DON'T PEE IN THE POOL

 

(Photo from: Dog Days, Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

With Mark Teixeira out for 8 to 10 weeks, read HERE, many have gone into full panic mode in Yankeeland.  I'm not yet. An Opening Day pitch has not been thrown yet... it's the Spring. I just can't get crazy about it yet. I will tell you that the idea of certain dudes internally already available for 1st or 3rd has diminished.  

Yes, we have Kevin Youkilis, and he'll fill in for Alex Rodriguez, but we lost Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez, 2 guys that would be have been great at first base in Tex's absence.   No bother... we can't go back in time, what's done is done. We don't have them and no one would have predicted this.

(In Photo: Juan Rivera)
Is Dan Johnson the answer at first base? He may have to be.  Will Juan Rivera also contribute there? Sure, but we may also need him in the outfield.  Questions, questions and luckily for me, I don't have to come up with the answers, the Yankees do.

Brian Cashman isn't too excited about the free agents that can fill in either by the way.  He was asked about it and as you can see from Mark Feinsand of the Daily News's Tweet below, Cashman's statement is obnoxious:

Now, Carlos Lee and Aubrey Huff are out there as possible "plug-ins" for the Yankees,  this is true.  After all ,they are still free agents. But the reality is, they either need to suck it up and just make a phone call to Cash and tell them that they'd be happy to sign on, OR they should just turn their back on the Yankees and tell Cashman to scratch.
  

(In Photo: Carlos Lee)
Cashman meant nothing by it his "pee in the pool" statement.  He was trying to be provocative, and he believes in what we have internally. But the reality is, that statement is insulting and cuts deep if you're a player still on the junk heap.  Me personally, I don't see how this Tex situation is as major as everyone else thinks it is.  Sure, without him, Granderson and Alex, we lose a shit load of home runs, but there are 2 things we can do... play small ball and manufacture runs the way baseball should sometimes be played, or the Yankees need to go out and get a big bopper or... 2.   Sitting on the sidelines questioning what can be done, is no way to go through life... the Yankees need to act.  The question is, what will Cashman do?  

Quick, someone get Giancarlo Stanton on the phone...not only will that provide stability in the outfield, but we'd also have more options at first. I know... I know, I'm silly. But the idea of Stanton in pinstripes would be glorious.

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THE RED SOX ARE PLAYING HARDBALL WITH NAPOLI

Sounds like there is more trouble in paradise between the Red Sox and Mike Napoli. Baseball can be a funny business, and the recent rift could play nicely into the Yankees hands. I can't help but wonder if the Yankees are just laying in the weeds waiting to pounce on this one...

Back on December 3rd, the Red Sox agreed to sign Mike Napoli for a three year, $39 million dollar contract. Here we are alomst a month and a half later and there has been no contract finalized after a requisite physical gave the Red Sox cause for concern. Napoli is no stranger to injury, and it looks like his recurring hip injuries have scared the Red Sox.

It has been reported HERE by Pete Abraham that the Red Sox have now changed their plans and want to give Napoli a gauranteed one year deal. Doing this puts the pressure on Napoli to give them the plate appearances they expect, otherwise he could find himself a free agent again.

This could give other teams, like the Yankees, the opportunity to pounce. Clearly, things are not going smoothly here. I'm no expert, but I understand why both sides feel the way they do. If I am Mike Napoli, I want the three year deal that was given to me and I want to just sign on the dotted line and get myself ready to report for Spring Training next month.

On the other hand, if I am Ben Cherington do not want to give a player a handsome three year deal that involves a lot of risk to it. Clearly, they saw something in his test results that are not pretty. It's rebuilding time, and you can't expect optimum results on a high priced player with warning signs on a long term deal. Maybe he isn't sweating yet because the Red Sox also went through this already back in 2007.

 

(In Photo: JD Drew)

It took the Red Sox 52 days to finalize a five year, $70 million dollar deal with JD Drew. They waited it out and eventually got the contract they wanted forcing him to agree to a deal that enabled them to void the contract after three years if Drew were to re-injure his shoulder. Maybe this is the route they will go again.

This scenario has "sneak attack" written all over it. The first basemen market is extremely thin now that Adam LaRoche has signed with the Nationals. Other players available are Carlos Lee, Aubrey Huff, Lyle Overbay and Casey Kotchman, and these guys don't have the same bat power. If Napoli is upset enough to test the waters elsewhere some other team could swoon him away, but it is very unlikely he will get the three year deal and money that was originally offered to him.

I am sure the Yankees are keeping close tabs on this one. Napoli's value has clearly been diminished, and if the Yankees want to continue giving out one year deals, it's not unreasonable to think that they could come in and pull off another big steal. If Napoli is willing then it really poses no risk.

Stay tuned....this could get very interesting. Of course, if anything else develops we will definitely let you know here at Bleeding Yankee Blue.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ



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HOW THE TRADE DEADLINE WENT DOWN FOR THE YANKS

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.

--Jeana Bellezza ,BYB Writer and Editor

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