Red Sox picked up Gagne today. He would have been more important to the Yankees because the Sox have Paplebom. He may be of use.
I’m not unhappy about the Betemit-for-Proctor trade. Of all the young and talented Dodger players, Betemit is the easiest for the Dodgers to part with, I think. They’ve got plenty of infielders right now. And Lord knows we needed bullpen help.
Dodgers dealt Wilson Betemit to the Yankees for right-handed reliever Scott Proctor. Betemit was a good utility infielder, but he wasn’t getting much usage this year except as a pinch-hitter. Having Proctor to bolster our middle-relief is a good thing, but I’m still leery of our starters. Lowe and Wolf are both injured, and Penny can’t carry the team by himself. But the Padres didn’t make any serious moves, so we’ll see what happens down the stretch.
Looks like Boston made a huge deal, this will probably end my Yankee’s hopes of overtaking them.
Midseason trade deals
Red Sox get Eric Gagne Rangers get Kason Gabbard and two prospects
Braves get RHP Octavio Dotel Royals get RHP Kyle Davies
Yankees get 3B Wilson Betemit Dodgers get RHP Scott Proctor
Mets get 2B Luis Castillo Twins get C Drew Butera, OF Dustin Martin (minor-leaguers)
Wow. I quickly read your post and thought, “Hmm, they picked up another game, I didn’t even though they started playing today’s game.” Checked the sports page to see what the score is, and yep, front page story.
Here are his numbers for the year (which are better than I thought):
W: 2
L: 0
SV: 16
K: 29
ERA: 2.16
Papelbon
W: 0
L: 2
SV: 23
K: 54
ERA: 2.15
Annnnd Rivera (just cause):
W:2
L:3
SV:16
K:45
ERA:3.05
Personally, I think this is huge. Not just as a pickup for the Sox, but even more so to take him away from the Yanks. I know the story is early, but I’d love to hear how NY let this guy go to Boston. The need for him seems much greater in NY. Especially since I’m checking in to this thread to brag about our lead and middle relief. I guess he wanted the opportunity to get to occasionally close for a team who is actually making it into the playoffs!
Neener neener neer.
Yanks barely went for him. However the Yanks failed anyway. Farnsworth was suppose to be gone.
The neener neener part is silly. Yanks still have a good shot at the wildcard and as Yogi says, “It ain’t over, til its over!”
Jim
Silly yes. But if you’re right then I have to get all my teasing in now.
Just to add, my favorite at-bat that I’ve watched all year was Pedroia vs. Gagne on May 27th. It was a leadoff homer with a 2-2 count, but the guy fouled off a crazy amount of pitches bringing Gagne’s pitch count way up. I’m having trouble digging up the actual numbers right now, but it was a real positive swing in popularity momentum with Pedroia and this city.
Hey, I’m a Yankee fan, and I acknowledge, this was a huge pickup for your team. I see the chances of catching up to Boston just went down a lot. I was actually half-counting on your closer getting a dead-arm again. Remember all that pre-season stuff about how he should not close. Well, even if he sputters now, Gagne is a very small drop-off. Great pick-up.
Jim
I actually think Cashman made the right move. Picking up Gagne was probably going to cost him Chamberlain or someone on that level, and wouldn’t have guaranteed the Yankees even a playoff berth, let alone a division title or a world title. Why toss away a pitcher who could conceivably be a big part of your rotation for a decade for a tiny improvement in your chances to slip into a playoff derby that you’ll probably lose even if you make it? Better to hold fast, see if you can pull it off with the horses you have, and have a piece around which to build in the future.
This is pretty typical of the Yankees, who in spite of what’s said about them are usually (well, in the last decade or so) pretty wise about keeping their prospects around unless the package they get in return is going to make a significant difference.
Texiera did not play, but made his first appearance in a Braves uniform last night. The team seemed electrified by the trade in post-game interviews (lots of ear-to-ear grins), and it showed on the field with the Braves cranking out twelve runs.
With Texiera, I believe the Braves now have the best lineup in the league. There’s not a weak spot in the batting order. Only the bullpen could bring them down. And if they keep putting up runs in double digits, that won’t be a problem.
Incidentally, I like what Schuerholtz has done in the last few years building the team with local talent. Texiera played his college ball at Georgia Tech. Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Chuck James, Tim Hudson and Willie Harris are all Georgia natives, and Chipper grew up a Braves fan in Florida. It gives the team a real hometown feel.
You mean Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones aren’t dead spots in the lineup? Please.
I do like the trade, though.
What are the Braves, the National League’s version of the Tigers?
Speaking of them, they lead the league in saves. They also lead the league in blown saves. If they’d cut that number in half, they’d have fun away with the division a month ago. They’re slumping, yet they’re still a game and a half ahead of Cleveland (who, to be fair, is slumping right now, too…finally).
Last I checked, Chipper was leading the league in batting average.
Andruw Jones, though his batting average is down, has 20 homers and 63 RBI.
Yeah, I think that remark had to be a woosh or something. Never mind batting average, ol’ Larry has an OBP of .430 (!) and an OPS over 1.000. Still a putz, though 
I heard today, Texas was holding out for Melky Cabrera or Hughes. They did not say so, but I am sure Cashman was laughing. Still, it was a good move for the Red Sox, I have to begrudgingly give them credit.
Jim
Although I am starting to wonder if the way teams overvalue their players - particularly their prospects - is beginning to get a bit ridiculous. I mean, my Mets are hanging on to Carlos Gomez, Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey, and Phillip Humber like they are Beltran, Pujols, Clemens, and Maddux reborn. While I realize the opposite approach is also no good - trading everything for mediocre chips - Gagne is a player who could have genuinely pushed the Mets over the top in the NL East, and they could have had him for Carlos Gomez and roster filler. At some point, isn’t a chance at a World Series worth giving up one player who might be an All Star one day, especially when you already have Beltran (who is not that old), Milledge, and Fernando Martinez in your system? Gagne on the team instead of Guillermo Mota has to be worth 1-1.5 wins over the next 60 games, which might be the difference between playoffs and not playoffs. Heck, Tom Glavine’s probably a 300 game winner this morning with Eric Gagne on the staff.
And you won’t trade Mike Pelfrey, who at 23 shows no signs of being even near ready, to pick up a 25-year-old closer with a career ERA under 3.00 (Chad Cordero)?
The Braves are pretty good about hanging on to their prospects, but they still sacrificed a good one for a shot at winning right now (I think they have to be the favorites now, with Texeira and Dotel).
The Yankees I think did right, because they’re only on the edges of contention so someone like Gagne wasn’t going to push them over the top. But really, Melky Cabrera? You wouldn’t trade Melky Cabrera for Eric Gagne, straight up? I would. There are 20 guys in AAA ball around the majors who could do what Cabrera does; there are probably barely 20 guys in the majors who can do what Gagne does.
It goes the other way, too. Look at the Nationals. I think the Mets should have given them Pelfrey and a middle-of-the-road position prospect for Cordero, but still - shouldn’t they have done something? They’re nowhere near contention, and a few good prospects would be much more valuable to them than a closer at this stage, but they’re telling teams they “need to be blown away” before they’ll send Cordero anywhere. How does this make any sense?
Gagne is just a rental. The Yanks do not have a competent CF replacement for Melky yet and we control him for 4 more years. He plays well in NY and is an average CF with a plus arm. His batting is not great statistically, but somehow he is very often in the middle of rallies and adds energy to the team that is missing when he is not there. The Yanks are too old of a team. Kids like Melky help.
The Yankees have one more year of Giambi and Farnsworth and Pavano and then all these bad contract are gone. The farm system is recovering nicely. Trading Melky for a 3 month rental would have been a typical Yankee move in the past. I am happy they did not do so.
The other bad contract for the Yanks is Johnny Damon. He is an average CF with no arm at all. He is aging fast and injury prone. I really think it was a good idea to hang on to Melky at this point.
I have high hopes Joba Chamberlain is our bullpen solution.
Jim
Well, there’s no deying his putzitude. But he’s our putz, bless his heart!
And in a list of baseball’s great scandals, knocking up a Hooter’s waitress isn’t the worst thing he could have done.
No. All the freaking home runs he’s hit at Shea Stadium are tied for first on *that * list.
The Rockies are doing quite well, by Rockies’ standards at least. We are the Anti-Yankees (always the bottom dwellers by mid-season) here in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain News is majorly hyping up the fact that the Rocks still have a chance, just a chance, of making the playoffs in August. The sweep of the Yankees earlier this year was quite a phenomenon, I was certainly shocked. It would be amusing if they made the post-season, just to see the reactions from all the sportswriters who know the Rockies will never make it. I’d say the Rocks have a 15% chance of making it. I think they’ll have another slump after this current run, but if they do continue to play fairly well, maybe they’ll make it.
Partially. I forgot to delete out Chipper’s name, but Andruw is getting overrated.