Off Topic · Yankees Talk thread (page 114)

Can't complain about this one. Swisher is an improvement over Betemit and the prospects are insignificant. Just gotta wonder what was up with Swisher in CHA.

Swisher had a rough year, but he is a power lefty bat and is a worthwhile pickup. They need a 1b anyway.

Ya think Cody Ransom gets the utility infielder job now?

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Well this certainly isn't going to make a big impact (at least not a positive one!) on our AL-7th best offense. Maybe he's just going to be the backup Center fielder/1st baseman. I wouldn't use the word "great" 3 times here. How low are your expectations?

What do you dislike about Swisher? He gets on base, he hits 25-30hr, he scores runs and he's a pretty decent fielder. What is there to not like?

I did not say I dislike him. I just wouldn't say it was a "great great great" acquisition. At best it's a small downgrade on offense and upgrade on defense at 1st base (unless Swisher is just a backup player).


[Edited by - bonn1997 on 11-13-2008 6:59 PM]

Posted by djsunyc:



This release from the Yankees

YANKEES ACQUIRE 1B/OF NICK SWISHER AND RHP KANEKOA TEXEIRA FROM THE WHITE SOX
IN EXCHANGE FOR INF WILSON BETEMIT AND TWO MINOR LEAGUE PITCHERS

The New York Yankees announced today that they have acquired switch-hitting first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher and right-handed pitcher Kanekoa Texeira from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Wilson Betemit and right-handed pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez.

Swisher, 27, batted .219 (109-for-497) with 86 runs, 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 69 RBI in 153 games with the White Sox in 2008, leading all American League switch-hitters in home runs and ranking second in RBI. He made 69 starts in center field, 47 starts at first base, 16 starts in left field and 11 starts in right field, combining for a .990 fielding percentage (7E, 675TC), including a .996 mark at first base (2E, 481TC).

The Oakland Athletics’ first pick (16th overall) in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Swisher has appeared in 611 career games, batting .244 with 117 doubles, 104 home runs and 324 RBI. Since 2005, his 334 walks are tied for third-most in the American League while his 102 homers are the fourth-most among Major League switch-hitters. He has also recorded at least 20 doubles and 20 homers in each of the last four seasons. Swisher was acquired by Chicago on January 3, 2008, in exchange for left-handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez, right-handed pitcher Fautino De Los Santos and outfielder Ryan Sweeney.

“We’re excited with the addition of Nick Swisher,” said Yankees Manager Joe Girardi. “We feel he has a ton of upside. He’s a patient switch-hitter, adds versatility at a number of defensive positions, including first base and the outfield, and will be a positive presence inside the clubhouse.”

Texeira, 22, was 6-3 with 21 saves and a 1.33 ERA in 51 combined relief appearances with Single-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, ranking second among White Sox minor leaguers in saves. He was selected as a Carolina League mid- and postseason All-Star, posting a 3-1 record and a 0.93 ERA with Winston-Salem, while recording 20 saves in 23 opportunities. Over his final 22 appearances with the Single-A club (23.1IP), he did not allow an earned run and held opponents to a .176 batting average (15-for-85).

A native of Maui, Hawai’i, he was originally selected by the White Sox in the 22nd round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft and entered 2008 with the organization’s best slider, according to Baseball America. In 113 career minor league appearances, he has a 12-7 record with 40 saves and a 2.24 ERA, striking out 149 batters in 144.1IP.

Betemit hit .265 (50-for-189) with 13 doubles, 6 home runs and 25 RBI in 87 games with the Yankees in 2008, making starts at all four infield positions. He was acquired by the Yankees from the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 31, 2007, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Scott Proctor.

Marquez was 8-8 with a 4.47 ERA in 19 combined games (18 starts) with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the GCL Yankees and Double-A Trenton in 2008, missing nearly two months (June 19 – August 12) with a right shoulder strain. Selected by the Yankees in Compensation Round A (41st overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, Marquez led Yankees farmhands in wins (15) and innings pitched (155.1) in 2007 while with Trenton, and owns a career record of 43-40 with a 3.60 ERA.

Nunez, acquired at the 2008 trading deadline from the Washington Nationals in exchange for infielder Alberto Gonzalez, owns a 21-18 record with a 3.26 ERA in 93 career minor league games (64 starts). He appeared in eight games with Double-A Trenton following the acquisition, going 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA and striking out 26 batters in 19.1IP.

We got Texeira after all!

Like I said in the DJ thread.......Swisher is a good pick-up.......he's a more athletic Giambi.

27 years old in baseball is still pretty young. Lets just hope this young boy see's how his name can be apart of history and take his career more seriously.

Cashman is the man!

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Well this certainly isn't going to make a big impact (at least not a positive one!) on our AL-7th best offense. Maybe he's just going to be the backup Center fielder/1st baseman. I wouldn't use the word "great" 3 times here. How low are your expectations?

What do you dislike about Swisher? He gets on base, he hits 25-30hr, he scores runs and he's a pretty decent fielder. What is there to not like?

I did not say I dislike him. I just wouldn't say it was a "great great great" acquisition. At best it's a small downgrade on offense and upgrade on defense at 1st base (unless Swisher is just a backup player).


[Edited by - bonn1997 on 11-13-2008 6:59 PM]

Well you said

Well this certainly isn't going to make a big impact (at least not a positive one!)

which to me, sounds like you don't like it.

i'm a little lukewarm on the acquisition but u can't complain about what we gave up in this trade... Swisher had a pretty disappointing season last year & he does strike out a lot... i like the guy's makeup tho, not necessarily a star calibre player but a guy who can hopefully come in & play his role effectively... i hope this doesn't mean we're now out of the Mark T hunt altogether tho... if anything i'd rather see Swisher playing in CF in a platoon situation w/Gardner for now... we still need a big offensive upgrade to replace Giambi's production.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Well this certainly isn't going to make a big impact (at least not a positive one!) on our AL-7th best offense. Maybe he's just going to be the backup Center fielder/1st baseman. I wouldn't use the word "great" 3 times here. How low are your expectations?

What do you dislike about Swisher? He gets on base, he hits 25-30hr, he scores runs and he's a pretty decent fielder. What is there to not like?

I did not say I dislike him. I just wouldn't say it was a "great great great" acquisition. At best it's a small downgrade on offense and upgrade on defense at 1st base (unless Swisher is just a backup player).


[Edited by - bonn1997 on 11-13-2008 6:59 PM]

Well you said

Well this certainly isn't going to make a big impact (at least not a positive one!)

which to me, sounds like you don't like it.

Not having a big impact and disliking something are simply different. There are many role players who don't have a big impact. That doesn't mean I dislike each of them. I don't know how to make the distinction clearer. I'd agreee with TMS and say I'm lukewarm on this trade. Cashman pulls off lots of tiny moves, while the big impact players go elsewhere, and it seems like nothing has changed. It's not "great great great" by any means. Getting Peavy and Sabbathia in the same off-season would be great great great. Getting a nice backup 1st baseman/centerfielder is kind of like finding a shiny new dime on the ground.


[Edited by - bonn1997 on 11-13-2008 7:58 PM]

Posted by TMS:

i'm a little lukewarm on the acquisition but u can't complain about what we gave up in this trade... Swisher had a pretty disappointing season last year & he does strike out a lot... i like the guy's makeup tho, not necessarily a star calibre player but a guy who can hopefully come in & play his role effectively... i hope this doesn't mean we're now out of the Mark T hunt altogether tho... if anything i'd rather see Swisher playing in CF in a platoon situation w/Gardner for now... we still need a big offensive upgrade to replace Giambi's production.

I agree 100% with all of this. We don't just need a big bat to replace Giambi, though. Getting a comparable player to Giambi just puts us a back to being an average offensive team. We need a huge upgrade in our offense and a huge upgrade in our starting pitching too.

Swisher will be an offensive upgrade over Melky or Gardner in CF, so that's where i wanna play him if anything... we still need a big bopper like u said, & we'll have Jorge & Matsui coming back after rehab, so we should have better depth in the lineup next year... our main problem is getting that ace to anchor the rotation obviously, but we still need to focus on getting a Mark T or Manny in here to replace Giambi & Abreu's production.

Posted by TMS:

Swisher will be an offensive upgrade over Melky or Gardner in CF, so that's where i wanna play him if anything... we still need a big bopper like u said, & we'll have Jorge & Matsui coming back after rehab, so we should have better depth in the lineup next year... our main problem is getting that ace to anchor the rotation obviously, but we still need to focus on getting a Mark T or Manny in here to replace Giambi & Abreu's production.

Swisher in CF would be a slight offensive upgrade. That's a good point. Jorge and Matsui will be back but they're old and I wouldn't depend on them staying healthy. If they do, it's more of a bonus.

i like the deal. gives the yanks some flexibility. looks like our guys are gonna spend on pitching.

cash said he sees swish as a first basemen and sometimes a corner outfielder. he says he's an adequate fielder at the corners but above average at 1st. in fact, he's the best defensive 1b we'll have out there in about 10 years.

he said swish is an emergency cf.

so basically, adios giambi + abreu. as of right now, it's damon in left, nady in right, with centerfield up for grabs.

with that said, looks like the yanks are trying to bring some fire back to the team as swish is a big clubhouse guy and a "rah rah" type of guy too. i think he will help the clubhouse alot.

this is like a scott brosius type acquisition. i think kevin long will help him out bigtime.

in fact, he's the best defensive 1b we'll have out there in about 10 years.

i disagree, he's not a better defender than Tino, Doug M or even Tony Clark at 1B... not even sure he's better than Richie Sexson for that matter... he might be on par w/Nick Johnson but he wasn't much to write home about defensively... but i do like his personality, he's a rah rah type guy like u said & i always thought this team was missing some of that the past couple years.

[Edited by - TMS on 11-13-2008 8:43 PM]

Posted by djsunyc:

i like the deal. gives the yanks some flexibility. looks like our guys are gonna spend on pitching.

cash said he sees swish as a first basemen and sometimes a corner outfielder. he says he's an adequate fielder at the corners but above average at 1st. in fact, he's the best defensive 1b we'll have out there in about 10 years.

he said swish is an emergency cf.

so basically, adios giambi + abreu. as of right now, it's damon in left, nady in right, with centerfield up for grabs.

with that said, looks like the yanks are trying to bring some fire back to the team as swish is a big clubhouse guy and a "rah rah" type of guy too. i think he will help the clubhouse alot.

this is like a scott brosius type acquisition. i think kevin long will help him out bigtime.

Agree with your analysis. I think one of the main reasons we were able to get Swisher is because Ozzie didn't like Swishers "rah-rah" attitude and to me that's baffling. I think it's a great move to bring him in and give the clubhouse a spark. He'll produce well out of the 7 or 8 hole for us.

I'm curious of the lineup for next year. As of now...

1. Damon LF
2. Jeter SS
3. Arod 3B
4. Matsui DH
5. Posada C
6. Nady RF
7. Cano 2B
8. Swisher 1B
9. Gardner?

I'd be interested in batting Cano 3rd in front of ARod. Would be an interesting look.

As I've said many times, I am no fan of Gardner, I do not think he has any future in the majors other than being an extra outfield. We've been down this road with Bubba Crosby before. I'm not going to win this argument because Girardi loves Gardner, but I disagree. I think Cashman really needs to scour the trade possibilites of getting a real everyday CF for this club. He doesn't have to be an all-star but he's gotta be better than Gardner.

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 11-14-2008 12:13 AM]

we absolutely can't go into next season w/that lineup & expect to get into the playoffs... there's a ton of RBI's & OBP u'r losing when u take Bobby Abreu & Giambi outta the lineup... u can't replace those guys w/Nick Swisher & Brett Gardner or Melky... we have to bring in another big bopper *cough* Manny *cough*

Insider has Ryan Dempster likely to test free agency... how would u guys feel about the Yankees pursuing him as their secondary pitching target after CC? he could add some nice depth to our rotation & he's still in his prime at 31, but he's also a big injury risk cuz of his sketchy past history healthwise... still, he had a very good season for the Cubbies last year & logged over 200 innings... overall he's a career 4.55 ERA guy w/a below .500 W-L record, so he might be another Javy Vazquez or Jeff Weaver 1 year wonder too.

personally i think i'd rather target Ollie Perez, Jon Garland or Derek Lowe for the middle of our rotation.


on another note, Andy P has stated he's only looking for a 1 year deal to return to the Yanks next season... he's an option for the bottom of our rotation.

Pettitte seeking 1-year deal
Andy Pettitte | Yankees

According to Newsday and the New York Times, Andy Pettitte said he's looking only for a one-year deal instead of a multiyear offer from the Yankees.

"One year's fine," said Pettitte. "I think I've made it perfectly clear where I'd like to play baseball at."

Pettitte, who made $16 million last season and would have to take a pay cut, has yet to hear if the Yankees would like him back in 2009.

Ryan Ludwick for RF anyone? Insider has the Cards possibly shopping him to the Braves for 1 of their young IFers, Escobar or Johnson... i'm sure we could get in on that action w/some of our young talent... he had a phenomenal season last year & at 30 years old u gotta figure he's got plenty of good years ahead of him... plus he's making peanuts next season.

Or put it this way: If Swisher had replaced Giambi last year, we likely would have finished in 4th instead of 3rd place. It is hard for me to get excited about that. If Swisher had been Giambi's *back up* and a back up outfielder, then we likely would have been a marginally better team.

don't give up the Peavy watch just yet:

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comments/towers-might-have-to-broaden-scope-of-peavy-trade-talks-172106.html

Towers might have to broaden scope of Peavy trade talks
0 Comment
November 14
San Diego Union-Tribune


"The Padres have been unable to line up a trade with one of Jake Peavy's preferred teams and next could turn elsewhere to move the ace pitcher's four-year, $63 million guarantee amid apparent financial duress.

"We've had advanced discussions with the Cubs and Braves, which are Jake's priority teams," General Manager Kevin Towers said Thursday night, "but at this point in time, I do not see a potential deal with either club."

The Yankees and Angels could be next in line, but that doesn't necessarily mean Towers' job will become easier.

At season's end, Peavy said he doesn't want to go to the American League. His agent, Barry Axelrod, said a few days later that Peavy has a "strong, strong, strong preference" to stay in the National League.

During the GM meetings last week, Towers said that Peavy, 27, might be open to going to the Yankees or Angels.

If the Yankees and Angels become viable trade partners, Towers' leverage would increase, but because Peavy's consent is needed for a trade, that leverage hinges on Peavy as well.

Making negotiations even trickier, Axelrod has said that while he and Peavy feel for Padres CEO Sandy Alderson and Towers - who met with the agent early in the process - Peavy would be disinclined to approve any trade that would overly weaken his potential new employer.

Thursday night, Axelrod gave no indication that Peavy suddenly has become excited about going to the AL but did not rule it out.

The Padres and Braves have talked since mid-October. Towers chatted often with Cubs GM Jim Hendry during the GM meetings.

The Dodgers are the only other team on Peavy's preferred list that drew attention from the Padres in the past two weeks. Towers has said he is seeking advanced young starting pitchers and middle infielders, and the Dodgers may have better depth in that area than either the Braves or the Cubs.

But Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who has several other balls in the air, has said he believes the Padres would require him to overpay because the two are division rivals.

The two clubs did make a trade in August, however. As part of those talks, the Padres sought two young pitchers, starter James McDonald and reliever/starter Scott Elbert, who are still with the Dodgers."

i don't see a deal w/the Dodgers materializing for the Pads' ace cuz they're divisional rivals... Yanks might still be in it yet... stay tuned cacas.

Posted by TMS:

don't give up the Peavy watch just yet:

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comments/towers-might-have-to-broaden-scope-of-peavy-trade-talks-172106.html

Towers might have to broaden scope of Peavy trade talks
0 Comment
November 14
San Diego Union-Tribune


"The Padres have been unable to line up a trade with one of Jake Peavy's preferred teams and next could turn elsewhere to move the ace pitcher's four-year, $63 million guarantee amid apparent financial duress.

"We've had advanced discussions with the Cubs and Braves, which are Jake's priority teams," General Manager Kevin Towers said Thursday night, "but at this point in time, I do not see a potential deal with either club."

The Yankees and Angels could be next in line, but that doesn't necessarily mean Towers' job will become easier.

At season's end, Peavy said he doesn't want to go to the American League. His agent, Barry Axelrod, said a few days later that Peavy has a "strong, strong, strong preference" to stay in the National League.

During the GM meetings last week, Towers said that Peavy, 27, might be open to going to the Yankees or Angels.

If the Yankees and Angels become viable trade partners, Towers' leverage would increase, but because Peavy's consent is needed for a trade, that leverage hinges on Peavy as well.

Making negotiations even trickier, Axelrod has said that while he and Peavy feel for Padres CEO Sandy Alderson and Towers - who met with the agent early in the process - Peavy would be disinclined to approve any trade that would overly weaken his potential new employer.

Thursday night, Axelrod gave no indication that Peavy suddenly has become excited about going to the AL but did not rule it out.

The Padres and Braves have talked since mid-October. Towers chatted often with Cubs GM Jim Hendry during the GM meetings.

The Dodgers are the only other team on Peavy's preferred list that drew attention from the Padres in the past two weeks. Towers has said he is seeking advanced young starting pitchers and middle infielders, and the Dodgers may have better depth in that area than either the Braves or the Cubs.

But Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who has several other balls in the air, has said he believes the Padres would require him to overpay because the two are division rivals.

The two clubs did make a trade in August, however. As part of those talks, the Padres sought two young pitchers, starter James McDonald and reliever/starter Scott Elbert, who are still with the Dodgers."

i don't see a deal w/the Dodgers materializing for the Pads' ace cuz they're divisional rivals... Yanks might still be in it yet... stay tuned cacas.

This is where we need a competent GM who can get things done. I'm not saying Cashman should automatically be able to get Peavy but it would be unacceptable if we missed out on Johan, CC, and Peavy all within a 12 month period.