Ken Davidoff wrote yesterday that the Yankees may see Carl Crawford as “Plan B” if the Yankees do not get Cliff Lee in free agency.
I’m rather dubious of this plan, even if the Yankees have contacted Crawford’s “representative.” If Cliff Lee doesn’t become a Yankee, signing an outfielder isn’t a wise move. While the Yankees could trade one of their current outfielders for a starting pitcher then replace said outfielder with Carl Crawford, there are a lot of things that have to be assumed. And we don’t like assumptions now do we?
The first thing we have to assume is that the Yankees don’t sign Cliff Lee. Then, we have to assume that one of the teams that’s heavily in for Crawford–the Angels or the Tigers–doesn’t sign him. After that, we have to assume that the Yankees would have a taker for one of their starting outfielders. In that scenario, the Yankees would be desperate to move a player, which would put them at an incredible disadvantage during trade negotiations.
The idea of snagging Carl Crawford as a consolation prize in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes smacks of the bad version of George Steinbrenner: getting a player whether or not he fits the team and whether or not it costs too much.
If the Yankees miss out on Cliff Lee, they’ll definitely do what it takes to re-sign Andy Pettitte. As for the fifth starter’s spot, we could definitely see another competition in Spring Training. They could also go the trade route to acquire a starting pitcher; I don’t see that happening, though, since it would require the trading of an outfielder, thus creating another hole. By that time, Carl Crawford (or Jayson Werth) could be off the market.
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2 Responses to Crawford Plan B?
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TIQ IQ
I have a feeling that Pettitte is not going to be easier to sign if Cliff Lee is not on board. I don’t know that the Yanks can do what it takes, as I don’t think money is the motivator at this point. On the contrary, I bet it would be easier to sign Pettitte if we got Lee. I think the enticement would be for Pettitte to go out on top as a wold champ one more time. Without Lee he probably would not see next years chances as any better than the last.
Gardner would be the chip (young/productive/cheap), with Montero you shoudl get a pretty good arm. I hope we can keep Montero though… would seem like a let down to let him slip away now.
I keep reading that Crawford is plan B but what you hear out of “sources” whatever that means (could be some dude eating a hotdog on the subway for all I know) is that the Yankees have gotten “multiple” calls on every single outfielder we have and that Cashman has more or less brushed all of them off, so why be so happy with your outfield but Crawford is plan B on the open market?
I understand trading for Upton if you don’t have to include Montero (reports are the Yankees are almost 100% out of that deal BTW after Towers demands being “ridiculous”) because that upgrades you with a possible HOF talent at 23 who you could re-sign at 28-29 when his deal is done but with Crawford you just get to sign a 28 year old with less untapped potential who really isn’t that great an upgrade over Gardner.