Sunday, December 2, 2007

Now They're Trading HUGHES and Melky

After almost four years of hearing what a gem, what a jewel, what a future star Phil Hughes would be and then seeing him tantalize us with his potential by pitching a no-hitter before an injury and then coming back to pitch very well down the stretch AND GET US OUR ONLY POST-SEASON VICTORY, the Yankees are trading away Hughes and Melky for Santana. Hank Steinbrenner is an ass. No one can predict the future of course; maybe Hughes will be injury plagued and Kennedy will be a Hall of Famer. But based on what we know right now, Melky is a solid center fielder with a great arm (something our outfield sorely needs) and Hughes has what it takes to succeed in NYC. We're not just trading those two players for Santana. We're also trading the HUGE financial gap between what we'd pay them and what we'll pay Santana and a new outfielder we now need (Torri's gone by the way; nice going). I know you all think it's Monopoly money but where's the pride in spending more than THREE TIMES as much as most teams on your payroll? We'll easily add ANOTHER $35 million, very conservatively to our payroll. On top of A-Rod's massive deal. Oh God, why oh why did Steve Swindall get drunk and cheat on his wife? Hank and Hal are just like their dads. Moronic men who think out-spending everyone for the biggest names constitutes strategy and think trading the future for a blustery stab at (limited) glory today is smart. This deal is a disaster no matter how well Santana pitches. If Hughes wins 14 games and Santana pitches 20, what do we give up with Melky, demoralizing the other young pitchers and trying to cobble together a Frankenstein's monster of an All-Star team with big bats and no chemistry? Why? Because we were worried Boston would get A-Rod and Santana? If they traded Jacoby away to do it and broke the bank in the process, I would have been thrilled. Hank and Hal couldn't negotiate with a kid running a lemonade stand. "25 cents for a cup? No. We'll give you $100,000 for the entire pitcher, kid. Take it or leave it!"

4 comments:

joe said...

I agree with everything you said but there is one more factor at play. This is not about the difference between winning 15 and 20 games in a season. This is about winning Game 1 (and Game 7?) of a playoff series, something for which the Steinbrenner's will evidently pay any amount of money to swing in their favor.

Michael in New York said...

I know that's their thinking. I say, build the best team to GET to the post-season and the post-season will take care of itself. You gotta play 162 games before you can worry about that. Another thought they have: o my God, we have to trash our team to get Santana or else Boston will get him. To me that's the stupidest reason in the world to make a deal, just to make sure your opponent doesn't get them. It completely perverts the need to build a great team. My final thought: You've just spent a gazillion dollars on A-Rod and now you're gonna trash Melky, a solid center fielder who along with Cano has been A-Rod's support system, screwing with the mentality of both Cano and A-Rod in the process? Good going. Those three had camraderier (A-Rod needed them more than they needed him) and you've just messed with the chemistry of the team and the guys who sort of got A-Rod to relax and sort of enjoy ribbing. Good going.

Anonymous said...

I'll call Hank again tonight to clear up any of the confusion.

There is no way that I would trade both Hughes and Cabrera for Santana. One yes, but both no.

Michael in New York said...

It's completely asinine. So is Boston offering Jacoby.