Gio Gonzalez has been one of the hotter commodities on the trade market at the Winter Meetings, and it’s easy to see why. The young left-hander has eclipsed 200 innings in each of the past two seasons, has very nice stuff, and though he’s qualified for arbitration as a Super Two, he’s still got four years of team control remaining. Yesterday, we got an idea of what Oakland is looking for in exchange for Gonzalez. Joel Sherman reports that the A’s are looking for “high-end young outfielders,” while Bob Klapisch passes along that the A’s asked the Yankees for Jesus Montero and either Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances for Gonzalez.

The big takeaway here is that teams are asking a lot for their marketable talent, even when they have glaring weaknesses. As attractive as he might be, Gonzalez has walked 4.1 batter per nine innings over the past two seasons, which is not good, and will be even less good moving to the American League East, where the ballparks are more accommodating to the long ball than in the West. Suffice it to say, the Yankees probably won’t be trading Montero or Banuelos for Gonzalez, and they don’t have high level outfielders in the system.

Still, while it’s a long shot, there might be the faint outline of a deal here. In a lot of ways, Gonzalez and Betances share a similar profile. Both flashed great strikeout ability in the minors, but both consistently walked a lot of guys. Betances has the more appealing body type of the two, but on the other hand, you already know Gonzalez is capable of turning in 200 big league innings. Personally I’d be happy to trade Betances for Gonzalez, but that isn’t going to get a trade done, and there’s no other obvious piece to include behind Betances. A three-team deal could help that, but if the Yankees are only getting Gonzalez in return, I can’t see them trading away many high-level prospects.

And that seems to be the story of 2011; plenty of potential options, but no good matches unless the Yankees are willing to give up at least one of their top two prospects.

On second thought, maybe Major League Baseball does need a salary cap to level the field between the Miami Marlins and everyone else.

Previously, when the possibility of acquiring former Dodgers’ pitcher Hiroki Kuroda has presented itself, his desire to remain out West (or in Japan) has proved to be a big hurdle towards making a deal possible. But now, with Kuroda a free agent and the Dodgers seemingly uninterested in keeping him around, David Waldstein is reporting that Kuroda is willing to move east, and that the Yankees have an advantage in Russell Martin, who was Kuroda’s catcher for his first three seasons.

On the other hand, Joel Sherman reports that the financials of the matter are a “tough fit” because the Yankees don’t see him as an obvious “top-of-the rotation” pitcher. In other news, “top-of-the-rotation” pitcher is quickly becoming my least favorite meme of the offseason. Kuroda reportedly wants $12-13 million annually, but on a short term deal, and true frontline pitcher or not, if Kuroda were on the roster right now he’d likely be the Yankees’ second best starter. Unless someone else is willing to guarantee Kuroda a second year, or the Yankees have something better on the line, I don’t see any reason to pass on Kuroda.

Unless, that is, you happen to think the Yankees already have their starting rotation set.

I don’t even know what to say about this.

One Yankee talent evaluator called 20-year-old Mason Williams a “true five-tool” player. Another said that he is the guy to watch shoot through the system.

Williams is the 20-year-old outfield prospect, whom the Yankees are going to be asked to trade, but are unlikely to give up unless it is for a major — I’m talking [Felix Hernandez]-level — starter.

Really? No, really?

I know we’re in a new age of prospect hugging and all, and everyone is valuing their prospects to an exponentially greater degree than they did five years ago, but this is insane. No, I take that back. Calling it insane is far too generous.

That’s not to take anything away from Williams’ abilities, by any means. He had a fantastic season in 2011, and by all accounts he’s got a ton of raw ability. But at the end of the day he’s going on his age 20 season with 317 career minor league plate appearances, and has yet to play a single game at the full season level in the minors. He’s so far away from the big leagues with so much left to learn and a huge competition curve in front of him, there’s no way you can start legitimately dreaming on what he’ll do in the majors yet. If a team wants to offer the Yankees a number two/three type of starter in a Williams centered deal, Brian Cashman should get the paperwork done on that as quickly as possible lest the other GM come to his senses.