucks and it is going to be harder than hard to get rid of.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj