RED SOX SNIFFING AROUND CHASE HEADLEY'S HYDRANT

Rumorville... here we come!

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com suggests that the Red Sox are looking at third basemen and 2 guys they like are Pablo Sandoval and Chase Headley. No doubt "people familiar with the situation" know something about this... right Jonnie?

Jon writes: "The Red Sox, in need of third base production, are prioritizing Giants postseason hero Pablo Sandoval as well as Chase Headley, according to people in the know.

Boston may also take a look at Aramis Ramirez, if he become a free agent, though he is said to fit below Sandoval and Headley. Ramirez is believed to prefer a return to Milwaukee."

OH! Big Jon changed it up on me. Now it's fancy, "people in the know."  Got it.

Look, we here at BYB have stated numerous times that we like how it feels to have Chase Headley in pinstripes. Read BRING BACK CHASE HEADLEY!  He brought an energy to the club down the stretch.  He's a gamer.  One of my buddies the other day called him "A Warrior, cut from the same cloth as Paul O'Neill." I don't necessarily agree with that, but there is no question I like Headley's drive and passion.  He wants to be there and the Yankees should not let the Red Sox get him!

And yes, there has been talk about Kung Fu Panda, but the price tag for Sandoval seems too steep.  Headley just makes better sense to me, especially if we don't really know what ARod can give us in the field.

Interesting nugget... we'll have to see how it plays out.


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GM FOR A DAY: 3 PLAYERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The Yankees have glaring holes right now. They need plugging immediately, and they need to be of good quality. Although the Bombers have gotten good play from their finds off of the junk heap, trades now need to be made. Get the cart up and running, so to speak.

First Base and Third Base are huge holes. Not only that, Starting Pitching needs to be shored up. If the Yankees are to get some help, these are the spots to fill. Who are the best options? Sifting through season stats and possibilities, these are the options that rose to the surface. Were I the GM, I would look into these three players:

First Base: Matt Adams

Mark Teixeira is done for the season. Lyle Overbay seems to be out of gas. The Yankees aren’t going anywhere without a quality First Baseman. They should go after Matt Adams of the Saint Louis Cardinals.

I know what you’re thinking, Adams is the future for the Cards, no way they trade him. But right now, Adams is stalled behind Allen Craig and Matt Carpenter. The 24 year old must be straining at the leash to play, and there is no doubt this kid could shine in Yankee Stadium.

In ninety at bats, Adams has a slash line of .311/.354/.522 with 4 homers. He is capable of steady production from First. Better yet, he’s young. Should the Yankees conceivably snag him, Matt would be the 1B guy of the future. Tex has wound down, whether or not we want to face it.

Third Base: Aramis Ramirez

Milwaukee is probably going to have to blow up this team. All of their stars will be available, especially if/when Ryan Braun is suspended for banned substances. This makes Aramis Ramirez very appealing to New York.

Ramirez has had a tough June, but is showing signs of life Lately. He is batting .273 this season with 5 homers. Pinstripes would work their magic on him, and he is a better option at the Hot Corner than anybody else the Yankees have. That short porch would make his mouth water.

Sign Ramirez and let David Adams mature. It does not at all seem as if ARod will or should be part of any kind of solution.

Starting Pitcher: Ian Kennedy

Obviously, this one’s a long shot. But one worth looking into. And how nice would it be to see him in Pinstripes as was originally intended? The sticking point is that he is the star centerpiece of the Arizona Diamondbacks rotation. The D-Backs are playing well and would seem unlikely suitors.

But Kennedy has had a bit of an off season. Just shy of 85 innings pitched this year, Ian Kennedy has won 3 games, lost 4 others, and inflated his ERA to 5.21. Yet he has still managed to ring up 73 strikeouts.

Also he has been displaying quite a nasty streak of late. He was recently slapped with a 10 game suspension for beaning Yaisel Puig and Zack Grienke in June. This after getting suspended 6 games for throwing over Billy Butler’s head in 2011.

This might make Arizona amenable to listening to offers. You cannot help but know that Kennedy could all but certainly re-gain his former glory in Yankee Stadium. Where, many would say, he was meant to be.

So, were I the Yankees GM for a day and given the choice of three guys to turn things around, these are the three I would go after. What do you think? Comment.


Chad R. MacDonald
BYB Writer
Facebook: New York Yankees the Home of Champions
My Blog: ChadRants


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WHY YANKEE RUMORS RUN WILD, AND I DON'T BUY IT

Let’s address some of the more outlandish offseason ideas I’ve heard in the past few days. Let’s face it, there are some silly ideas floating around out there: Trade Mark Teixeira & 1/2 his salary for pitching and sign Prince Fielder:

I’m not kidding, this theory is out there. Now, as nice as having Prince Fielder would be, Teixeira isn’t exactly stinking it up over there at first. Last I checked, a 39 homer, 111 RBI season, while making all other first basemen look bad on defense is top tier production, regardless of batting average. As much as Prince Fielder would abuse the short porch in right, there’s really no room for him, so we can pretty much just forget about that.Trade Alex Rodriguez, eat half his salary. Use the leftover money, Posada’s salary, and money not spent on Cliff Lee to sign Albert Pujols to play 3rd:

Another one from Bizarro World. Look, this is all fine and dandy, except we’d still be paying $15 million for nothing and a 10 year, $250 million+ to Pujols’ contract would hardly turn out any better than ARod’s has. Nevermind Rodriguez’s 10 and 5 no-trade rights, the idea is simply comical even if he were to waive it. Get it through your head now everyone, Alex is not going anywhere and we’re not getting Albert Pujols. The only way I could see us replacing ARod at 3rd is trading for Aramis Ramirez, moving ARod to full DH duties, and letting Jesus Montero take over as the starting catcher.

Don’t pick up Nick Swisher’s option & trade for Matt Kemp:

Another great rumor. I’ve seen this suggested a few times lately. It’s just not happening. Why would we do that?

Whenever there is an postseason loss, the Yankee rumors run wild fast. I’m telling you, while some of these high profile names are out there, there is no way players like Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder show up in pinstripes. While this is my favorite time of year other than October baseball, Yankeeland needs to stay calm. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…yet.

--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer

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WHY LOSING A-ROD CAN MAKE US STRONGER

Ever since the Yankees Championship win in 2009, Alex Rodriguez not only officially became a New York Yankee to many, but he became a favorite of many. Like I’ve said time and time again, it is my opinion that at that moment of World Championship status, Alex Rodriguez matured greatly and the man learned relax a bit. I think it truly taught him to be himself and not some fictitious figure who was larger than life. Sure, Alex knew he was talented, but so were so many already on the Yankees. Alex thought he had to live up to the hype and when he didn’t and just played ball, it all fell into place. With that, Alex gained new fans, all who continue to root for him to succeed to this day.

That’s why when news came down that he needed surgery on his right knee to repair the torn meniscus (HERE), it was both sad and annoying to me. This is a guy that’s been pretty solid all year, minus the home runs. Now, I would suspect the knee is affecting his home run power. Kevin Long constantly talks about leg power when hitting, and he’s helped many Yankees get over their own humps by re-training them to use their legs more when at bat. Could the knee be contributing to Alex’s lack of power at the plate? Perhaps… just asking.

This surgery will then put Alex out of commission for 4 to 6 weeks and while he’s recovering, we have some searching to do. The big question, who will play third base? Joe Girardi had mentioned that Eduardo Nunez will get the bulk of the playing time, but I needed to go through my own head to think through on if there was someone else:

Yes, it's doubtful we would put someone like Ramiro Pena in that spot for 6 weeks, with lack of power and the errors he’s been offering, but expect him to fill in once in a while. Pena does what Pena does best, bench help.

Eric Chavez clearly would be the guy if he wasn’t nursing his own back, foot and abdominal injuries. Wow, what a shame, Chavez would have been the perfect candidate.

Eduardo Nunez was tapped by Girardi and you all know, it's not my first pick to replace Alex as the 3^rd base guy, but who else do we have? If Nunez can cut down on the errors, it will be a good, temporary fix, but me personally, I wouldn’t overuse Nunez in the hot corner if someone like Chavez comes back within those 6 weeks. Why? because Chavez is a veteran who I trust, unless he were to get hurt again. Nunez just needs to stop the errors and sloppy play, but damn, I love his bat.

SB Nation had the story about the Chicago connection and the Yankees talking about bringing in someone like Aramis Ramirez. While the Ramirez trade is appealing, I do wonder if the Cubs would be willing to part with him, and if in fact Ramirez would waive his no-trade clause. Coming to a contender would be a big deal for Ramirez, but he’s been with the Cubs for such a long time, he may not want to mess with his comfort level.

One thing is for sure, Alex’s bat not being the Yankee lineup can disrupt the teams momentum, but we CAN manage without him temporarily...there are options and we have subs. The good news to all of this is when Alex comes back, he’ll be 100% ready to kick ass with 1 month left to go in the season. At that point, both the Red Sox and Rays will be Top the AL East with the Yankees in what for sure will be a bloodbath. But know this, if Alex comes back swinging and healthy, expect a Division win, not a Wild Card, especially if the rest of the Yankees are pitching and hitting as well as they’ve been this year. After all, it’s our Quest for 28… anything less would be a failure.

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WHY YANKS ARE EYEING A SORIANO REUNION

If you had an opportunity to bring back Alfonso Soriano’s bat, would you? The Yankees are looking at a few options coming out of Chicago, the Chi-town connection that always seems to run deep between Joe Girardi and the Cubs (Read THE CHI-TOWN CONNECTION.) This time, it's not talk about Carlos Zambrano. Instead, there is talk about former Yankee Alfonso Soriano coming back to the New York Yankees to help out with some hitting help in the DH slot for their run at the playoffs. I have mixed feelings about this, money being part of it.

Alfonso Soriano has enormous power and plays a good outfield but the Chicago Cubs still owe him about $65 million on his contract through 2014. To me, I can’t imagine the Yankees paying that full amount and even if the Cubs pay say $40 million of it, that’s $24 million still owed on a home run hitter that also strikes out an awful lot.

That being said, the reunion could be fun and be truly effective if the Yankees want to make a serious run and bury the Red Sox in their division after the All Star break.

Soriano was loved during his time in pinstripes and after the 2003 playoffs, Soriano immediately was on Steinbrenner’s radar. Next thing you know, Soriano went to the Texas Rangers for none other than Alex Rodriguez. I remember it well, I was on my way home from a signing with Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez and heard it on the radio. It was a bittersweet day. Clearly I loved Alex on the Yankees, but seeing Soriano go was hard. The next few years Soriano went from the Rangers to the Nationals and then to the Chicago Cubs where he signed that monster deal.

Clearly the talent is there, and clearly Soriano is not the only player in baseball that strikes out a lot, yet delivers great numbers each year. If the Yankees can be smart about it, and still pick up some lefty relief and maybe even an extra starter too, I have no problem with this. The other part of this is the big question; Would Soriano go back to the Yankees? He doesn’t have to, he can veto the move, but I would imagine he would rather be with a contender than a loser. But look, this is all just talk at this point, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

The Yankees are looking at 2 other Cubs as well, Aramis Ramirez and lefty reliever John Grabow according to SB Nation. I’d be curious if they can snag someone like Soriano and Grabow. Again though, Soriano has a lot of money owed to him, that will be tricky. I know one thing, as a New York Yankees fan, I ‘ve seen it time and time again... when they need a bat, or a pitcher, they go out and get it. Why? Because they can, they’re the God damn New York Yankees, so while this might just be talk... it fun to think about the reality of this. Stay tuned.

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