I've recently opined that it's difficult to identify an ace starter likely to hit the trading block in July. However, in most years a few would-be contenders are surprisingly bad and a few pitchers have breakout or unexpected seasons, giving the trade market some semblance of an available #1 or #2 starter.
Could the Mariners' Erik Bedard be that pitcher in 2011? As MLB.com's Cash Kruth notes, Bedard will take a Major League mound today for the first time since July 25th, 2009. He had multiple surgeries in the interim, as doctors repaired a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. The 32-year-old made it through Spring Training unscathed, and pitched well aside from his final outing.
Bedard's Seattle career to date consists of 30 starts spread across two seasons. Though he was working through shoulder issues, the numbers are strong: a 3.24 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 164 innings, with only 135 hits allowed. Bedard averaged fewer than 5.5 innings per start, so he'll be most effective on a club with a strong bullpen.
Bedard is not the #1 starter he was in 2007 with the Orioles, but he could still be the best available at the trade deadline. We've seen injuries kill his trade value before, so there's no point in getting serious about suitors until July. Still, the Yankees would make sense, assuming the two front offices can put aside any bad blood from last year's Cliff Lee talks. Otherwise, we'll have to wait to see which contenders develop rotation needs three months from now.
He could be a decent option for the Yanks, especially if he shows himself to be healthy. He’ll certainly come cheaper than Felix, Liriano, or Johan. Wonder what it would cost? I wouldn’t wait too long were I the Yankees. I can see Bedard having a strong season, driving his cost up as the Ks pile on.
Yankees will definitely think twice before dealing with the Mariners after the Lee fiasco, and going further back, their ridiculous asking price for Washburn, if anyone remembers that. Not to say, if he’s having a great year, a deal could work, but it wouldn’t be as seamless a process as dealing with other teams would. We’ll see though…
Yea, I was coming on here to comment to say the same thing. I don’t think the Lee fiasco was near as big a situation as the Washburn almost trade. It is now 2 years in a row the Mariners have backed out of trading a pitcher to the Yankees at the last moment. Makes you wonder a bit, though I do think the return they got from Texas was superior to what the Yankees were offering so I can’t blame them…
and Justin Smoak has done what to think their deal was superior?
And Jesus Montero has done what to make anyone think he’s a potential star?
hit
a lot
So does Chris Davis.
Oh
Be compared to Miggy or Piazza hitting wise. Top 5 in almost every rating system out there
Smoak was compared to Mark Teixera and Chipper Jones and was top five last year too
Smoak will top out at 30 homers with a low batting average. I would rather have Ike Davis over him
Smoak hits for contact more often than not. His most HR’s in one season came last year at 13 while in the minors his BA has always been at or slighly above .300. Not to mention the fact that he averages one walk every six AB’s. What an awful, awful hitter.
And what would Montero, a right handed bat do in Safeco? Ask Adrian Beltre.
You’re probably the only person to ever say you’d rather have Davis. He’s nothing special.
Not sure about all the other “experts” but BA had Smoak at #13 last year.
I never heard anyone compare him to Cabrera and I’ve only heard him compared to Piazza glove wise.
It will be interesting to follow the development of 21-year-old Jesus Montero, who is Baseball America’s third-ranked prospect this year. Here are the eight previous third-ranked BA prospects and their ages as of February 1 of those years:
2003 — Jose Reyes (19)
2004 — Delmon Young (18)
2005 — Delmon Young (19)
2006 — Brandon Wood (20)*
2007 — Delmon Young (21)
2008 — Joba Chamberlain (22)
2009 — Colby Rasmus (22)
2010 — Mike Stanton (20)
* Delmon Young was the top-ranked prospect as a 20-year-old in 2006
Justin Smoak peaked as the 13th-ranked prospect as a 23-year-old in 2010. Here are the seven previous 13th-ranked BA prospects:
2003 — Casey Kotchman
2004 — Adam Loewen
2005 — Matt Cain
2006 — Alex Gordon
2007 — Andrew McCutchen
2008 — Jacoby Ellsbury
2009 — Mike Moustakas
Last year that Texas Rangers traded at midseason for Seattle lefthander Cliff Lee. This year I could see the Rangers trading a blocked player such as lefthand-hitting corner infielder Chris Davis for Seattle lefthander Erik Bedard IF Bedard pitches well.
no thanks
Delmon Young
Delmon Young
Other Guy*
Delmon Young
*It’s really Delmon Young
Smoak has hit well for us, thank you.
He hit 239 with a 287 OBP with the Mariners last year. What is your definition of hitting badly?
When your whole team is hitting worse than that those numbers are all star numbers.
As a ROOKIE those are solid numbers. Not everybody can be Buster Posey the first minute they step into a major league park.
Solid numbers? Your joking right?
Yoy know what? You’re right. A rookie who bounced around from Oklahoma City to Arlington to Seatlle in a span of two months and still put up a .236 average and promising power numbers is AWFUL. Smoak must be insane to even call himself a major leaguer. RAYGUNPUNX IS RIGHT!!
Always love when someone resorts to sarcasim in a retort. The I hate Yankee crowd is almost as worn out as Charlie Sheen is
This has nothing to do with me hating the Yankees. Until that post I had no idea wether or not you were even a NYY fan. But as long as we’re on that subject… I get it now. You act like you’re still angry you lost out on Lee… twice!
And you’d get worn out too if you were constantly winning like Charlie Sheen is.
Funny. An M’s fan joking with a Yanks about “winning”.
Funny. I’m not an M’s fan.
Just because you’ve been moved around a lot doesn’t mean that all of you numbers are “solid.”
And over the last month of the season hit around .290 or so, you should also take a look at his average this season.
I don’t recall all the details about theWashburn situation but I recall it being much different than the Lee situation. I think with Washburn they just wanted too much for him. They were stupid but they have a right to ask for whatever they want.
In 2008, the Mariners reportedly turned down an offer of Melky Cabrera and Kei Igawa’s entire contract for Jarrod Washburn.
Washburn produced 2.6 WAR for the Mariners in 2009 alone before being traded at the deadline while Melky Cabrera was a 1.9 WAR player in 2009 and a negative 1.2 WAR player in 2010. Kei Igawa’s WAR peaked at 0.1 in 2008.
Ok cool. Either way, I don’t blame the M’s for the Washburn deal. If they want more than what the Yanks are offering then the deal doesn’t get done. That’s business. M’s have a right to hold out for more. The Lee situation with regards to this notion the Yanks tried to “trick” them into taking Adams is a joke though.
Revisionist history……
The Lee trade fell apart because one of the crap prospects (Adams had a bad ankle/foot) you tried to peddle on the Mariners had an undisclosed injury that was caught during his physical. When the M’s asked for a different player, the Wankees choked and the Rangers stepped up with a better offer.
Smoak really struggled at first, which is to be expected when you get traded like that…but he came on strong and flashed good power as well as a good glove. Montero is an all hit, no defense guy who is going to end up at DH.
But… how does what you say not make it a fiasco? The issue wasn’t over who’s right or wrong, but more so that the Yankees will think twice before dealing with the Ms next time… in fact, it’s almost exactly what I wrote in my original post you are responding to.
I hear this a lot and just shake my head for the idiotic thinking behind it..
If I am just a regular fan, who doesn’t have time to attend many games and don’thave access to players, coaches or personnel knew that Adams had a really bad ankle injury and was on the DL for two months, from May 21 right up to the deadline, then why didn’t any of the AA managers/coaches for Seattle, scouts or other baseball personell, know it as well. I assumed that once they targeted trade partners then the Seattle scouts went to scout each teams top players.
The fact that ppl are acting as if the Yanks tried to “hide” or “minimize” the injury when he was PLACED ON A DL LIST, which is available for anyone to read (fans, bloggers, etc) is a joke. How exactly does one hide that?
First, you cant trade a player on the DL.
The Mariners asked for more medical information on Adams, and between that and the physical decided against taking him……thats the point of taking the physical! why would the Yankees “think twice before dealing with the Mariners again?
Yes you absolutely can. Perfect example is Jake Peavy. As long as the other team is aware that the player is on the DL it can be done. Another way is to trade him as a PTBNL.
From the Seattle Times Newspaper:
“I know there’s been some debate about whether teams can trade players on the disabled list. We’re not talking about anyone in particular here (cough Erik Bedard cough), just in general terms.
A few days ago, to clarify this point, I talked to an assistant general manager with a major-league team, someone whose job it is to know and implement the arcane rules that govern baseball transactions.
He or she (hey, there are more than one female assistant GMs) told me there is no rule prohibiting players on the DL from being traded. They don’t have to be on a rehab assignment, they don’t have to be activated before being traded, they don’t have to be hidden as “players to be named later.”
As long as the receiving team is aware that the player is on the DL, and willing to accept that player, the trade can be consummated. All that is required, apparently, is to get the commissioner’s office to sign off on it.
So there you have it,. Bedard, er, any generic player on the disabled list, can indeed be traded”.
—–
“why would the Yankees “think twice before dealing with the Mariners again”?
Those words never came out of my mouth. I could careless about the Lee deal. Move on is my attitude which is what Cashman has already said. All I am addressing is this dumb notion that the Yanks were trying to get one over. If I knew about Adams injury and knew he had not played since May 20th and there was speculation he could miss the rest of the season and was educated by reading blogs then why were the M’s suprised and how exactly did the Yanks go about trying tohide his injury when Adams was on the DL for two months?
Yeah, LOL, the Wanks will think twice about dealing with the M’s again…..thats why they plant a daily article on ESPN and NY papers about King Felix…..
I can’t see him costing a top prospect or anything.
I could see him on the trade block in July, but I also have a strange feeling that if he has a good season, the M’s will also look into extending him. Despite his disappointments, it seems like they have a great relationship. It would have been easy for him to just leave after people doubted him but he felt like he owed something to the M’s and stuck around. He could stay around on a discounted two year deal.
He turned down a major league deal to sign with Seattle which was not guaranteed. If they get an offer that blows them away, I think he goes. Plus, they have the draft at number #2 to get an impact player (hopefully) that can get to the big leagues quick.
Think about it though, if you know your healthy and want to rebuild your value where do you go? A pitchers park.
I think everyone short of Felix, Ichiro (though he should be), Smoak, Ackley, and Gutierrez will be available come July….
I have to say that I read a lot about bedard and a bad attitude before and early on after the trade. However he has been a consummate professional and standup guy during his time in Seattle….and I give him major props for coming back after these injuries.
I think Chris Carpenter is more likely.
I doubt Carp will be moved. I wouldn’t mind it, if they fall out of contention, but it’s just really not the Cardinals style. Only way I can see him being moved is if they are at least 7+ games out of it near the deadline and the front office believes that Albert will not be back next season. Otherwise they’ll take him on a 1/15 deal for next season.
I would agree, except the Cardinals are more talented than the Mariners. They still have a lineup that includes Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday (once healthy) and great supporting players like Yadier Molina and Lance Berkman. Duncan always gets the most out of his pitchers so Lohse, McClellan, Westbrook, etc should put up decent starts.
The Mariners are lacking in talent outside of Ichiro, Felix Hernandez and maybe Chone Figgins (if he bounces back).
I don’t see the M’s trading him since we want to contend in the near future and not when the traded kids develop. Felix, Bedard, Pineda, Vargas, Fister for 3 more years isn’t bad at all.
But But But….The MARINERS will WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!
Don’t forget about Jeff Francis if he does well with the Royals up to the trade deadline…
jeff never-posted-an-era-below-4.16 francis? not quite an ace. hasn’t even been a front-end starter since 2007
Bedard hasn’t been a front-end starter since ’07 either.
2 WAR in less than half a season means he pitched like one last year. a pair of 5 WAR AL East seasons put his ceiling about a mile higher than jeff’s. despite all the injured time he’s only really had 1 off year
Bedard’s ceiling is miles higher than Francis’ but I wouldn’t consider Bedard a front-end starter unless he can stay healthy.
If someone offers Seattle a can’t miss prospect I can guarantee that Bedard will be moved. Also look for Figgins, Aardsma, League, Ray, Cust, Vargas, Wilson, Kennedy, Saunders, and even Bradley as potential players to be moved by the M’s. With Aardsma and League to be the most likely.
Bradley could be moved? I guess. I’d have to check the stats to see which team had a deficiency in POINTLESS, POISONOUS APOPLECTIC RAGE.
Apoplectic? I’m using that one. Well done sourbob. Well done.
They moved Lee without getting a can’t miss prospect
I wonder where you’ll be in a year or two when Smoak is dominating. Us Ranger fans are still sorry Smoak had to go in that deal.
I would be too since Lee left.
It must be a miracle that we just dominated the supposed best lineup in the big leagues.
Now we are basing a season on 3 games? Is this Francona?
And apparently giving up an average of about 4 runs per game qualifies as “dominating” now. Who knew?
It was a 3 ERA which qualified as 3rd in the AL. It may only be 3 games but seeing as Boston has the “best lineup” in the league as so many reporters say and the Texas staff is mediocre without Lee, I’d say it was domination and a complete success on a certain level.
If you went back and looked at my comments from early in the off-season you would see that I was actually saying that the loss of Lee wouldn’t hurt the Rangers like everyone was saying it would, so don’t think that I’m saying that they are terrible without him. What I was saying is that the Sox scored 5 runs against you in each of the first two games, so while your offense may have beat the Sox pitchers to hell your pitchers didn’t exactly “dominate” the Sox offense.
I wasn’t implying you said those things. More that “experts” were saying it. But no, I guess if the Sox are planning on averaging less than four runs a game against what experts eto be below average staffs, then it wasn’t domination
What the Sox are planning on is irrelevant, giving up five runs to anyone isn’t dominating.
“It may only be 3 games [the first 3 of the season, no less] but seeing as Boston has the “best lineup” in the league as so many reporters say and the Texas staff is mediocre without Lee, I’d say it was domination and a complete success on a certain level. ”
yes. a statistically insignificant one
You can give up four a game if your scoring 7+ everygame just sayin
I’ve said it more than once already, but apparently you didn’t catch it so I’ll say it again. Giving up that many runs isn’t “dominating” an offense; they beat the crap out of our pitching, but they didn’t dominate our offense.
I didn’t base anything, unless I mistakenly said that we have the best pitching staff this era has ever seen, which it doesn’t look like I did.
Only if Bedard comes cheap. Playing baseball doesn’t inspire Bedard ask Baltimore. Bad blood? More like a blessing in disguise. Cliff wouldve signed with the phils anyways and everyone knows Montero > smoak easily. Mariners lost out thanks.
Smoak
Year G AB R H HR RBI BA OBP
2010 100 348 40 76 13 48 .218 .307
Smoak’s numbers are actual MLB numbers. What are Montero’s MLB numbers?
I’ll let you know since Montero is only 21 compared to Smoak who is 24. Next thing you will be comparing some former “Can’t miss prospect” in the majors now to Bryce Harper
Call me when Montero’s in the bigs.
So you’re saying you’d trade Rod Barajas for Bryce Harper straight up?
Smoak can play defense. And his numbers were vastly inproved after he came back up at the end of the year last year, which he has started to carry over this year. We’ll see, but it seems the only people high on Montero is the Yankees media machine … trying to generate hype so they can get a trade. It’s kind of sad that they’ve been trying to trade this guy for a while now, and no one is biting. I think that says something about Montero.
I doubt it is just the Yankees that think highly of Jesus Montero. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Yankees aren’t the ones who make up the national lists of top prospects. Obviously it is the AP, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and baseball scouts around the country who like the abilities Montero brings to the game. I’m fairly certain he’s top 10 in all lists.
So Baseball AMerica which ranks him as the third best overall and every other system that puts him top 5 are products of the Yankee media machine. They tried to trade him twice. Once for Halladay and once for Lee. 2 of the best pitchers in baseball but according to you they are offering him for a bag of balls. They also are stacked at catcher with Sanchez behind him who is his equal in hitting and can actually field
and Soria
You’re just plain wrong. They haven’t been “trying to trade this guy for a while now.” It was just for Cliff Lee, one of the best pitchers in the game, also a necessity for the Yankees’ club given their rotation issues. Who else has he been on the trading block for?
No one is biting? Hahaha…Who has he been offered for again? Halladay, Lee and allegedly Soria. You’re acting as if he was offered out for some middling pitcher and were turned down. They didn’t even offer him in the Greinke deal if I remember correctly.
In my humble opinion, once you start offering the guy … he’s available. Once the world knows that you have two other prospects that appear to be in line for the catching job … that makes Montero expendable. And as far as who we know he’s been offered for, I guarantee he has been offered for more than those three. Or at the very least, he was the subject of inquiries. Probably for Felix, probably for Liriano, and god knows who else.
Anyone outside of New York views this whole situation as desperation to dump the guy before his value continues to decline. The Twins did the same thing with Wilson Ramos. All we got for him was Matt Capps.
I’m trying to be as poilite as possible but let’s make this clear.
Offering Montero for 3 of the top 5 pitchers in baseball (Halladay, Lee or Felix) is NOT = “desperation to dump the guy before his value continues to decline”. What it means is that we value this guy and will only consider trading him for the ELITE pitching that WE PREFER. I have heard nothing that leads me to believe that they included Montero in any deals for Greinke or Liriano. Cashman in fact, turned down the deal for Greinke because he was unsure on how he would handle NY and I can almost say 100% that he would trade him for Liriano.
Too bad Montero will spend years toiling in the minors while Posada and then Old Man A-rod hog the DH spot eventually. No glove DH’s are a dime a dozen might as well might as well sign David Ortiz and or hell maybe even Russel Branyan and hope for 30 HRs.
Posada’s contract ends this year and at 40 I don’t see him coming back if he’s going to block Montero. Arod seems capable of playing 3b for another 2 or 3 years. Most “experts” expect Montero to hit much better than Branyan and the current day Papi.
Everything you said makes sense until you think about, then it all goes to crap.
Please! Justin Smoak isn’t the first highly touted prospect to struggle in his first year in the big leagues! Montero could easily put up similar numbers whenever he arrives in the big leagues; minor league hitting prowess does not always translate into instant big league success.
Exactly. If anyone doesn’t believe that thenm I’d like to introduce you to the one and only Chris Davis.
Hi Bill Smith! Did you enjoy the article?
Thank you for the random Twins reference.
Trust me, it’s not random. Any article about Jarrod Washburn being available in a trade is sure to catch Mr. Smith’s eye. Oh wait, it’s about Erik Bedard? Nevermind then.
Ok?
Don’t you have to actually pitch to be considered an ACE???
I want to see how Ian Nova and Freddy Garcia fare first before I start thinking about Bedard.
Yankees have a lot of young arms they’re just a few seasons away from the MLB. If Hughes turns out to have lost his fastball velocity all together that’ll make the Yankees think twice how they treat their young arms. His velocity loss could be the transition from the bull pen to a starter role a couple of seasons ago, and the close to full workload from last year might be hurting him. I’m hoping for the best. He also still has an issue changing speeds which makes me a bit worried about Hughes…
I think if the workload had anything to do with his current velocity then I would think that would’ve shown late last year but it didn’t. I just hope he isn’t hiding an injury. Joba was throwing hard in ST and his velocity seems low as well. Maybe it’s just the cold weather.
This isn’t a question that needs debated anymore. All you have to do is look at who the Indians’ ace is, and you can assume he will be traded at the deadline.
Montero, hmm – I’ve seen a history of top ranked yankees prospects who were sure fire superstars get traded
austin jackson – decent season last year but certainly not carl crawford.
jose tabata – decent season last year but certainly not carl crawford.
(both were compared to carl crawford when the yankees were trying to trade them)
does that mean they’ll both end up sucking? no – it means yankees prospects are always overhyped because the yanks did so well with jeter and posada in the 90’s.
I mean I am still trying to get over how awesome joba chamberlain has turned out as he was the greatest thing since sliced bread less than 18 months ago and now ???
Don’t forget Phil Hughes. That guy was supposed to be top of the rotation stuff. Now he’s only there because there were no better options
So the Yanks are buying off the staff writers at Baseball America, MILB, MLB, Fangraphs, Fanhouse, Baseball Prospectus, etc and etc. They are on the payroll and all rankings, good and bad, are the product of bribery. Now, all other prospect rankings for all other 29 teams, including yours, are fair, just and unbiased. Brilliant theory. Next you’ll be accusing Steinbrenner for being that guy on the grassy knoll and Cashman for being a secret operative for the CIA. After all, his skill for repelling down high rise buildings has been well documented, right? Geesh.
EXACTLY Now your getting it. lol
kind of selective there weren’t you wes?
what about cano, hughes, jeter, posada, mariano? etc etc etc etc
I like how people are writing off Smoak based on 100 games. He did hit .327 after being brought back from AAA late last season. Take a look at most MLB players first 100 games and you’ll find that Smoak is pretty typical.
Any Smoak vs Montero argument at this point is hot air. We don’t have enough ABs to evaluate either player.
To those who think the Yankee’s will avoid trading with the M’s, seriously? Its a business, you can’t let it be personal and Cashman knows that. If the deal is right, he’ll trade regardless of the team. He’s a good GM, anything less than that and he doesn’t deserve his job.
He already said he would be open to future dealings. Whether or not that honestor just being PC is a matter of opinion. He was however open to bringing back Pavano on a 1 year deal and if he’s willing to swallow that poison pill again then I would say trading with the M’s is feasible.
I cannot believe the cards haven’t swooped him up on a minor league deal.
Wow, there are a lot of comments on this topic. I browsed thru most of them. But, I don’t think anyone is addressing the real point. It’s been two years and half a handful of shoulder surgeries since Bedard has thrown 80+ innings. Does anyone here really expect him to still be pitching in September? I can see the M’s getting maybe 150 innings out of Bedard this year. 170 would be a reach. Pitching into late September or October? Not very likely.
The other thing to consider is that Bedard has found a low key media market he feels comfortable in. Why would the Yankees give up decent prospects for a pitcher who might give them a handful of starts before he needs to be relegated to bullpen duties and will surely not resign in the NY metro market? There will be no compensation for Bedard when he leaves as a FA.
I don’t see Bedard going anywhere.
No – I certainly was not picking out certain guys.
I admitted jeter and jorge were awesome 15 yrs ago – and cano – sure we can give them credit for cano
But let’s look at the last 10 years and you tell me how many home grown talents the yankees have produced in their system – baseball america and everyone else ranks them high and then – boom – next thing you know – they get traded and everyone realizes they SUCK or at least underachieve:
Case in point:
2003 Reds give Aaron Boone (who at the time was a top tier infielder) and get back brandon claussen and charlie manning. That turned out real good for the reds huh? charlie who? and brandon who? I think claussen might be the only pitcher the yankees ever traded away who made it to the majors but he did so racking up an ERA over 5.0 and a W/L record of 16-27
All Boone did was rally the team to a great post season.
or how about 2006- yankees got BOBBY ABREU and lidle for CJ Henry, Jesus Sanchez, Matt Smith, and Carlos Monasterios – Bobby Abreu was a perennial superstar stud. None of these prospects even touched the major leagues except maybe a couple cups of coffee for monasterios. CJ Henry was one of those can’t miss prospects – but he missed and last time I checked he was a backup on the basketball team at the university of kansas
Or what about 2007 the angels gave Jose Molina (who is arguably the best backup catcher ever in the yankees since posada’s been there) and they got back one of those can’t miss prospects – Jeff Kennard – that’s right the one who missed and we’ve never heard of again. I think he’s organizational depth in someone’s A ball team but who knows. (or cares)
Or we could discuss the can’t miss prospects the Yankees sent to the White Sox to get Nick Swisher – Jhonny Nunez and Jeff Marquez – oh yeah that’s right – they missed too.
SO you tell me – is it coincidence that everytime the yankees trade a guy to get the current star that guy turns out to really fail miserably? Do the yankees really have their stuff together and know when to get rid of a guy at the right time? No – I don’t think so. I think baseball prosectus and baseball america etc, always over exxagerate the prospects in the yankees system because posada and jeter turned out so good – but that was 15 years ago and the only thing that system has produced since then is robinson cano.
Hughes doesn’t count because he’s never proven jack to me. I think he’s an average starter (maybe less) and if he played on any other team he’d go 8-10
Since he’s only had limited time as a starter, I reserve the right to change my mind on hughes but I think I’ve already proven my point sufficiently that even if I am wrong on hughes – I’m still right overall.
Yankees prospects are always over hyped.
Again – my caveat here is that Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata could both turn out to be above average major league players – but that was pointed out in my original post. But even they were overhyped with the carl crawford comparisons.
Well, first of all. Ive never heard AJ or Tabata get comps to Carl Crawford. Ive heard Tabata’s bat get compared to Manny and AJ get compared to CG.
Secondly, all of the prospects you mentioned weren’t considered anywhere close to their top prospects. The Yankees made shrewd trades and got rid of filler for pieces that could help their team. I don’t know what kind of prospect you think one should get for a decent backup catcher but its never going to be good.
Lastly, IPK and Melancon are flourishing in the NL. Tabata(at age 22) is having a great start to his career. Ohlendorf is a solid starter for the Pirates. Coke is being converted to a starter after having a couple of good relief years. AJ is looking real good for a 24 yr old CF. There are negatives and positives. Don’t just point out the negatives.