The Indians are one of several clubs that has called the Yankees about Nick Swisher, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Cleveland GM Chris Antonetti, a finalist for free agent Carlos Beltran, is also considering trades to improve his club’s offense.
However, Swisher doesn’t appear to be a realistic option for the Indians, since the Yankees don’t have an obvious replacement for Swisher and it wouldn’t be easy to match his production through free agency. The Yankees value Swisher as one of the game’s better right fielders and one of Rosenthal’s sources says they’re “up against their payroll [limit],” for what it’s worth.
Swisher, 31, posted a .260/.374/.449 line with 23 home runs in 635 plate appearances this past season. The Yankees exercised their $10.25M club option for the switch-hitter after the 2011 season and he's set to hit free agency after the 2012 campaign.
Good, Swisher is one of my favorite Yanks. I want him to stay for a while (despite being lousy in the postseason).
I like him too, even when Swish is too much of a ‘straights’ hitter, he can have a good one or two months intercalated with one horrible month, then again a new good month and so on, ending the year in bad shape, BUT his production during the year is solid, not constant, but yet solid.
Right now his numbers can’t be replaced, and that’s one of the reasons why the Melky trade three years ago didn’t make sense, the Yanks didn’t have at that moment a good OF prospect (AJax was their best and he had been traded two weeks prior, and he wasn’t a power hitter). But well, Cashman wanted to give Vázquez another opportunity so he paid him 12 millions and gave pitchers and their only OF they could have right now for the bench.
Not sure what Melky had to do with it since Swisher had been the better hitter. I’ve always loved Melky and thought he had a lot mor potential to grow into but we couldn’t count on him being the player he was in 2011.
Swish catches the wrath of the fan base because of his post season failures but to me, you can’t ignore what he does the other 162 games of the year.
I’d say that Gardner at that time wouldn’t be the worst replacement for Melky. His OPS+ was 93 in 09, and 68 in 08. Gardner, although a year older, had been just as good overall, if not better than Melky in 09, being an on-base machine with super speed.
Replacing a .269/.331/.385 guy with a speed demon hitting .289/.389/.383 in the minors isn’t the worst idea. After all, after 2011, Melky’s career OPS+ is 93, while Gardner’s is 91. Besides, the Vazquez trade at that time wasn’t the worst idea. Sure, lots of people foresaw a decline in his performance, but did anyone think that he’d be that bad?
Go to the Braves
replacement could be cespedes if the yanks like him as much as they’ve been rumored to
Maybe be a money issue according to the writer event though that strikes me in the face as a “whut the fluke” statement (see what I did their moderator….WIN!!).
joking, please don’t ban me
(that was my 4th attempt to post that…haha)
Swisher for Masterson or Hafner. That should be a great trade for both teams.
Well the Indians wouldnt even consider giving up Masterson, but I would be intrigued giving up Hafners huge contract
The problem is that the Indians would never part with Masterson for Swisher and the Yankees have no use for Hafner.
lol
You can have Hafner for a bag of balls if you like, not a lot of people would really mind.
However, you can try to pry Masterson from our cold, dead hands. He isn’t going anywhere.
Ummmm…no. Masterson would be cool but wouldn’t make any sense for the Indians. Hafner is a DH only and the Yanks will probably break Montero in as the DH/C next year.
Noooo trade Swisher, I’m tired of seeing him in front of the Camera.
Ahhh ha ha ha ha Yankees ha ha ha payroll limit ha ha ha *thud*
The move that makes sense for NY and Cleveland is Swisher for Carmona. But that is purely looking at $ and team needs. Not likely to happen but could be the type of deal that gives each team a component of the game they are looking for.
That makes no sense for the Yankees. Great move by the Indians, but the Yankees would hang up. Replace Carmona with Masterson, then yes, but I doubt the Indians would do that, and the Yankees might not either. Carmona? Come on. He sucks.
Of course, realistically the Indians will not deal Masterson especially for a guy in the last year of a deal.
Looking at the Yankees need for starting pitching and the Indians need for offense, plus Carmona is probably in his last year in Cleveland but NY could afford the options remaining, make the deal a match.
Will it ever happen….No.
I don’t think Swisher ends up in Cleveland for any package that interest the Yankees. I could see Swisher being part of a 3-way deal that brings NY back a bat though.
They would never try to get Carmona in the first place, he isn’t an upgrade over anywhere in their rotation. Secondly, Swisher isn’t being traded for a bat. If he is dealt, it’s for pitching. They don’t need offense, they need a starter.
Yankees are looking for GOOD pitching and Carmona hasn’t been that of late.
Pretty sure a few guys would remember Carmona’s bush league antics earlier in the year. Trade a lovable guy like Swisher to a guy who beaned your teammate out of frustration?
Carmona did not bean Teix out of frustration. Carmona couldn’t have hit the broad side of barn that day if he was inside the barn. If he was actually trying to hit Teix…he’d have missed him by 3 feet.
Nothing matches up with Swisher’s production. He’s an under valued asset and the Yankees seem to understand that. I’m really happy they won’t let themselves be lowballed into trading him. He’s gonna give them plenty of power next year and yes, he’s been lousy in the post-season, but everybody remember Johnny Damon sucked for a while, too. Also, he’s one of those guys where people seem to forget what contributions he does make. A crucial catch or throw out, a key double or home run. His “problem” is that he isn’t consistent and it’s a lot easier to focus on when he’s slumping than when he’s streaking, but the fact is he’s productive and an asset. He’s the type of player who, if a club got him, they’d think “haha, suckers! we just stole something valuable for nothing!” well, the Yankees understand Swish’s value and I hope they’ll hold on to him for the foreseeable future.
“He’s the type of player who, if a club got him, they’d think “haha, suckers! we just stole something valuable for nothing!” well, the Yankees understand Swish’s value and I hope they’ll hold on to him for the foreseeable future.”
I see what you did there.
Sincerely, the ChiSox.
I still think Jurrjens and two more prospects (not the pitchers) for Swisher and Nunez would work just fine.
For the Braves. Yankees aren’t trading Swisher for a pitcher who has health problems, especially Nunez. Swisher and Nunez for Jurrjens and Teheran/Vizcaino/Delgado, you have yourself a deal.
The Braves have other good prospects besides those three which is something people fail to realize. Carlos Perez is young but pretty darn good and they could also do a PTBNL with an unofficial agreement that it would be Sean Gilmartin when he’s eligible to be traded this summer.
No to Gilmartin, he has no real experience. If the Yankees trade Swisher, they need to get pitching NOW, not later. And the pitcher can’t have health problems. Maybe for Hudson. MAYBE. His age is a concern, and he’s switching from the NL to AL. How about Swisher for Hanson? You owe us a freebie after that Vazquez trade, lol.
neither did Drew Pomeranz but the Rockies thought he was just fine. It’d be the same thing pretty much.
How about…..
JJ, Prado and Andrelton Simmons
for
Swisher, Nunez, Zolio Almonte (CF @ AA) and Brandon Laird (3B mlb debut in 2011) ????
Sounds ok. Where did Laird play last year?
with a 3.5% walk-rate, in the AAA dugout mostly. he had a terrible season
I’m just wondering if he’s any good good because the Braves two good 3B prospects coming up and if he’s just “meh” then maybe someone else could be included
Yeah but it jumped up to 12% at the mlb level!!!!!!!!
no seriously.. he definitely is not a “B” level prospect and he certainly will probably struggle to just be a .340 OBP type but he has power, he is cheap and he can play at both corner OF spots and both infield corner spots. He certainly isn’t more than a throw in for this deal. With the Yanks set at most of those spots he serves more purpose in a trade than in the dugout, especially since he is young.
wouldn’t say he’s worthless at all, just that his stock has dropped a ton
You’re being a little crazy there dude.
Layoff the crackpipe
“I still think Jurrjens and two more prospects (not the pitchers) for Swisher and Nunez would work just fine”.
I’ve heard a lot of dumb requests for JJ and this one ^^^^ has been the only one worth considering. I know someone mentioned a few weeks ago. May have even been you?
No but I’m definitely not the only one who thinks along these lines. Most say that JJ for Swisher and Nunez but I see that as a little unrealistic and think two prospects would need to be included.
Part of trading Jurrjens and/or Prado is for payroll relief. Trading JJ’s ~$5 mil for Swisher’s ~$10 mil doesn’t accomplish that. The Braves can’t afford a SS right now. They certainly can’t afford a $10.25 mil OF…
Nick Swisher for Justin Masterson straight up….sign Cepedes when he becomes available, and then you are done!
How about Swisher for Josh Tomlin + a backup player or a low-end prospect.
Yeah….Nick Swisher would not be closer to enough for Masterson. Dont’ get me wrong, I really like Swish but he has 1 year left on his deal and is not that great. Very good at a lot of things but Masterson was one of the 10 best pitchers in the AL last year and should only get better. His 2011 was not a surprise to many who watched him pitch in 2010. Yes his ERA was bad but his fielding independent stats were very solid. Personally was disappointed in Masterson’s 2011 and think he can be much better. No way the Yanks are getting him, not even if they included Montero.
I felt Swish should be the Tribe’s #1 trade target when the offseason began. Perfect fit in that he can play 1B or the OF and hits lefties very well. I don’t see it happening now that Beltran has signed with the Cards though. I had hopes that Boras could get the Yanks involved and then possibly deal Swish for pitching help, but with the big OF bats off the market (other than Cespedes who may need time in AAA) the Yanks would be wise to hold on to Swisher IMO.