| Rob Intrieri. 4th August, 2005 - 1:37 am
 Ah, the trading deadline: a time for the rich to get richer; a time when every pennant chaser goes shopping around for the pieces/pieces to complete their puzzle to put them over the top.
This year, though, the Yankees found themselves merely staring through the glass at the finer shops, without the resources to buy anything of great value. Instead, Yankees GM Brian Cashman looked around the discount stores for help, as odd a scene as Donald Trump ordering from the dollar menu at the local Mickey D’s. But, to his credit, Cashman adapted well to this unfamiliar environment, trading for Shawn Chacon and Al Leiter and picking up Hideo Nomo and Alan Embree. And while none of these names are exactly eye-popping, they will at the least eat up innings while most of the Yankees rotation sits on the DL.
Compared to the rest of the league, the Yankees truly made out well. The Yanks knew they were limited in what they could do, with prospects either untouchable or undesirable, and should be thankful the deadline passed without any big names switching uniforms. Of course, a trade that got Manny out of Boston would have been welcome, but besides that the Yankees lucked out.
It is obvious that the Yanks aren’t the powerhouse they usually are and that Boston is struggling, too. Given these two facts, if I were any other team in the mix I would have done all in my power to get better. It’s like when MJ left basketball to play baseball for a year, it was everyone else’s chance to finally win the Championship. Had I been the White Sox, there’s no doubt I would’ve given up whoever it took to acquire A.J. Burnett. Same goes for Baltimore. If I were the Twins, I would have traded all the pitching prospects in my system to put Soriano in a Minnesota uniform (the scariest scenario in my eyes, because it could have happened).
These types of trades would make those teams the favorites and made the Yankees the underdog. But none of this became a reality, and the Yankees find themselves right in the thick of things, both in the division and in the wild card. So the Yankees should be sending thank you cards to the GMs around the league for their generosity and giving the Yankees the opportunity to continue competing. Because we all know who’ll be the favorites heading into October now.
Trade analysis: The best thing the Yankees did at the deadline was not trading for Randy Winn. Supposedly the answer to the Yankees’ problems in centerfield, Winn has only played a few games in center this season and seemed to be the Mariner’s version of Bernie Williams. There was no need for him in New York and the Yankees realized that in the nick of time.
The Yankees managed to hold onto their prized prospects for once and will benefit in the future as a result. 2B Robinson Cano and P Chien-Ming Wang have proven that they can play on the major league level, and even 3B prospect Eric Duncan has flashed some potential.
The best actual trade the Yankees made at the deadline was for Shawn Chacon. Yes, he was 1-7, but at least it sounded like he wanted to play for a winner after being stuck at a high altitude for much too long. Plus, the Yankees didn’t give up much to get him, he’s only 27, and he performed well allowing only one unearned run to the Angels in his debut for the Yankees.
In terms of picking players off waivers, I was stumped a little by Nomo. He was released by the last place Tampa Bay Devil Rays, wasn’t he? Embree, on the other hand, seemed like a no-brainer. He is a proven reliever and may be just the guy the Yankees need to help them get through the middle innings to hand the ball over to Mo.
All in all, Cashman and the Yankees did a good job making due with what they had, and for the first time in a long time didn’t rush to conclusions. For that, I give them a round of applause. |
