The Who Should the Yankees Sign Debate… Cliff Lee is a Luxury, Carl Crawford is a Necessity

November 8, 2010

Read the opposing argument from Loyal Homer.

I can absolutely see the attraction that Cliff Lee holds as a free agent, and from the New York Yankees’ perspective, Cliff Lee is basically the reason their season ended in October rather than November. To be able to add a pitcher like Lee to the Yankees rotation would absolutely be a major plus, but if Brian Cashman and the Yankees organization are afforded the ability to only sign one free agent this off-season, then Carl Crawford should be the primary target.

This is a simple question of need versus want for the Bronx Bombers.

Do they NEED another pitching ace? In short – no.

C.C. Sabathia remains one of the frontrunners to win the AL Cy Young Award AGAIN for his performance in 2010. He was the only 20-game winner in the American League this past season, and at a pricey $25M per season, he is the undeniable anchor of the Yankees’ pitching rotation.

If the Yankees were to sign Lee, he would become a luxurious complement to Sabathia, but he would neither supplant nor replace Sabathia as the top pitcher in the Yanks’ rotation. As much as the Yankees may enjoy opening up the check book, I don’t think they NEED to pay upwards of $150M for a number-two pitcher.

Now, left field in New York is a different story.

Brett Gardner had a decent season in left, but this is an area where they could absolutely use an upgrade. Enter, Carl Crawford.

At the plate, Crawford is exponentially more productive than Gardner. In 2010, his average was 30 points higher, and he racked up 52 more hits, 14 more home runs, and 43 more RBI than did Gardner.

Just imagine Crawford at the plate in pinstripes, batting behind, say, Derek Jeter (who I am confident the Yankees will re-sign). Yankee Stadium is a home run paradise for left-handed hitters, which should inflate Crawford’s home run total, and Jeter will give Crawford many more RBI opportunities than Jason Bartlett, Tampa’s leadoff hitter. As for those at-bats where Crawford doesn’t go yard, his base-running ability will be another huge boost for the Yankees, who have hitters like Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, Alex Rodriguez, or Robinson Cano to move him around the bases.

The best lineup in baseball just got better. Oh yeah, did I mention that Crawford provides an upgrade in the field as well?

Gardner may have only committed one error in the field for the Yankees last season, but Crawford’s speed, range, and athleticism make him a much better defensive left fielder, especially when paired with Curtis Granderson in center field.

Crawford, who is in line for his first career Gold Glove award this season, led all left fielders with a range factor of 2.24, and his 306 put-outs were second only to Juan Pierre (307) of the Chicago White Sox.

The addition of Carl Crawford to the New York Yankees further solidifies their positioning as the best lineup in baseball, and elevates their outfield into the ranks of being the best defensive trio in the league.

Any way you look at it, Carl Crawford IMPROVES the Yankees, while Cliff Lee only COMPLEMENTS them.

If Hal Steinbrenner signs only one free agent this off-season, it had better be Carl Crawford!

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

The Resigning Derek Jeter Debate

October 25, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Babe Ruthless.

It will be an interesting offseason for Yankees’ fans. While I’m sure many of them are currently weeping and gnashing teeth at their ALCS exit and spotty bullpen, a potentially more significant decision looms on the horizon for the Bronx Bombers.

The face of the franchise, Derek Jeter, just completed the final year of a 10-year, $189M contract. General manager Brian Cashman and the boys will be doing a lot of soul-searching over this off-season to find the right contract to keep Jeter in pinstripes without damaging the franchise’s financial ability to acquire more high-priced talent.

Thankfully, we at the Sports Debates are here to help the Yankees’ front office. We will debate the question of whether or not Jeter deserves a similar contract to his last one, a contract that pays tribute to his consistent on-field production as well as his stature as one of the greatest Yankees of all time, or a smaller contract tied to the fact that he is a 36-year-old playing a position often reserved for younger ballplayers.

Babe Ruthless will be arguing that Jeter deserves another big contract because of everything he has given and continues to give the Yankees franchise. Loyal Homer will argue that Jeter deserves a smaller contract due to his age and some aspects of his play. May the best man win!

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Posted by Optimist Prime

The Most Disgraced Athlete of All Time Debate… The Bloom is Long Gone

October 7, 2010

Read the opposing argument from Bleacher Fan.

What an amazing career. We will get to the stats in a moment. Before we do, conjure up some memories of Pete Rose playing baseball. I’m guessing a few specific memories popped into your heads. For me, I like the one of Pete Rose hustling in the All-Star game and bowling over the catcher. Sure, that was a violation of the unspoken rules and regulations in baseball. But it was also a beautiful play that embodied the hustle and attitude millions of dad’s across American were trying to instill in their children. Never quit. Never take a play off. Never phone it in. Pick the way you want to play, and play in that manner at all times, regardless of the consequences.

Rose used to be a legitimate role model. Until the truth set us all free. It turns out he was a chiseler. A liar. A fraud, and a phony.

Some athletes become disgraced for decisions others make, and some are disgraced by their own actions. Baseball legend Pete Rose falls into the latter category. He chose the path he so publically followed, and failed to confront the consequences until it was far too late for him to save face and respectability. Like a devastating and slow leak, negative information about Rose has leaked out for years. First it was just gambling. But, it has gotten worse.

The Pete Rose situation is a strange one. It seemed as though Pete Rose could not do anything that would further tarnish his image and reputation with American sports fans. Yes, despite the proven – and now admitted – gambling Pete Rose did on baseball, new evidence arises of further disgrace.

Before we come to that, however, it’s best to contemplate just how bad betting on baseball is as a player. If you have ever taken delivery on a sports magazine, you know the type of valuable information that is contained within it. You know, too, if you bet on sports that you need good information to help inform decision making. So, imagine the position Pete Rose was in? He knew the MLB scouting reporting on every player, every pitching match up. He built line up cards. He positioned the team on defense. That type of information could never be purchased, yet Pete Rose used it to bet on his team and make gobs and gobs of money. It’s not just that he gambled on the game, it’s that he cheated everyone out of respecting him. And what sucks the most is that he could have earned and kept that respect.

Pete Rose had 4,256 hits in his 24 year career. That’s right, he played baseball – productively – for 24 seasons and he owns the hit record. He batted .303 for his entire career. He won Rookie of the Year in 1963, MVP ten years later, second in the voting another season. He was also the rare player-manager that seemed to make it work.

Some pundits and fans will relentlessly defend Pete Rose arguing that just because he is a lousy person does not mean he cheated on the game. I mean, what harm do a few bets really do? After all, Rose never ADMITTED to cheating on the game, or gambling AGAINST his team. It is consistent with Rose’s personality to bet ON his team, then spur them to victory. His stats are amazing, right?

Except in June of 2010, very quietly, Deadspin.com reported on an X-ray that was done on the bat Pete Rose used in 1985 as he was chasing down Ty Cobb’s all time hit record. The picture does not lie. Yep, that’s cork. Pete Rose is not just a gambler, he’s a cheater too. Surprised? If so – why? We all know and understand Pete Rose’s character now. There are few surprises the man can throw at us.

Given this additional character evidence – on top of the years of self-perpetuating, stigma-building lying – it is not evident that Pete Rose is the most disgraced, and the most disgraceful, athlete in American sports history. His name has been dragged through the mud year after year after year since he stopped playing. Rose has done nothing to stop it, either. He tried to come clean – 14 years too late – in Sports Illustrated in 2004. Then, when it turn out that was not the complete truth, he again came “completely clean” in 2006 when he admitted to betting on the Cincinnati Reds nightly. Yes, every single night. And, in his arrogance, that admission was supposed to be exactly what people wanted to hear to quiet the criticism. Heh. How insulting.

Pete Rose has proven time and again that he just isn’t a good, trustworthy, upstanding person. He is a disgrace to baseball, to record-holding, to fanaticism, and to history. He further tarnished his imagine after it was discovered that he used a corked bat, too… for who knows how many seasons? No player in any sport has more publically, more thoroughly, and more dramatically tarnished his imagine that Pete Rose.

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Posted by Sports Geek

The Which Player Should Hang ‘Em Up Debate… From Mannywood to Mannywon’t

September 20, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Sports Geek and Babe Ruthless.

I can still remember sitting at old Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton, OH, on a spring night in 1993 where the former Akron-Canton Indians, a minor-league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, used to play their home games in the Eastern League. At this particular game, a kid that no one had ever heard of named Manny Ramirez stepped up to the plate and crushed not one, but two homeruns, one of which went all the way out of the stadium and into the parking lot.

I was only 14 years old at the time, but I was struck with such a sense of awe and amazement having never seen a display of power so impressive from a Minor League player, that I just knew I was witnessing the very beginnings of what would almost certainly become a special career in baseball.

That was 17 years ago, and for 14 of those years, I was right.

As the 2008 baseball season drew to a close, Manny Ramirez was widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game of baseball. His statistics as they were would have earned him legitimate consideration as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. And even at the age of 36, he was turning in remarkable performances, having finished that season with a .332 batting average, on 183 hits, with 37 HRs and 121 RBIs.

As far as career totals are concerned, he was batting .314 lifetime, with 2392 hits, 527 HRs, and 1725 RBIs. When you consider that there are only about 200 players in the history of baseball who can boast a career batting average greater than .300, and only about 75 who hit better than .314, Manny was sitting in some very exclusive company.

Then came the charges of Ramirez having used performance enhancing drugs, and everything changed. And while we can only speculate as to what his numbers would have been had he NOT used PEDs, there is one thing that we can be sure of – Manny Ramirez has played as only a shell of his former self since his return to the game after having served a 50 game suspension.

Ramirez returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 3rd, 2009, from which time to the end of the 2009 season, he recorded 260 at-bats. Of those 260 ABs, though, he only recorded 70 hits for a batting average of .269. That result is a far cry from Ramirez’s career average, and is matched only by his 1994 season as being the worst performance of his career.

And although he still managed to hit 13 HRs and 43 RBIs during that time, it was not enough performance to bring Ramirez any job security. So in 2010, after he suffered a hamstring injury during the middle of the season, the Dodgers placed Ramirez on waivers.

He was simply getting paid too much money for the level of performance he was putting out, and the Dodgers decided they just couldn’t afford to pay him anymore.

Deciding to make a play for the postseason, then, the White Sox claimed Ramirez, and brought him over to the south side of Chicago . Their hope was that Ramirez’s hitting capabilities would provide a jolt to the White Sox lineup, giving them the last push they needed to compete for a postseason spot.

How has that decision worked out for the Sox?

In his 17 games since joining Chicago, Ramirez is a pathetic 13 for 64, with only one HR and one RBI (which came as a token run scored in a 9-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. He has, however, struck out 18 times, has gone hitless in more than half of his games since joining the White Sox, and has only been good for five runs.

Corresponding with that very poor performance, the White Sox as a team have played to a record of 7-10, including being swept twice by the Detroit Tigers, and a third time by the Minnesota Twins. And now, the same White Sox team that was hoping to make a push for the postseason (as they were only four games behind the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins when Ramirez arrived on September 1st), are today a full ten games back from the Twins, and have virtually no shot at playing October baseball.

It has been a tale of two Mannys, and the Manny that we see today is doing no one any favors by sticking around, especially himself.

Before the 50-game suspension, Ramirez was a World Series champion, a 12-time All Star outfielder, and a nine-time Silver Slugger. After the 50-game suspension, he has become a financial liability and an injury risk that cannot produce any offense. He WAS a feared hitter who no pitcher wanted to face, especially in a clutch situation. Now, he is a 38 year old player who can’t run, apparently can’t hit, and is in grave danger of further damaging a legacy already marred by scandal.

His Hall of Fame candidacy is already in question, simply from the merits of having admitted to cheating in the game of baseball. But thanks to his decision to hang around still, two years removed from having made any REAL contribution to his team, he sits in danger of destroying what little hope he had remaining.

Perhaps it is sentimentality speaking, but as a longtime fan of Manny Ramirez, I hope for his sake that he retires from the game BEFORE it is too late.

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The 2010 National League MVP Debate… Pujols Continues to Reign Supreme

September 15, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Sports Geek and Loyal Homer.

The Holy Grail of hitting in Major League Baseball is to win the Triple Crown as the league’s leading hitter in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average, all in the same season.

Usually by this time each year, hopes of seeing the first Triple Crown hitter since 1967 (when Carl Yastrzemski became only the 16th player in history to do it) have been long since forgotten. This year, though, there is not only a possibility of one player contending for the Triple Crown – We actually get to enjoy a race between THREE of the best hitters in the National League!

Albert Pujols, Carlos Gonzalez, and Joey Votto each have a genuine opportunity to close out the 2010 baseball season by winning the first Triple Crown in over 40 years.

These three hitters each stand with a very real chance to earn the greatest hitting accomplishment in baseball, and have created baseball’s most exciting LEGITIMATE batting race (sorry Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds, your races just don’t count anymore in my book) since Pete Rose chased Ty Cobb’s career hit total.

It will be fun to watch, and we can only hope that one of these three players can accomplish the seemingly impossible.

But that is not the only race that Pujols, Gonzalez, and Votto have created. As a side effect of this quest for possible baseball immortality, another very real competition has been formed between Pujols, Votto, and Gonzalez that is far more relevant to the context of baseball today. That is the race for the National League MVP.

Obviously, if any one of the three is able to pull off the Triple Crown, they should be a shoe-in for the MVP award. But let’s assume that things will play out in similar fashion to where they stand right now, and once more a season passes by without a Triple Crown winner.

Who wins the MVP award then?

While each can stake a claim for the crown, the clear frontrunner for the award in 2010 is once again Albert Pujols.

Pujols is already a three-time winner of baseball’s highest individual season honor, and has reigned uninterrupted as the National League MVP since the close of the 2008 season, and with good reason. No player has meant more to his team, and to the game of baseball, than has Albert Pujols.

Triple Crown statistics are one thing, and they already speak very highly of Pujols’ individual performance over the 2010 season. He leads the NL in homers and RBIs with 39 and 104 respectively, and has the fifth best batting average in the league.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg when you are discussing Pujols’ contributions to his team. There are other areas, arguably more meaningful to a team in the game of baseball, where Pujols also sets himself apart as being far more valuable than Votto or Gonzalez.

For starters, Pujols is not an all-or-nothing hitter. Some batters may swing for the fences with each at bat. Sure, they get their share of homeruns, but they also fail to have their share of quality at bats, often striking out in their quest for big hit glory.

Albert Pujols is different.

Compare his homerun and strikeout numbers to those of Votto and Gonzalez. Joey Votto has 34 homeruns and 112 strikeouts so far this season, and Carlos Gonzalez has 32 homeruns with 122 strikeouts.

Basically, Votto and Gonzalez are good for nearly four strikeouts to go with every one homerun they hit.

So where does Pujols fall? With his aforementioned league-leading 39 homeruns, Pujols has struck out only 69 times this season. That is less than two strikeouts for every homerun hit!

Now, let’s add walk totals into the mix – Once again, it is Pujols at the top with 85 walks, leaving Votto (83) and Gonzalez (33) trailing.

How about extra-base hits? You guessed it. Pujols leads the NL with 74, while Gonzalez (72) and Votto (66) once more fall short of Pujols’ exceptional standard.

Oh yeah, he also happens to lead the league in runs scored with 100 so far in 2010.

All of those numbers point to one single fact – Pujols is by far the most productive hitter in baseball. He is extremely smart at the plate, and is good for considerably more QUALITY at bats than either of his two likely MVP competitors.

So allow me to sum up the 2010 National League MVP race for you:

Albert Pujols has hit for more homeruns and bases than any other batter in the National League. He has personally crossed home plate more than anyone else, and has driven more teammates across the plate than anyone else. Even when he DOESN’T hit the ball, he manages to make it on base more than just about anyone else in the league.

Contrarily, Joey Votto and Carlos Gonzalez strike out almost twice as often as Pujols, walk less, and produce much less offense.

If my team is down to their last out, and I can pick the one person I want stepping up to the plate, I am going to take Albert Pujols every single time.

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The Winning versus Wealth Debate Verdict

September 10, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer.

Writing this article has been one of the biggest challenges of my TSD writing career. Not because of the merits of the opposing arguments, (although they were both very well written).

This is a challenge because I am watching the NFL season opener between the Vikings and the Saints, but am trying to write an article about the Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s like trying to rate a bowl of ramen noodles while you are sitting in a steakhouse.

Nevertheless, I persevered!

After considering the arguments presented by both Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer, I am awarding this verdict to Loyal Homer.

I agree with the points raised in Babe Ruthless’ argument that a team should be free to spend the money it earns however it wishes. Where I disagree with Babe Ruthless is in the presentation of that point. The examples used, such as the Washington Redskins and the Atlanta Braves, are not a fair representation of the concern the Pirates have raised.

The intention behind my question for this debate was not to design a process to eliminate or punish losing. Obviously a championship cannot be awarded to everybody, and in sports competition, there must ALWAYS be a loser.

The issue at hand was whether or not major sports organizations like Major League Baseball should tolerate the actions of a team that clearly do not place competition among its highest levels of priority. In the case of the Washington Redskins, the business may have demonstrated profitability while losing, but the organization’s actions nevertheless demonstrate an ongoing commitment to winning. The Redskins were a playoff team in 2007, and finished 2008 with an 8-8 record. Entering 2009 the front office brought in the highest priced talent that could be found. After finishing the season with a record of 4-12 the front office brought in a new head coach (who happens to be a two-time Super Bowl champion), and a very talented quarterback to try and correct what I expect to be a short-lived trend of losing.

Likewise, the Atlanta Braves may place a high priority on developing talent from within, but the organization does not support that priority with a history of releasing talented players and aggressively trying to keep payroll as low as possible.

What the Pirates have done, as highlighted by Loyal Homer, sets them apart as the bad example MLB should ABSOLUTELY take action against. The Pirates have manipulated the system SOLELY for the purposes of profitability.

The model of profit sharing employed by MLB, and similar programs like those in the NFL, does not exist to help make all the league owners wealthier. It exists to help promote parity in the league. The luxury tax that the New York Yankees (for one example) pay annually because of their high-priced talent is not intended – nor should it – as a bonus payment to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is extra money the team can pipe into the organization to help make sure the Yankees, and other “haves,” cannot simply run away with the season each year.

The Pirates are presented to the public as a baseball team that wishes to compete in Major League Baseball. However, behind the scenes management continues to hamstring the team, making that process of winning exceedingly difficult. The current system is being USED… not as a means to enhance his team’s viability, but instead as a means to enhance profitability.

Nutting’s operation of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise is no different than that of a slumlord. He provides his consumers with nothing more than a shell of the product they pay for. He provides them with no means for long term viability, and intentionally undermines any chance they would have at success because he absolutely refuses to expend any cost other than the bare minimum to remain functional.

As long as he gets paid, he doesn’t care what happens to the organization or the public.

The business of sports and the purpose of sports are two separate things. While I completely understand and agree with the notion that a team must remain financially viable, competition must also remain the sports organization’s top priority.

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

The Winning versus Wealth Debate

September 9, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer.

It has been a while, but we have another TSD first on our hands.

They said it couldn’t be done. But I, Bleacher Fan – for the first time in The Sports Debates history – am about to include a Broadway Musical reference in today’s article.

In Mel Brook’s hit Broadway musical The Producers, main character Max Bialystock is a theater producer who discovers a loophole where he can actually make more money by producing flops than if he were to produce hits. Armed with that knowledge, Max convinces accountant Leo Bloom to partner and embark on the ultimate scheme: Find the world’s worst play, hire the worst director, raise a bunch of money, hire the worst actors, close the play after it flops and take all the extra money raised and run.

Now I am sure you are wondering how this could possibly be related to sports. Well, have you ever heard of the Pittsburgh Pirates?

In a recent reporting of their financial records, it was found that the Pirates, owned by Bob Nutting, are actually PROFITING despite being deep in the throes of having the longest streak of consecutive losing seasons – not just in baseball – but in ANY major American sport in history.

The team continues to lose on the field, but has a history of being a successful business.

Pirates’ officials claim they have simply been unlucky in developing their talent, but some are now saying that the Pirates have stopped trying to win.

For the few fans of the Pirates that still exist, it would be extremely heartbreaking to think that Nutting was following Max Bialystock’s lead in the running of their beloved baseball team.

Which brings us to our question of the day: Should governing bodies in sports, such as the MLB or NFL, force teams to pursue a winning strategy, rather than simply a profitable one?

This question is not intended to focus on what the rules would or should look like, but rather to ask whether these major sports organizations should tolerate teams that consistently take cost-cutting measures which appear to directly lead to poor performance on the field.

Loyal Homer will argue that leagues should enforce policies where winning always takes precedent over profitability, while Babe Ruthless will argue that profitability is a form of success that can and should also be pursued.

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The 2010 Biggest Winner at the MLB Trade Deadline Debate… Ludwick, Tejada Legitimize Padres

August 2, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Babe Ruthless.

Many teams did an excellent job of improving their October chances on the last day of July. But, one team stands out from the rest of the pack as much for what the team did not do as for what it actually accomplished. The San Diego Padres, thought to be cellar dwellers coming into the season, are traditionally sellers at the trade deadline. More to the point, the team sells or it does nothing.

But 2010 is clearly a different season for the Padres. Thought to be considering major changes at the season’s outset, like the potential trade of the team’s only offensive All-Star, Adrian Gonzalez, the team decided it was time to commit to a newfound strategy – adding pieces of a championship puzzle for a run in October.

The hallmark of a good team – and good management in both sports and business – is the ability to refuse denial. When a team is already leading its division, as the Padres are currently doing by a game and a half (at this writing), the inclination is to stand pat. The team is leading, so let’s not upset the apple cart. But the Padres refused to maintain a division leading status quo. Perhaps the hard-charging San Francisco Giants had something to do with that. The Giants have won 18 of the last 23 games, and a once comfortable gap for the Padres has slowly been shrinking.

The Padres needed to add power and experience to a still young(ish) roster. The team clearly did not need pitching, with one of MLB’s best pitching staffs and its best relievers. But, offense is always a struggle in San Diego, so the team added some pieces that will be a big help.

The first helpful piece is veteran infielder Miguel Tejada. Sure, Tejada has a murky and potentially sordid history with performance-enhancing drugs. But those transgressions appear to be behind the slugger. He is certainly not the offensive threat he once was, but he did hit .313 last season in Houston. His .269 average at third base for Baltimore was not that impressive, but getting out of the A.L. East will likely be a boost to the hitter’s bat. He is a smart, savvy player who will be able to make effective use of the gaps in San Diego. All the team had to give up was a reliever prospect named Wynn Pelzer. It is clear the team has relief prospects to spare.

What makes the Padres the winners of the trade deadline is not just the quality of the talent added, it is the ability to add talent with a minimal price tag by taking advantage of other contending teams’ desperation. The St. Louis Cardinals were in desperate need of an upgrade to the starting pitching staff. The team targeted, and got, Cleveland Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook. But, the Cards would never have been able to secure Westbrook’s services if not for the inclusion of Padres’ farmhand Corey Kluber in the deal. With all of those factors in play, the Padres managed to get a premium outfield talent to add a big right-handed bat to the lineup in Ryan Ludwick.

Ludwick is not an afterthought talent. Once believed to a top prospect in the Cleveland Indians organization, he has blossomed after getting released by the Tribe and signed by the Cardinals. In fact, Ludwick’s plate production has been consistent, routinely hitting .266 or higher, including a .299 batting average in 2008. His 2010 batting average thus far is nothing to scoff at either, with another steady .281. Ludwick can hit home runs – he hit 37 of them, driving in 113 runs a couple of seasons ago – but he probably will not hit quite as many in the expansive layout of Petco Park. The good news is that he is also a great doubles hitter, already with 20 this season, and he has a pair of triples. Ludwick can cover a lot of ground in the field, and is fast enough on the base paths. The combination of right handed power and speed will be a big help to the Padres’ lineup.

It has long been a prevailing thought in baseball ownership that if the team wins, fans will attend. The ratio of wins to filled seats still is not in the team’s favor in San Diego, but it is probably too soon to judge. The good news is that the team took aggressive steps to get better at the deadline, proving to fans that this season is worth spending some money on. It is likely that fans will respond by paying for tickets, and the team will continue to win in a division thought to be lost to the Dodgers or Rockies way back in April. It is amazing what a few months – and a couple of shrewd trades – can do for the prospects of a team and its fans.

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The 2010 Biggest Winner at the MLB Trade Deadline Debate… Yanks Already Thinking October

August 2, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Sports Geek.

The City That Never Sleeps was true to its name as the MLB trade deadline neared, where the city’s most famous team made multiple deals to get into a better position to win a 28th world championship. The acquisition of Lance Berkman, Kerry Wood, and Austin Kearns gives the Yankees the key pieces needed to dominate. It would have been easy for the Yanks to sit on their laurels, especially after missing out on some big targets like Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt. Instead the Yanks head into the stretch reloaded and ready to rumble.

The MLB trade deadline is just another opportunity for organizations and players to measure their level of resolve to win. As in every aspect of the game, there are winners and losers. A great deal of what determines the separation between the two is a team’s willingness to compete. The Bronx Bombers approached the trade deadline with the same ferocity that has kept them atop one of the most competitive divisions in baseball.

The Yankees filled one of th most pressing needs by trading for switch hitting slugger Lance Berkman. While bringing in another first baseman may seem counter intuitive considering Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher are more than capable of covering the bag, Berkman’s bat makes him a valuable commodity. Manager Joe Girardi envisions him as “an RBI guy” and “a run producer,” something Berkman has done quite well throughout his career in Houston. Add the fact that he is a better left-handed hitter in a park where balls seem to fly out of the park and a possibly significant jump in production, similar to the numbers Johnny Damon posted in the new Yankee Stadium, could be in the offing.

But perhaps Berkman’s greatest attribute is the versatility he offers. Since losing Nick Johnson to injury the Yankees have had a gaping hole at the designated hitter position. The Yankees have tried, largely unsuccessfully, to get production from the position with everyone from Colin Curtis to Kevin Russo. Berkman will be able to contribute immediately at DH and makes for one heck of a bench player on days when he is not in the starting lineup. There may be days when he sits to allow Jorge Posada at-bats or other position players to take a break from fielding, but his simple presence on the roster is something opposing clubs have to prepare for. Certainly Berkman is not the same player he was a few years ago, and there will be days when Berkman will not start, but the Yankees are certainly a much better team with him.

New York also addressed another area of need by adding Kerry Wood to the bullpen. Wood will be called upon to help bridge the gap between Yankees’ starters and Mariano Rivera. While Wood’s numbers coming out of the pen this season are less than impressive (1-4 with a 6.30 ERA), there is no doubt that he can be an asset in relief.

Over the previous two seasons Wood has accumulated 54 saves with a 3.75 ERA. Since he won’t be forced to deal with the stress and rigors of closing in New York, acting as a capable set up man should be no problem. And with each arm the Yankees add it makes the team more flexible to bring in a pitcher for a short appearance as a left or right handed specialist. Wood fits this mold.

The only concern regarding Wood is his notorious injuries, but the best part is the Yankees will not live or die by his health. They already own a bullpen of talented hurlers and Wood serves as icing on the proverbial cake.

Much less flashy was the rather silent acquisition of veteran outfielder Austin Kearns. By adding another outfielder the Yankees solidify the bench. The Yanks face a grueling schedule down the stretch with continuous play, and it is obviously important to Joe Girardi to keep players rested going into the post-season. Kearns gives New York a trustworthy fielder that can give guys like Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher days off. Yet one more sign that the Yankees are thinking big pitcher and aren’t pulling any punches.

While these acquisitions may not seem as grandiose as the Rangers’ trade for Cliff Lee or the Phillies’ trade for Roy Oswalt, they are no doubt important for a playoff bound team. They are also indicative of a growing change in philosophy for the Yanks – pursuing value. The Yankees could have mortgaged the farm system to get some of the bigger names on the trade block, but the team would have paid dearly to lock up the star in a long term contract. Both the Berkman and Wood deals are relatively short term and their prior clubs are shouldering a great deal of their remaining contracts. What the Bombers get in return are low cost, high upside contributors that don’t handcuff the team moving forward. The Yankees can still add the same free agents in the off-season and don’t have to offer the minor league talent to get them. Now that’s value.

The Yankees are no doubt trade deadline winners. Will it pay off? That is yet to be seen, but for a club that won with much the same roster as last season, going into free agency these additions certainly haven’t hurt the team’s chances.

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Posted by Babe Ruthless

The 2010 MLB Trade Deadline Target Debate… Getting It Dunn in October

July 23, 2010

Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Sports Geek.

Don’t hold your breath about a very exciting MLB trade season as the deadline approaches.

Realistically, I expect 2010 to be one of the more lackluster seasons we have seen in recent history regarding trades. There are plenty of teams in the league right now who are either holding on to slim leads in their division or are within striking distance for a playoff spot. All of them could use some real help to stay in post-season contention.

The problem is that there is an absolute dearth of pitching talent on the market, putting all of the emphasis on offense (and that pool isn’t much deeper).

As far as the pitching talent that IS available, Roy Oswalt COULD make for some interesting trade conversations, but the latest reports of his very high demands may have diminished his appeal somewhat. And when you consider the fact that Cliff Lee was dealt to the Rangers two weeks ago, the depth of available pitching talent is just not what it has been in recent seasons, when guys like C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee (the FIRST time around), and Roy Halladay were sitting on the block.

As for hitters, Prince Fielder is one who could certainly make a team in need of offense happy, but the latest out of Milwaukee seems to be that he is not going anywhere this season.

That really only leaves one viable trade option, and that is Washington Nationals first baseman, Adam Dunn.

The Nationals’ slugger has already notched 23 home runs on the season, tying him for the second most in the National League. Along with those homers Dunn has also knocked in 61 runs (the tenth most in the N.L.) and has a slugging percentage of .565 (the third highest in the N.L.).

While the Nationals have publicly expressed a desire to keep Dunn on the roster, the reality is that he will command far too hefty a salary as a free agent, and I doubt an organization that is five games away from crawling out of the basement WITH him on the payroll would be willing to ante-up as much as $60M, which is reportedly Dunn’s asking price.).

The Nationals are in a classic small-market pickle, and while it may not be an ideal situation, it is the perfect formula for a big-deal trade.

The likelihood of Dunn staying on in Washington after this season is very slim, so the Nationals are going to want to get some value for the slugger, rather than just watch him walk away. There are plenty of potential suitors out there, such as the Giants, Angels, and the White Sox, who would love to see Dunn’s bat added to the lineup. All three teams have expressed an interest in upgrading at the plate, and all three currently are either preserving or chasing very narrow leads within their respective divisions, likely serving as motivation to pull the trigger in order to stay on top.

The question boils down to how much the Nats are going to hold out for before they are willing to make a deal.

Washington’s general manager, Mike Rizzo, understands the value that Adam Dunn brings to the table, and I think he also understands the fact that they currently hold the rights to one of the only viable trade targets of the season. He will do his part to make sure the price tag for Dunn remains as high as possible, but in the end Dunn should wind up as a great mid-season acquisition for a lucky team who was looking for a little post-season insurance.

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Posted by Bleacher Fan

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