Just flashed on ESPN NEWS here at the bar that the Yankees have a tenative deal to bring Abreu to the Yankees.
It took Lugo 3 years to get to this point. I don't regret losing him. On the Trade: More pressure on Timmy now that the options for everyone are dwindling.
They had a "Breaking News" headline up several days ago that said Soriano appeared to be going to the White Sox. Doesn't mean anything til it's official.
True dat, but this time they're saying they've already reached a tentative deal. The only thing that could stop this deal is Abreu's no trade clause, & he's already on record as saying he'd consent to a Yanks trade. Now they said Boston will retaliate. Why don't they just have 10 teams in New York, 10 teams in Boston, & 10 in Los Angeles, & let them all fight it out? Whatever, The Astros just better make a deal & hurry up about it.
He could still end up being more consistent than Randy Johnson... the Yankees need pitching. They gave up 3 minor leaguers.
This seems true, ten minutes before the game yesterday he was removed from the lineup. And the Yankees are giving up their first pick in the 2005 Draft, an 18 year Old Shortstop, and a 27 or 28 Year Old Reliever....im not sure if he is in the majors or not, Ive never heard of the name before, and I think they are giving up a low-level prospect also
I remember ESPN was saying it would be a quiet year in trades because everybody thought they were still in the race. Now we have Abreu, Lee and likely Soriano and maybe Tejada. I don't recall any season that can match that.
Yankees September Line-Up: Damon CF Jeter SS Abreu RF Arod 3B Giambi 1B Sheffield DH Matsui LF Posada C Cano 2B Good god that order is sick... Though this means Sheffield gets the boot in the off-season.
And Randy Johnson gives up 7 runs in 3 innings for them... they would have been better off trading the farm for Zito. Either way, its the AL Central's pennant to lose.
While I still think the Yankees aren't going to do much in the playoffs (if they get there ), this is a team that had sucky pitching the entire season and lost two 100+ RBI guys and yet they were riding on the back of the Red Sox for most of the season. Even though the Yankees pitching is trash, they will be in the hunt up until the end of September. And no I don't like the Yankees, in fact my wish would be to have Toronto win the East and have both the Red Sox and Yankees out of the playoffs (that will show ESPN and Fox ).
Mussina Wang Johnson Mariano Rivera I wouldn't say the Yankees' pitching is trash. Johnson has been inconsistent, but when he is on he is still a top of the rotation pitcher and Moose and Wang have been good all season. I think people are making a mistake if they count out the Yankees with that pitching and the offense they can trot out there.
Each of the other AL contenders (Boston, Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago) has more quality arms throughout the staff and bullpen... the Yankees have more questions in their staff with every guy except for possibly Rivera. Thus, people are questioning why they're targeting an area that they were already pretty strong at (offense) instead of making these offers to teams that have FA pitchers but are nearly out of the race (ie - Pettite and the Astros ). The Yankees have a tremendous team... they just play in a league that has better constructed teams (for both the regular season, and playoffs).
And what point does that prove exactly? Santana and Liriano just mowed through the White Sox lineup, which to this point has been the best in baseball. Santana and Liriano could shut down any offense in baseball. The Yankees have beaten Pedro Martinez a number of times, often with considerably weaker offenses. Seriously, can you show me a team with better offense than what the Yankees could potentially be fielding? I'd be interested to see it. I guess maybe Chicago if they add Soriano, but that's about it. Chicago's rotation has been awful past Contreras: Wright, Wang, and Mussina have all been better than that, and I think Lidle can come in and be decent as well. I'm not sure if you've looked at the numbers or not, but Mussina is 13-3 with a 3.40 ERA with the 2nd best WHIP in the AL (and he's 3rd in BAA). He's 5-0 in his last 7 starts. Chien-Ming Wang has a 2.71 ERA in his last 10 starts and just threw a CG Shutout. Boston's staff has been pretty underwhelming as well. Schilling just got lit up by the Angels, and who in that bullpen impresses other than Papelbon? Tigers pitching has been great, but would you trust Kenny Rogers in a Game 7? And surely you don't think that a closer with a 4.97 ERA is a good thing (though I guess compared to Lidge...)? Their lineup is nothing special either, but they're a good team and could win the World Series if the breaks go their way. Twins are scary. I'll give you that. But ANY TEAM that makes the postseason has a shot to win the World Series, and the Yankees can match up with anyone in the AL in a short series. They picked up Corey Lidle, a solid back of the rotation starter (he's been better than Ponson [and Pettitte, for that matter]), and they didn't give away Scott Proctor. Abreu was on the market and only cost cash, something the Yankees have an abundance of. The Phillies were giving Bobby away; teams are not giving away starting pitching. The only top of the rotation starter on the market is Barry Zito, for whom the A's are asking for Philip Hughes. The Yankees would be fools to trade Hughes when they could just sign Z in the offseason. Also, you don't think maybe the reason the Yankees picked up Abreu was because they had been platooning Bernie Williams, Aaron Guiel, and Bubba Crosby in RF? Can you honestly tell me that the Yankees haven't improved themselves by adding Abreu?
I guess you didn't realize that the Yankees recently fielded one of the worst OFs in baseball (Cabrera, Crosby, Williams). Sure with Damon, Sheffield, and Matsui out there they don't really need Abreu (and I am not really too excited about picking him up, especially since he can't seem to hit home runs since winning the derby) but they didn't give up much to get him, and they are not likely to get any pitchers that are better than the one's they've got.
