Danny Ferry: No Olympics for Ilgauskas
June 13, 2008Indians Shed Rain, Padres in Game One
June 14, 2008Rolling with the C.C. Sabathia trade rumor punches, we can throw yet another team (back) into the mix. Despite the logic that the Yankees are done giving long-term deals to arguably overpriced pitchers (inject Carl Pavano joke here), other fans of the Bombers have been pounding the table for quite a while, pleading with “Boss Jr.” to add C.C. to the rotation of pinstripes.
Perhaps due to recent pitching struggles, or simply because they’re not happy with the fact that the Yankees are trailing both the Red Sox and the Rays in the standings, the New York media has begun tossing out names of players that should and shouldn’t be considered trade bait for the reigning Cy Young award winner.
Of course, the Yankees would have a strong interest. As laid out yesterday, the Red Sox have been one of the biggest rumored teams to be in the hunt. To keep up with the Jones’, they would have to at least try to acquire his services. But do they have what it would take to get him?
There is no denying that three of the top needs for this Indians team continue to be a corner outfielder or infielder (with run-producing abilities), and a starting pitcher that could be a #2/#3 down the road – to make up for losing one of the best pitchers in the game.
One name being tossed out by the Timesis second baseman Robinson Cano. You may be saying, “well, that doesn’t fit any of the abovementioned needs,” and you would be right. But do not forget that our current second baseman is actually our utility infielder who is playing thanks to our would be four-man needing a few at-bats in the minors. Plus, Asdrubal Cabrera’s natural position is shortstop, which you have to assume is the long-term plan.
Cano is only 25-years old, despite seemingly being a Yankee forever. He was the AL batting champ only two seasons ago, has a career on-base percentage of .335 and – while this doesn’t translate to the win total – is an extremely philanthropic guy. But like most players on the Indians staff, he’s struggling a bit this year (hitting .220) and is defintely not at peak value.
Obviously, Cano would not be the only player involved in a deal with New York; but in the same, they would not be parting with the Hughes’ and Chamberlain’s of the world. One would have to assume that if Bartolo Colon required one of the top prospects in all of baseball (Brandon Phillips) plus Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore, that the Indians would not just give Sabathia away for Cano and a few signed Jorge Posada baseballs.
So what say ye, Indians fans? There’s a chance that being only six and a half games back may make you want to wait things out a bit. Plus, you have to assume that Mark Shapiro has the leverage here as there are obviously three big teams that could be in the hunt. However, given an offer that would undoubtedly make the team better, I can’t see Shapiro passing that up given the near-zero chances of re-signing the big guy. So, given this spot in the season, what would it take for you to rubber stamp a Sabathia trade?
16 Comments
He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, even better than Colon was. You have to get max value for him, no question about it. The Yankees just don’t have enough to offer. Their farm system is on par with ours right now, which leaves little left to be desired. The Angels and Red Sox have the goods. You could deal with either one of those teams.
I’ve been thinking about it and although I want to hold onto hopes of making a playoff run, are we a team that is ready to take the big show? I dont know that we are. If we can get a deal that sets us up for years to come, I think we may have to pull the trigger.
I still like the idea of seeing what the Cubs have to offer. C.C. loves to hit and the Cubs are determined to do whatever they can to win the World Series.
Man, I wish Mark Cuban owned the Cubs right now. He’d give us his entire Triple-A affiliate for C.C..
Actually, according to Baseball America, the Indians have #19 ranked farm system while the Yankees have the #5 farm system in the majors. The Yankees have done an excellent job lately rebuilding their broken system, and they have a lot that they could offer the Indians. Look at Buffalo, there is nothing there. It’s bone dry. The Indians MUST get some AAA prospects who will be ready for the majors sooner rather than later.
That’s pretty interesting, I was under the impression that their system was in shambles. But after doing all that work to rebuild it, are they going to be willing to part with some young potential superstars?
No way I’m taking Cano and a plethora of average prospects. We need a deal that will get us either a potential superstar prospect a la Brandon Phillips coupled with other prospects. Or we need talent that could help us win now with a group of high ceiling prospects. If we’re going to deal him we need to make it similar to the Johan sweepstakes (except without that horrible end result for the twins)
Lest we forget the Colon deal was under different circumstances. MLB actually owned the Expos at the time, and were trying to increase the value of the franchise to increase their profits when they sold the team…so they traded for a bona fide ace in Colon (plus they were leading the division at the time, believe it or not…so they could easily sell the deal to fans…what few of them were left).
There is no way…no chance whatsoever…that Sabathia will net the Tribe the same caliber of prospects. Unless of course MLB purchases the Marlins or something
Also, why would the Yankees trade Cano…who is cost controlled through next season, and is still, despite his slow start, an above average second baseman, for a guy they can wait a few months and sign without giving up anyone? Doesn’t really make any sense to me.
For me, a better fit would be to a team with a plethora of major league ready prospects, that is in the middle of the hunt (and some payroll to spare). Humor me for a moment…but wouldn’t the Rays make some sense? They have tons of major league ready arms (Wade Davis, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann), and they are (clearly) ready to win now. If you’re Andrew Friedman, what better way to sell their intentions to win now to your fans?
i think on top of whoever we get, the added value for boston or ny is that the other team (i.e. boston or ny) would NOT have him. with those 2 cities history, that can’t be overlooked
i didn’t realize that the twins had a horrible end result…i’d take that center fielder tomorrow…he seems like pretty much a stud. in fact hitting .276, 18 stolen bases, a SOLID lead off guy and a cannon of an arm. seems like at least with him they did alright.
Uh oh Patrick…don’t get these guys started on Gomez 🙂
And Mark, I agree. I would much rather trade him to a team like the Rays, DBacks, etc. However, I’m not sure they would be in the sweepstakes given the lack of re-signing capabilities…
About Cano being a second baseman: frankly, if Jamey Carroll keeps playing like he has of late, I would be perfectly comfortable deeming him our second baseman and citing a utility guy (particularly one who has experience at shortstop) as a new need.
As a Yankees fan, I don’t see them giving up Cano for a rent-an-arm. Our farm system is loaded right now and I don’t think that the Tribe would be netting any big league-ready right away talent if they trade CC. It would be more like a Santana deal where you hope that one of them works out (which it has).
Cashman wouldn’t give up Hughes and Melky for Johan…I’m not sure why you think he’d be throwing all sorts of talent at a guy that may not pitch their next year.
CC is a rent an arm only if he goes to an AL team. I don’t think you guys realize how important batting is to CC. He is going to sign with a national league team. So the Indians should look to trade him to a national league team. If the Yankees blow us away with an offer, sure trade him to New York. Or Anaheim, or Tampa, or Boston or any team looking to make an impact trade that gets them a ring this year and are willing to overpay. If that doesn’t come up, then we shop to every NL contender and take the best deal. I would even talk to CC and see where his preferences lie, and give that team 48 hours to work out a new deal with CC as part of the trade package. He is happy, the new team is happy, and the Tribe gets a better package because he would be more than a rent an arm.
Well, now that Wang is hurt – the odds of the Yankees doing something drastic just skyrocketed.