Earlier today, George A King of the NY Post reported that the Rangers have been following and scouting Joba Chamberlain. With the type of relief depth the Yankees have, and the offensive needs, it’s no surprise that they’d make Chamberlain available. The question here is what the Yankees want back.
The team has some obvious needs offensively. The Yankees are down an outfielder until May and a corner infielder for even longer. If the organization is looking to find an outfielder, they’d likely target a right-hander to compliment the three lefties. They also may be looking younger, as Curtis Granderson will become a free agent in 2014, and Ichiro Suzuki the year after. The problem with acquiring an outfielder from the Rangers is their own needs in replacing Josh Hamilton.
If a corner infielder is what they want, the team is best suited to go with a younger player that can provide depth at third base while Alex Rodriguez‘ hips continue to be minced into pulp. The Rangers have a few corner infield options that could make some players expendable.
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Mike Olt- There’s a bit of hype surrounding the Rangers’ third base prospect, but he’s still a very good player that fits the Yankees’ needs. Both Baseball America and Jonathon Mayo’s MLB.com ranked Olt the 22nd best prospect in baseball. At 23 years old, the right-handed hitter batted .288/.398/.579 in Double-A Frisco, hitting 28 home runs. The Rangers gave Olt a chance in the Majors at the end of last season, where he only had 5 hits and 5 walks in 40 plate appearances.
He’s also struggled so far in Spring Training, but small sample size aside, Olt is a very good third base prospect, arguably the best at the moment, and he’s blocked by Adrian Beltre through 2016. Obviously, Chamberlain would only be one piece in a trade for Olt, but he shouldn’t cost much more if they add one of the top four prospects into the package.
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Mitch Moreland- Assuming the Rangers want to move Olt or Lance Berkman to first base, Moreland becomes available. The first baseman and outfielder fits the Yankees’ two primary needs, and has a career .264/.328/.441 slash line. As good as it sounds, his wRC+ is only 100 because of the hitter’s ballpark he plays in, and he is consistently a below average hitters on the road. Moreland is still young at 27 years old, and is under team control through the 2016 season.
As a left-handed hitter, he’d probably be able to keep his offensive numbers in Yankee Stadium, however positionally, he doesn’t fit as perfectly as it might sound. Moreland is a good fielding first baseman, but when Mark Teixeira returns to the team, Moreland’s only spot would be the outfield, where he is awful.
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Elvis Andrus- Unless the Yankees are planning to do something with Derek Jeter, I’m not sure why this would make sense for the club. Andrus is one of the best fielding short stops in the game, he can get on base, and he can steal bases. If the Yankees didn’t have a short stop, that’s who we’d be hoping for. Because of Jurickson Profar, who can also play short stop really well, and just happens to be the best prospect in baseball, Andrus could be on the trade block.
I don’t see the Yankees moving Jeter, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. The Yankees have shown concern about his defense in recent years, his injury is another question mark, and who knows how much longer he can keep hitting the ball. Like Olt, Andrus would also cost more than Chamberlain, but this trade is a long shot that I don’t see happening.
I wouldn't really understand trading Joba + 1 of the top 4 prospects for Olt.
A lot of prospect lists have Williams and Sanchez above Olt, and Heathcott and Austin usually aren't far behind.
Sure Olt is big league ready, but our need at 3B is temporary, Youkilis will need a place to play when Tex gets back, and A-Rod coming back midseason as well.
Hey Texas, want to trade equal value prospects and we'll throw in a good reliever for kicks and giggles? Oh what's that? You guys want to put that reliever in the rotation and make us look really silly for wasting him over the past 5 years? Sign me up.
I really don't see a fit on the Rangers roster, I think them scouting Joba has more to do with him being a pending free agent, not an impending trade.
Completely agree! I mean in the GRANDY trade we sent Ian Kennedy to the D-Backs and look how he went from long relief to starter. Also if the rangers get JOBA they'll probably sign him pretty cheap long term and the make him a starter. So we better be getting like a Neftali Feliz or Ogando to if we make a trade for Olt.
It's hard to see how the two teams could line up, but both Cashman and Daniels are smart GMs.
Rangers could use outfield depth, as their starting center fielder projects to be Leonys Martin. They then lose Nelson Cruz and David Murphy this upcoming off season.
Slade Heathcott is probably the closest to the major leagues, and if he stays healthy, it sounds like he could be ready as soon as the end of this year due to his defense. Cashman has also been talking him up of late, which indicates they might be preparing to trade him.
Wait a minute. Trading Joba for a AA prospect, and we'd have to throw something ELSE in? Joba does have a track record in the majors – if we're going by prospect rank – wasn't he was ranked higher than Olt when he came up?
History is in the past. Joba was a stud prospect, but he is not a middle reliever in the final year of control and is returning from two very serious injuries. No way would Texas consider trading a quality prospect a a semi-premium position for him straight up. It would probably take Joba + Heathcott and perhaps a third chip to boot.
I'd rather see the Yankees go after Olt or Andrus over Headley, they would cost less in terms of prospects and payroll. plus Olt is from my neighboring town. The Rangers have been thinking of moving Andrus for Profar, so maybe the Yankees could do the same thing for a year until they realize they really need to move Jeter off short, and Andrus' range could hide Jeters lack there of for a year or 2. Just my 2 cents
Andrus makes the most sense if he can play a little 3rd. He could be a stop-gap at 3rd til Tex returns then split time between 3rd & short, keeping Youklis and Jeter fresh. Jeter is not getting any younger and Nunez is not a viable replacement. NY will need another shortstop in the pretty near future, they could do worse than Elvis. The obvious question would be Joba and who else?
Or just move Youk to DH…we have to assume Hafner is going to miss some (read: a lot of) time this year until he proves he can stay on the field.
That is to say, none of this really makes sense, not just Andrus.
Andrus would not be the every day SS immediately – but he is very good, he is young, and as much as I love Jeter he won't be here forever. Coming off a serious leg injury at an age when most mortals can't man the SS position effectively, Elvis would be a good insurance policy.
The other consideration is that Elvis is good. If NY decides they don't need him once Tex and A-Rod are back he's not a bad trade chip to have. He's young and affordable yet, at the trade deadline he'll still be reasonable for 1 1/2 years. Hard to see how NY could get too hurt with this one.
I guess the big question is how effective will Jeter be, and for how long.
Dude, I want Andrus just as much as anyone else. But what I'm saying is, like it or not Jeter is here for the next two seasons, as is A-Rod for even more than that. And for this season, it makes no sense to trade away guys who can contribute (Joba, +OF) for have a guy who could contribute (andrus) but you'd have no place to put him. Andrus is an everyday SS, his OBP has been nearly .350 three seasons in a row, he's not a rookie, he's not a utility man.
My point is, if you make this trade happen, at least one of the following is going to happen: a.)Jeter/Andrus platooning (no way either is happy with that), b.)Andrus giving A-Rod/Jeter days off (#1 andrus is a SS and #2 it's doubtful Andrus would be okay with that situation), c.)Andrus everyday 3B, A-Rod DH (#1 what about 12million dollar Youk for this season? #2 what about giving all the other guys days off at DH since that's how the Yankees use the DH #3 A-Rod ends up in an even more reduced role so he'd be extremely unhappy) d.)no matter how you slice this, the Yankees would be blowing lots of dough on players that won't be playing or contributing often enough for the investment, which kind of makes no sense in these times of "austerity".
And what good is a trade chip who isn't playing? Unless you finagle him into an everyday role with one of the situations above. Which would mean you're bringing a guy into the club house, intentionally stirring up shit, then trading him away and leaving the clubhouse in a bad mood?
The Yankees best bet is to stick with internal guys until the 2014 offseason, when Jeter is done, and trade for or sign someone else.
I disagree. Not that we are getting Andrus but if we did, I'd find a way to have him play every day. Move Jeter off SS to 3rd and have arod dh.
If the biggest concern around Jeter is if he can keep up in the field, I don't see how changing his position is going to help any.
Jeter's range/arm, eroding with age, might be less of an issue at 3B, and might extend his career, assuming that's anyone's goal.
At this point NY needs to think about the definite possibility that ARod is either done, or close to done, and can be counted on for very little. They need to work around him. If he can DH, then great. If not, they have Hafner (who may work out better than expected). Texeira and Youkilis- who knows about either of them.
They need to somehow find or develop a major league catcher; more critical than the mediocre outfield.
Jeter and arod also have the arm and speed to play right field, which will help with there getting at bats and our right handed out field back-up. also ether Jeter can come back this year or he will op-put of his deal looking for more money so if he cant do it this year we need a replacement or if he does good we need one next year.
Asking Jeter to move aside for a guy who is a 2 time All Star at 24 years old, worlds better defensively and is much better on the basepaths is out of the question? Jeter has to prove himself every single year at age 39. Andrus star is still rising and will be for years to come. If the Yankees are going towards a retooling process and it sure looks like theyd like to, maybe getting a young proven superstar at a position that the Yankees have absolutely 0 prospects at any level at wouldnt be a bad idea. Id ask Jeter to move to 3rd before I ask Andrus or Profar if the Yankees ever got them (very longshot)
Yankees have an excellent shot at Profar and a good bit more if they're sending Cano to Texas
None of these combinations makes any sense at all at this point in time. Cashman has made it abundantly clear that he's not going to make a knee-jerk move to fill the Granderson/Teixeira void. The Ben Francisco deal (and others like it) are what you're going to be looking at for the foreseeable future, which means through the end of 2014, unless Hal removes the $189M ceiling. And the Francisco deal isn't a bad one. He's a useful player and certainly provides some RH balance in the OF. At this point he's a better option that Matt Diaz, and it appears that Juan Rivera will open the season at 1B, at least part of the time. Dan Johnson seems to have thrown his opportunity out the window with his inability to either hit or field. The next pick off the scrap heap will be a 1B. Question is, who?
Hopefully the Yankees try and get Daric Barton from the A's to fill the void. A good to great fielding 1st basemon with very good patience and a left handed stroke. Could definitely work
as long as it's not Pujols, it doesn't much matter who fills in at 1B for 40 games. it's up to the pitchers to carry the team early on.
This may be a trade leading to another trade. If they Yanks pick up Andrus or Olt, they may be able to package that player with someone other prospect to another team. Maybe Cashman sees this as "give up Joba for Olt and deal Olt and another player for Headley or even Olt/Warren/? for a starting outfielder somewhere. Quite likely this is just the Rangers kicking the tires on Joba with the idea of him starting in Texas next year.
I would probably do a Soto-for-Joba trade.
That might be possible. (Everything else discussed in this thread is a pinstriped fantasy.)
Andrus has been talked about at 2nd base for the Rangers, i wonder if he's being considered there for the Yankees. This of course, is me talking about the possibility of a Robinson Cano trade.