Lidle’s contract is done at the end of the season.
I am a Yankee fan and I like the trade. I was hoping the Yanks would not pick up Sheff’s extension and this comes close to guaranteeing it. Abreu plays a very good right field with a good arm. He has a solid bat, takes a lot of pitches and is a good base runner with a high percentage success rate at steals. Is OBA is excellent.
Cory Lidle is a solid 4 or 5 started, he induces a lot of ground ball out and around 120 Ks per year. This gives him a roughly 2:1 GO & K to Fly out ratio. He is nothing great but gives 6+ innings per start, which the Yanks desperately need with Johnson & Wright being crapshoots and Ponson just needing to go away.
The Phillies get a large salary dump, CJ Henry is a well-regarded 20-year-old SS prospect and I know nothing about Jesus Sanchez and right-hander Carlos Monasterios as they are Gulf Coast Leaugue. {Rookie League}
Down side for Yankees: Once Matsui comes back, Cabrera gets a lot less playing time. Positive for Yankees, the Bench just improved dramatically with Bernie back on the bench.
Ponson will be cut and I wonder is Bubba Crosby or Aaron Guiel
I kind of liked Sheffield, he’s been putting up great numbers, 35 HR, 100 R, 120+RBI each year. I guess Abreu is close enough offensively, lower HR and lower RBI, but he is in the Nat’l league where RBIs are a wee bit harder to come by, and he’s a few years younger. I didn’t realize Sheff had only an option for next year, the potential outfield logjam was one of the things I liked least about the trade. Having 4 all star quality outfielders each making a mountain of money would have been insanity.
I’m not happy with them giving up prospects, though. It seems like all the really good news we hear is of prospects doing well. Wang, Cano (when healthy), Melky, these are guys who are putting up great performances day in and day out without costing $10+Mil per year to do it.
I take that a vote that it was a good deal for the Yanks.
Cheesesteak: Sheff has been rapidly declining as a fielder and base runner. I was afraid this year and next year would be nothing but poor or injury prone years. He was aging quick towards the end of last season and in all likelihood is one of the Steroid users, who is now clean and so less productive. All conjecture but legitimate fears. I will be happy if he moves on. We are only locked into Bobby for this year and next, so maybe Melky becomes our CF or RF in 2008. Damon is at an age where I question the last 2 years of his contract (2008 & 2009).
Having seen roughly 90% of the innings Abreu and Lidle played for the Phillies, I feel like I can speak to what you’re getting with a little authority.
This is possibly the falsest thing ever stated. I’m kidding… a little. I’m aware of the Gold Glove, but I’m also aware that Abreu will not do any of the following things: dive for a ball, catch a ball near the wall at anything more than a dead stop, sprint after a ball in the gap, or actually make physical contact with the wall. He’s also somewhat retarded in the way he plays caroms and with the angles he takes sometimes. I don’t want to say he’s a terrible fielder, he’s just a very low-effort fielder. Far from a plus, put it that way.
This is certainly true.
That’s right on. One of the things that I think a trade does for a player is cast his abilities in a new light, and allow things that have been taken for granted to garner a little appreciation. Abreu was the number 3 hitter for essentially his entire career here, which naturally shifted the focus away from what he does very well and toward his HR and RBI totals, which are disappointing if you’re expecting him to live up to his Home Run Derby performance. That did Abreu a disservice, I think, because what he brings to the table is much more than just his power numbers. He’s not really a guy that you’d want to look to as your number one run producer because his home run power is streaky and not that spectacular overall, but obviously that’s not the case in New York , so I think he’s going to be a great addition to that lineup. His skill set is pretty unique (really what he is is a great leadoff hitter with a bunch of extra power), and he adds a little bit of everything to a lineup: speed, power, a good average and lots of pressure on the pitcher. I’d be willing to bet that if we had the numbers available, we’d see that Abreu sees more pitches per plate appearance than just about anybody in the history of the game. He gets to a full count like every other at-bat. If I was a fan of the Yankees, since the money is completely immaterial from our perspective, I’d be really happy about getting this guy without having to lose Hughes or Tabata.
Yeah, he’s just an average guy. He’ll give you six and keep you in the game, which I suppose has its value in the regular season… especially as the freaking throw-in to get you to accept Abreu for middling prospects. All in all, four prospects ranging from somewhat promising to no big deal for a .900+ OPS guy who steals bases and a rock-solid fifth starter? Good deal for you guys.
Not watching him much at all, I am surprised to hear this but, all he needs to do is be better than Bernie ‘No Arm’ Williams (Who I love and honor but even he would tell you he has no arm left) or Broken Wrist, aging legs Sheffield.
So while he might disappoint, he should still be our best defensive Right Fielder since Paul O’Neill. I think with his speed and the small right field, he may look better in Blue Pinstripes then he did in Red Pinstripes. At least I hope so from what he said.
BTW: the SS prospect, CJ Henry, might turn into a very good Player in 3-4 years.
Wilson is a 27 year old 4A reliever. The other two I am clueless on.
The Yankees showed some guts, waiting the Phils out until they could do this deal for just minor-leaguers. Abreu will provide pop in Matsui’s and Sheffield’s absence. Lidle will boost the back end of the rotation, plus they can replace Sheffield next year without lifting a finger.
This makes things very tough for my Sox, but that’s how we like it.
Abreu is much better than the dog’s breakfast he replaces.
Lidle is less useful; he was putting up a 4.74 ERA against an inferior league. In the AL, that’s gotta translate to 5.40 or something. I suppose he’s better than Shawn Chacon or Sidney Ponson, but Lidle will get pounded too.
Now, as a baseball fan, obviously, it isn’t good for baseball for the Yankees to make the playoffs every year; it would be better for the sport if they missed the cut, and the fact they’re even in contention when so many things have gone wrong for them concerns me as a baseball fan. If it’s now structurally certain that one team always makes the playoffs because they have more money, that’s really, really bad.
But for them, Abreu is a nice pickup assuming Matsui isn’t ready soon. The Crosby/Guiel/Long/Whomever Has a Pulse combination wasn’t providing anything, and Abreu in a bad year is still excellent.
I’d like to point out that while the Yankees have made the playoffs 10 straight years, the Red Sox have been there for the last seven, and they ALSO spend more money than anybody else. The Mets are going to make it this year, too, after breaking the bank. The Yankees haven’t done anything “underhanded” here, since the replacements for Sheffield, Matsui and Cano have been castoffs and farmhands. They didn’t buy their way out of that mess.
I’m not entirely meh over it…I dunno. It’ll be good to play against a geriatric lineup that, when healthy REALLY scares the shit out of me.
I dunno. I’m not surprised. I’m not put back. It’s just there.
It’ll be fun to watch him whiff multiple times in the first round when the Yankees lose to the Tigers.
Soooooooooooooo long story short, as long as he swings when ball ISN’T there, I’m good.
Add Mr. Rodriguez’s “situation” to the list. That counts as a mess they bought themselves into. The severity of that problem counts double because I said so.
Besides, think of how much sweeter it is to watch the Yankees go down in the playoffs. Especially The Greatest Choke In History. Let them buy their way there. Then we get to watch them crash and burn at a high rate of speed. Much more entertaining than watching my Dodgers self-destruct after the All-Star break. As usual.
Well, the Dodgers just dealt Cesar Izturis to the Cubs. On the up-side, they got Greg Maddux and Julio Lugo from the Cubs and Devil Rays, respectively. That will bolster the rotation and infield, and gives them a number of options when Kent and Garciaparra return. Can they dig their way out of the cellar in the next 2 months?
I cannot figure out the second deal for the Yanks. Why bother with Wilson?
As he is a Pirate, I have to admit to knowing nothing about him other than what CBS reported. He plays 1b & RF. Is he a good defensive player, or did we exchange our trash for Pittsburg’s trash? Anyone know what his contract is like, I know he was only getting $3m this year, but my favorite contract site is down? I do not have a good backup.
Why Craig Wilson? Well, Andy Phillips has 222 at bats this season, doesn’t he?
Wilson’s got pretty good pop for an afterthought (29 homers a couple years ago, career .846 OPS) and he can fill in at first, right or left, two of which are really weak positions for the Yankees at the moment (not well at any of them, though), and I guess in theory he could go back to catching in a pinch. The important thing is that he’s capable of hitting major league pitching. I feel like if you can replace dogshit with a legitimate bat, and do it for spare parts, what’s the problem? Also, I’m pretty sure he’s on a one year deal.
I checked his stats now that I had a chance. I like the fact he caught as recently as 2004. It is nice to have an emergency catcher. I am most interested in his defensive value at 1st. I have enjoyed Phillips glove at 1st. If Wilson is going to take part of Phillips’, Cabrera’s and Bernie’s Playing time, I would have hoped that he brought a glove. His bat is no real improvement over Bernie’s or Cabrera’s. It is a step up from Phillips. But is it enough to offset a possible loss of defense?
I already expected Phillips to bat less as Bernie would pick up more DH duty, pushing Giambi back to 1st and Phillips on the Bench. Now I have to wait and see how it all shakes out.
Player TEAM POS G AB R H 2B3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
1. D Jeter NYY SS 97 390 69 138 26 3 7 65 191 44 59 21 2 .427 .490 .354
2. A Rodriguez NYY 3B 100 379 73 106 15 1 22 74 189 58 95 9 4 .383 .499 .280
You will see A-Rod has a 4 Run and 9 RBI advantage but Jeter is +74 on BA and +44 on OBA and only -9 on SLG. His extra 2bls, Triple and Singles making up for most of the HR difference. He is 21 of 23 in SB and A-Rod is only 9 of 13. Offensively I would give A-Rod the slight edge for Run production, but Jeter leads in many major categories and is playing much better Defense than A-Rod has been.
Too many damn Yankee fans are being stupid right now and Booing A-Rod when they should stand up and cheer and support him. The Yankee fans need to try and help him through his mental woes, not add to them.
