Mark it down now.  It's going to happen.  Between now and the trading deadline, the New York Yankees are going make a deal for yet another power hitter or aging pitcher.  And, as usual for the Yanks, it's going to be a mistake.


The Yankees history of trading away promising young pitching prospects is a long one.  The Yankees consistently trade away their future in the unsuccessful pursuit of winning right now, which usually means taking on old players with outrageous contracts or young, unproven players who can't handle the New York spotlight.   I'm starting to think Isiah Thomas is pulling double duty in New York making deals for the Knicks and the Yanks.  This strategy actually has a chance to succeed in the NBA where one player can make a huge difference (e.g. Shaq with Magic/Lakers/Heat), but the Yankees have proven that it's a different story in baseball. 


Just last year, the Yankees traded two pitching prospects and two hitting prospects to the Phillies for the privilege of paying Bobby Abreu $15.6 million to hit .250 with only five home runs so far this year.  In 2003, the Yankees traded away prospects in separate deals for Gabe White (pitched only 12 games for the Yankees with an ERA of 5.84) and 46-year-old Jesse Orosco (pitched 15 games, 10.38 ERA).  In 2004, the Yankees traded away Javier Vazquez and other prospects to get two years out of Randy Johnson.  In 2002, they traded Jeremy Bonderman and Ted Lilly to the Tigers for Jeff Weaver.  Weaver lasted only one horrible season in the Bronx, while Lilly is flourishing for the Cubs right now, and Bonderman is one of the best pitchers in the game today, posting 14 wins and 202 strikeouts last year.  And, oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, Bonderman is only 24-years-old.

 

Speaking of age, take a look at some of the prominent names found on the Yankees' roster of pitchers.  In the starting rotation, we find Roger Clemens (44-years-old), Andy Pettitte (35), and Mike Mussina (38).  Add in relief pitchers Mariano Rivera (37) and Mike Myers (38), and we're just a Wilford Brimley sign-and-trade away from starting production on "Cocoon III."  Those guys don't have more than a season or two left in the tank and not one of them has a winning record this year.  You read that right - none of the Yankees pitchers listed above have a winning record this year.  In return for losing more games than they win, the Yankees are paying $18.7 million to Clemens for half a season, $16 million to Pettitte, and $11 million to Mussina.  Former trade-filler Bonderman (in the Weaver trade, Bonderman was "a player to be named later" throw-in) is 9-1 this season so far, with a better ERA than any of those Yankee starters, at a yearly salary of $4.5 million, which is less than the Yankees are paying for one month of Clemens' salary. 

At the closer position, Rivera is getting $10.5 million this season and has a grand total of 10 saves, which ranks 24th in the league.  The list of closers who have more than twice as many saves as Rivera includes such no-names as Jose Valverde (26 saves), Joe Borowski (24), J.J. Putz (23), Bobby Jenks (22), and Takashi Saito (22).  With the exception of Borowski, all of those closers have better ERA's and more strikeouts than Rivera.  Additionally, and here's the real kick in the crotch for Yankees fans, using this season's salaries, the Yankees could have all 5 of those other closers on the roster for less than they are paying Rivera.   I'm not saying that each of those closers is cheaper than Rivera, I'm saying that you could add all of their salaries together, and that total is still less than Rivera's salary.  Read that again and ask yourself whether or not the Yankees know what they're doing.

Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira is the target most-rumored to be in Steinbrenner's sights these days.  I can't say anything bad about Teixeira because he is a great hitter.  However, the last thing the Yankees need right now is more hitting.  They are #4 in the league in batting average and #3 in runs per game.  If Teixeira raises their runs per game from 5.2 to 5.6, that's not going to get them in the playoffs if their pitching gives up 7 or 8 runs every other game.  So, giving up potential future stud pitchers for more hitting seems to be a silly strategy, and the team has been getting worse over the years as they continue to pursue it.  Meanwhile, CNN is reporting napkin shortages in the other MLB cities as general managers wipe the drool from their chins at the thought of the Yankees panicking and trading away young pitchers Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy, and taking on mammoth, franchise-killing contracts in return.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have never been a Yankees fan.  I think the MLB salary cap, or lack thereof, makes it unfairly difficult for smaller market teams to compete, and "Big Stein" has been the worst abuser of the system by far.  In recent years, it seems that they just like seeing their name in the news for doing something dramatic, even if it's a dumb idea.  In that way, the Yankees have become the Paris Hilton of sports.  They should change their ways before they become just as irrelevant

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