Yankees Acquire Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte

Just like always, the Yankees aren’t willing to settle for less than a championship this year. Thank god we have management that always wants to win. With the trade deadline approaching, Cashman’s crew was busy once more despite some suggestions not too long ago that it was time to call it quits for 2008. What they came up with will certainly be a nice help for this year and thankfully not too big a hit for the future.

First off I want to say that Cashman hasn’t sold out. He is still sticking by our young prospects and the fact that we still have Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes shows that. This move does send away prospects, but without them the farm system is far from depleted. We still have good depth at their positions and it really shouldn’t be a big hit. Add that with the fact that Nady and Marte are in their prime and not on the downhill just yet, and this move makes a lot of sense for us.

The prospects we will part with are Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Phil Coke, and George Kontos. Kontos and Coke aren’t likely to become anything special, although Tabata and Ohlendorf certainly seem to have a future. Tabata is considered one of the best athletes in the organization, but he is an outfielder, a position that we have a huge abundance at. Add that with the fact that he is struggling this year and that Nady is also an outfielder, and it doesn’t seem that bad to let him go. Nady will be a great addition to the squad, as he will certainly help the struggling lineup. He bats right-handed as well, which is a big plus since most of our bats are lefties at the moment. He will also be some good insurance should we choose to let Abreu walk next year.

Ross Ohlendorf showed some good potential this year, but the Yankees have a lot of good arms in the farm system, but most just aren’t ready yet. Marte gives us someone who can help the team right now, in a bullpen that will welcome him. With a cohort of young pitchers and the extensive resources we have, I am not too worried about our pitching situation in the future.

So, that’s basically what the trade is all about. Of course everyone won’t agree with my views, but I believe that letting go of these prospects was worth it, especially considering what we got in return and what we have left. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about keeping a strong farm system, but sometimes you just have to let some guys go if you want to win in the present (if we did a deal like IPK for Fuentes, as the Rockies are supposedly seeking, then I would be 100% against it, but looking at who we lost and who we got, it certainly isn’t bad.) Although the 2008 Yankees have received a lot of scrutiny this year with predictions that we wouldn’t make it in the ultra-competitive AL East, I think that we do still have a chance and I am glad to know that the organization feels similarly.

Update: Instead of George Kontos and Phil Coke, the Pirates will be receiving Dan McCutchen and Jeff Karstens. Apparently they had a choice of two players out of a pool of several (including Kontos and Coke) and decided to go with Karstens and McCutchen. It really isn’t that big a deal because none of them are anywhere near big prospects and chances are none of them will have a big impact in the future.

MLB Draftees: Erik Lovett, Nikolas Turley

This post is part of the MLB Draft 2008 get-to-know the draftees series.

Erik Lovett, a first baseman and outfielder from Mount Olive College was selected by the New York Yankees in the 2008 MLB draft. Lovett, who will turn 23 in August is a 6’1, 220lbs. lefthander.

As a junior, Erik played in all 64 of Mount Olive’s games. He hit .371, with 28 doubles, 18 homeruns, and 77 RBI’s. His walk to strikeout ratio was 52:44. In the field Erik split time between first base and outfield. His fielding percentage for the 2008 season was .990. We see Erik best served as a first basemen. If he continues to develop, he could have a serious career in the big leagues.

In the 50th round (1502nd overall) of the 2008 MLB draft, the New York Yankees selected Nikolas Turley, a southpaw out of Harvard- Westlake High School in La Canada, California. He turns 19 years old on September 11th and is a 6’3, 210lbs lefthander.

At Harvard-Westlake, Nikolas led his squad to a 14-13 record his senior season after going 13-12 his junior year. As the last pick, it would appear Turley has a lot of work to do to improve his mound presence, but that is nothing a little collegiate baseball can’t help solve. It will be interesting to track Turley’s performances from here on out, especially as we (and scouts) track his progress on whether or not he is MLB material.

This post is part of the MLB Draft 2008 get-to-know the draftees series.

Yankees Trail by 3.5

After another victory tonight, the Yankees have extended their win streak to 5 (and the home streak to 9.) With a Tampa loss, we sit only 3.5gb with a 55-45 record. Tomorrow is the last game of the series against the Twins and after that the Yanks have a day off before starting a series with Boston (who are only 2.5 games ahead of us [likely to go to three later tonight as the BoSox are winning right now] at this point for the wildcard.) The Yankees are far from out of it and if we can keep the momentum going we could see ourselves in second or maybe even first place in less than a week. So, who said that the Yankees are done for this year?

Yankees look for sweep!

After coming away with a thrilling 13 inning win on Saturday the Yankees look to sweep the Oakland A’s on Sunday. The 1:05pm start will feature Andy Pettitte and Justin Duchscherer as the starting pitchers.

Duchscherer is 10-5 this season with a 1.82 ERA. With those numbers it is no surprise that he was a member of the 2008 All Star Game. Justin has won 7 of his 9 decisions, with his last start a 7.2 inning no-decision, in which he allowed 5 hits and 2 runs against the Anaheim Angels. The A’s lost that game 4-3. In Duchscherer’s last start against the Yankees, he went 7 strong innings and allowed just 5 hits and a run. He is 1-1 in his career against the Yankees. Newcomer Richie Sexson has the most career at bats against Duchscherer, going 4-14 with 2 doubles and a homerun. Alex Rodriguez is 4-11 career against Justin with a homerun and 5 RBIs.

For the Yanks, Andy Pettitte will look to pick up his 11th win of the season. Andy is 10-7 with a 4.03 ERA on the season. Pettitte is 9-5 in his career against the A’s including a victory against them earlier this season. Pettitte is 6-2 with 2 no decisions in his last eight starts.

Let’s finish the series with a sweet sweep!

Yankees/A’s Game Two

After a big win Friday night, the Yankees will battle the A’s again on Saturday afternoon at the stadium.

For the A’s, 22 year old rookie Sean Gallagher will throw. Sean is 1-0 since coming over in the Rich Harden deal before the All Star Break. In his last start, Gallagher went 7 innings, allowing just 2 hits and 2 runs in a 9-2 win over the Angels. Gallagher, a 12th round draft pick by the Cubs in the 2004 draft is 4-4 overall, with a 4.25 era. As a Cub, Gallagher had lost his last three starts before coming over to Oakland. No current Yankee player has faced Gallagher in their career.

For the Yankees, Joba Chamberlain will be on the hill. Joba is 2-3, with a 2.62 era on the season. Chamberlain has pitched in 47 games in his career, with 2008 being his first full season in the majors.  He has made five starts at home this season, going 1-1 with a 3.41 era. His last start was on July 11th against the Blue Jays and he went 6.2 innings, allowing 7 hits, and 3 runs in a 5-0 loss. His last win was June 25th at Pittsburgh, a game in which he pitched 6.2 scoreless innings. Frank Thomas is the only current A’s player to face Chamberlain, and he is 0 for 2.

This game is scheduled to begin at 1:05pm.

Richie Sexson a Yankee

Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the Yankees have agreed to a tentative deal with Richie Sexson. With the offense doing not-so-well, Cashman seems to think that Sexson may be able to help us. The Yanks are going to be paying him the minimum, so if it doesn’t work out then oh well. The main reason that he is appealing is because he bats right-handed, which can certainly be useful for the lineup. We have struggled against left-handed pitchers all year and Sexson may be able to help out that cause a bit. I know Sexson isn’t nearly what he used to be, but I think we should give him a shot (atleast until he starts to play poorly) because there is a [slight] chance that he might help out the team a bit, just look at how the Ponson signing is working out so far.