After appearing to be out of the race for Colorado’s right handed pitcher, the Yankees apparently have the best chance to land Ubaldo Jimenez (h/t RAB).
That seems to conflict with what Jayson Stark wrote earlier, when he said that the Rockies still want “three sure-thing young players, including one pitcher who goes into their rotation immediately.” The Yankees have one (more or less) sure-thing player in Jesus Montero and one pitcher that could go into the rotation immediately in the person of Ivan Nova. After that, the Yankees don’t have another sure thing player. They have some great upside guys in Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos, but neither of those guys is close to a “sure thing.” Banuelos has more probability than Betances, but he’s still far enough away that labeling him a sure thing is irresponsible.
It is possible that either writer is off base and that the Yankees aren’t in or that the Rockies have lowered their asking price for Jimenez. If it’s the latter, I think the Yankees do need to be all over him and snap him up. Hopefully, they’d take Betances over Banuelos, but I think I could live with Montero/Banuelos/Nova/plus (not much more) for Jimenez.
Joel Sherman’s piece this morning seems to lend more credence to Stark’s point, that the Yankees and Rockies are still apart on the price for Jimenez. Sherman also adds that he’s heard the Red Sox have been more active in their Jimenez-related inquiries. That could be true, but I doubt they’re serious players after the Adrian Gonzalez trade sapped them of the high-end minor league talent the Rockies want.
In other pitcher news, we heard that the Yankees were hot for Gio Gonzalez. That’s definitely out of no where and Oakland isn’t willing to move him, apparently, but that would be welcomed. I’m a big Gio fan, but this definitely isn’t happening. I’d imagine Billy Beane would want a looooot of prospects for Gonzalez and the Yankees wouldn’t want to do that.
Andrew Marchand noted that Hiroki Kuroda would be willing to waive his no trade clause to come to New York (or Boston) and that’s encouraging. Just a week or so ago, it was reported that Kuroda didn’t want to come to the east coast. Playing for a winning team sure would change that, I bet.
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25 Responses to Back in the Ubaldo sweepstakes? (And notes on other pitchers)
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If it’s Montero, Betances and Nova and some “C” level prospect. JUST DO IT. A rotation of CC, Jimenez, Colon, Garcia and Hughes for the rest of the season would bring a smile to my face. Add in a bullpen of: Ayala, Wade, Noesi, Logan, Soriano (?), Robertson and Mo. Looks pretty strong the rest of the year.
I think they are going to demand Banuelos. I honestly do seem them willing to settle for just two of the big 3 prospects, but I don’t think they want Betances as much as they do Manny.
Chris, you’re probably right but who knows. In any case it might just turn out to be a very interesting 3 or 4 days for Cashman and the Yankees.
BTW, what are your thoughts on the Yankees going hard after CJ Wilson IF he hits the FA market at the end of the year? I can’t imagine the Rangers letting him get that far but who knows.
I think he will for sure test the market, if for no other reason than to make the Rangers pony up every last penny.
CJ is a good pitcher no doubt, but I would be wary about going 6-7 years on a deal for someone with 2 years starting history. Which is what I think it will take to pull him out of Arlington.
I’d agree but I would go 5 years.
I think that is where the Rangers will start. They were willing to go up to 7 for Lee, and I don’t see how they can afford to take the PR hit of losing Wilson.
If It’s 5 years, I’m fully down with that. I just see no way they don’t match anything up to 6 years.
What if you could get Gio for the same package? The lefty would look good in our rotation.
That certainly would be another option, but the A’s never seem to have an interest in trading any of their pitchers.
Gio is a good pitcher, but he isn’t an ace. He also has a terrible track record against every main team in the AL East.
The A’s will want a haul for Gio, and I just am not sure what I would give up for him at this point.
Matt, do you see any chance the White Sox might move John Danks? They seems to be starting to make changes. And to be honest while I would love for the Yankees to get Jimenez if the price is reasonable. It’s hard for me to turn away from the lefty Danks in a Yankees rotation at Yankee Stadium. Especially if comes at less of a “prospect cost than Jimenez. What are your thoughts?
Jon Heyman is reporting that Edwin Jackson has been traded to the Blue Jays, and the Jays are now going to flip him for Colby Rasmus.
Heyman is also reporting that Kuroda isn’t going to waive his no trade, he just doesn’t want to say so in public.
Heyman also says that the Yankees tried for Ricky Nolasco, but that the Marlins don’t want to trade him. Thank god! As much as people are worrying about Ubaldo in the East, Nolasco would be a disaster.
Why do you say taht? Nolasco’s had an xFIP under 3.5 for each of the last three years.
He’s also down to 90.5 MPH on his fastball, and his 6.80 K/9 is the lowest since his rookie season. Not to mention he pitches in an extremely pitcher friendly park, and hasn’t been able to post an ERA under 4 since 2008. Which was also the last time he was able to pitch more than 185 innings in a season. His peripherals aren’t bad, but I have never love him as a pitcher.
This is off-topic. But is there any reason why you link to Baseball Reference player pages instead of Fangraphs? I feel Fangraphs has by far the most informative and attractive player page.
Matt,
I think you are being too literal in your interpretation of “sure thing.” No prospect including Jesus is really a sure thing, but some including Jesus and Manny are more projectable than others. From everything I’ve read about Manny, the reason he’s ranked so highly is that he’s considered to highly projectable with a relatively high floor. I would also think that at some point soon, people would stop thinking of Betances as a health risk. He’s been healthy the past two years and performing well.
Also, I’m frankly a little surprised that everyone still prefers Banuelos over Betances. I’d trade Banuelos before I’d trade Betances at this point given Betances’ higher ceiling, Banuelos’ greater market value, and Betances being able to stay healthy for the past two season.
Betances still projects as a bullpen arm by a lot of scouts. He becomes incredibly wild, and with his mechanics that will always be a problem. Most people assume Banuelos has a higher floor than Betances, and therefore is the smarter bet to at least stay a starter.
A couple of comments:
His command/control won’t necessarily always be a problem. Guys as tall as Betances have trouble repeating mechanics and generally take longer to develop consistent control/command. That doesn’t mean though that it will always be a problem. Betances’ control was pretty good last year. He’s taken a step back this year but he’s had some dominant starts mixed in.
The common wisdom is that Banuelos has a higher floor. I think this is based on three factors: (1) He’s a lefty which has value; (2) He’s historically had better command although it’s worth noting that Banuelos has walked 5 per 9IP this season as opposed to Betances’ 5.1 per 9IP; and (3) Betances seemed to be a larger injury risk. It’s pretty clear to me though that Betances has a higher ceiling and I think he’s closing the gap a little on the floor by staying healthy.
I also think the Yankees should place greater weight on ceiling than floor in thinking who to keep. That said, I don’t mean this in any way as a knock on Banuelos. He’s a really good prospect that I think they should also try to keep. I’m just surprised that more people aren’t starting to think that Betances might be the better of the two.
It’s not a lock he will always have control problems sure. But I have very little faith he will ever be someone who doesn’t walk a lot of batters. I tend to look at Betances a lot like Burnett, a lot of talent, great stuff, but held back by inconsistency and control. I think last year was fluke with Betances’ command. He was 22 in A ball, and it was literally the best control he has ever had by far. He is a very erratic pitcher, and I don’t see that changing much personally.
I actually disagree with that in a scenario like this. When two prospects have similar ceilings (both at the best could be 1-2 starters), you should probably stick with the guy with the higher floor. Simply because there is a chance both Banuelos and Betances could end up in the pen, and if one is more likely to stay in the rotation in any form he has more value.
I tell Colorado Montero and either Betances or Banuelos for Jimenez and if they don’t accept that, bye.
What would it take to get Kuroda and would he take a one-year deal if he has a good or better rest of 2011 for the Yankees? Or do you think he’d want at least two years?
He wouldn’t re-sign period. He doesn’t want to leave anyway, but he’s made it known if he does leave he won’t stay.
I’m glad he’s run his mouth like that because that means the Dodgers aren’t getting Montero, Betances, Banuelos, or Nova for him and if they ask for any of those players, bye to him, too.
I don’t think they would be dumb enough to ask for anything like that. At the end of the day I think he just rejects every offer they bring him anyway. For whatever reason he really wants to stay there.
On Jimenez. I think at the end of the day they may be willing to take Montero and Banuelos, but you are going to have to throw in Nova, and a C level prospect.
Then no dice on Jimenez.
From what you’re telling me, Kuroda cares more about his comfort than winning, so I don’t want him now.
I’d do it no doubt. I just believe too much in Ubaldo’s talent level to let Nova get in the way. The velocity really doesn’t scare me much, as I fully believe that will be 100% back to normal next season. Having him and CC for the next 5-7 years is just too good to pass up in my opinion.
I imagine this is the case, yes. He’s 37 I believe, and he already made a major move from Japan to America in his life. I’m sure his comfort level is something he must be pretty concerned about at this point, and he’s also never pitched anywhere else in his major league career. Going from LA to NY, and from the NL to the AL West would be a major move. I can see why he would be uncomfortable.
I like Kuroda, but I don’t think he is for us.
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