“I haven’t been looking,” Cashman said. “That doesn’t mean that (it’s out of the question). Now you’ve passed the draft, people will be more interested in having conversations. I have not had any conversations with anybody about anything.”
Almost immediately after we heard of Brett Gardner‘s setback last weekend, we had word from Brian Cashman on a possible replacement. Unsurprisingly, Cashman claimed that he’s been quiet on the outfield trade market, although he left the door open for future moves as the trade deadline comes to fruition. In the coming days we’ll learn more about Gardner’s injury, but that doesn’t change the Yankees outfield need in the future.
The impeding budget in 2014, the vacancy in right field in 2013, and the current issues of the 2012 roster seem to foreshadow a trade for a cheap young outfielder in the future. Although it appears the Yankees won’t lose their left fielder for the entire season, there should be a point where Raul Ibanez‘ and Andruw Jones‘ bodies can’t take the robust task of running the outfield daily. Yesterday, Mike Axisa over at River Ave Blues ran through the immediate internal options, but it’s looking more and more like a trade will happen sooner rather than later. With the vacancy left open by losing Nick Swisher next year, and the $189 million budget in 2014, the Yankees could squash years worth of problems by targeting a young and cheap outfielder via trade. Here are three targets to muse on.
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Here’s a name familiar to most Yankee fans. Brown showed up in trade rumors last year when Joel Sherman caught a Phillies scout watching Dellin Betances start for the Trenton Thunder. The idea of trading Betances at the moment appears enticing, but I highly doubt that the Phillies have much interest in the struggling righty, yet Brown saw struggles of his own, if not more. After being ranked the 4th best prospect overall by Baseball America in 2011, Brown went on to post a somewhat disappointing .274/.395/.414 line last year. This year has been a mixed bag, OPSing in the mid .600′s for the months of April and May, followed by a .316/.381/.605 slash in the first half of June.
If you haven’t followed the Phillies this season, things aren’t looking too bright for their playoff hopes. It’s too early to count them out, but they’ve lost significant starts from Cliff Lee, and stuttered behind a diminished Roy Halladay who will be out for at least 6-8 more weeks. While the Phillies continue to wait for Ryan Howard and Chase Utley to optimistically return sometime before the allstar break, the team is 5 games under .500, and 9.5 games behind the first place Nationals. Not only is the team struggling, but the payroll appears to be maxed out for this season and the farm system is largely depleted from trades. You would think with all the offensive trouble the Phillies have shown, Domonic Brown would be an easy call up, but the reluctance of the front office has shown a lack of faith in the left fielder.
Its hard to give up on a player that looked like a future allstar less than a year ago, and the Yankees could certainly be buying low on the 24 year old. While his left handed power fits well in Yankee stadium, three lefties in the outfield may evolve into an issue in the future. With a longterm position filled for the Yankees and prospects headed to the depleted Phillies, the deal ultimately makes sense for both teams involved.
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Like Brown, Myers was ranked in the top 10 of Baseball America’s 2011 rating, but went on to struggle in a similar fashion in 2011. Unlike Brown, Myers has done nothing but rake this year. In 152 plate appearances of Double-A he hit .343/.414/.731 with 13 homeruns, which was followed by 98 plate appearances in Triple-A, where he’s hit .341/.388/.714. With 21 homeruns on the season already, Myers has shown some incredible power at only 21 years old, and probably has the brightest power upside of any comparable prospect.
The Royals are currently 9 games under .500, could very quickly be out of the AL Central race, and the outlook of Kansas City is centered around their long term success. It’s hard to imagine a team trading away such a high upside prospect with that mindset, but there is one reason the Royals may consider such a trade. Between the development of players like Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, and Eric Hosmer, the Royals are constantly churning out position prospects, but struggling with their starting pitchers. The team needs pitching to accompany their young positional players, and although they have Jake Odorizzi tearing up the Pacific Coast League, Mike Montgomery and Chris Dwyer could be fizzling out. Manny Banuelos might be an intriguing enough piece to cornerstone a deal for Wil Myers.
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Headley is best known as the third baseman for the Padres, but was actually the starting left fielder for the majority of 2008 and 2009. UZR doesn’t rank Headley’s fielding particularly well, but if you believe in his outfield glove there is probably no better option versatility-wise. Not only does the switch hitter offer strong platoon matchups offensively, but his ability to play third base adds depth to a roster that features the 36 year old Alex Rodriguez.
He’s in the middle of the best offensive season of his career, hitting .273/.383/.444, but these numbers may not adequately show his offensive potential. Headley has shown an exuberant home and away split as he’s struggled hitting in Petco throughout his career. This season is no different, hitting .250/.363/.363 at home, and .304/.409/.554 away. I’ve always been curious to see what he would hit in a full season out of Petco Park, but I could only imagine what the numbers would look like in half a season in Yankee Stadium. While it’s a bit of a stretch to see Headley as the starting right fielder in 2013 and 2014, no one expected the same out of Nick Swisher.
So why would the Padres trade Chase Headley? Aside from being 21 games under .500, the Padres are definitely looking at the future with a prospect heavy organization. One of these top prospects is third baseman Jedd Gyorko, who is currently hitting .356/.404/.644 in Triple-A. Trade rumors surrounding the 28 year old have already begun churning out, so with the Padres in the middle of a sale, it’ll be interesting to see how they handle the team before the trade deadline.
There are numerous other players that could be added to this list, so who do you suggest?
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15 Responses to Trade Musings: Outfield Targets
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If Cashman traded Banuelos for Myers I’d be thrilled.
I don’t think the Royals would do it though.
I also don’t see Dom Brown as a fit. He hasn’t produced at the big league level and I don’t see the Yanks parting with the necessary pieces for an unknown.
Headley works, but there’s going to be 8-10 teams in on him.
Not to mention the Royals already have a top left handed pitching prospect with control problems, one that has been ranked above Manny on every top 100 list, and who is 6-5 and not 5-10. No way the Royals part with Myers for Manny.
Headley’s home/road splits are also no secret and the Padres aren’t going to part with him on the cheap, we won’t be able to acquire him at a price we feel comfortable with.
The Padres want a kings ransom for Headley, or at least they did before the season and I see no reason why their asking price would diminish. Given the Phillies current struggles I wouldn’t see them getting rid of a potential star in the outfield when Victorino is leaving for pitching when they already have Halladay, Lee and Worley. The Royals won’t trade Myers most likely because they are building towards the future, why not keep a potential superstar and trade guys currently on the roster? When your building for the future you don’t trade your minor leaguers, you trade your current major leaguers.
That said I could see a couple guys being intruiging. 3 of them from the teams you just mentioned. One would be David Dejesus of the Cubs. The other two would be Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon so that the Royals could make way for Will Myers, not get rid of Myers.
You opted not to go for more obvious names like Alex Gordon and Carlos Quentin. Gordon’s season to date makes 2011 appear to be an outlier and the man’s career has been certainly disappointing for a top 5 polished draft pick. Quentin just got back from injury, but has hit very well and with power. Quentin is interesting bc he’s got another full season before FA.
Wil Myers is probably a top 10 prospect in all of baseball, and probably top 3 among outfielder prospects. Myers is about as untouchable a prospect as it gets. A trade for Myers would have to mirror the Montero for Pineda swap. I dont see any Pinedas available out there in the majors.
If the Phillies trade anyone, it’ll be one of the expensive ML players. Why trade D.Brown especially if he’s finally finding form at the plate?
I like Quentin for the right price, though from what I’ve read the Padres would like to offer him an extension of some kind. If they can’t do that they may trade him, but he’s not exactly young as he turns 30 in August so the price has to be right.
I don’t accept the premise that Ibanez and Jones can’t handle the workload of platooning in left until Gardner is back. If they can acquire someone who helps them both this year and takes over for Swisher next year at a reasonable cost, fine. I don’t think they need to make a move for this year though and none of the guys you are suggesting would come cheap. Also, I frankly I worry much more about Granderson’s workload from Gardner being out than Ibanez/Jones. That is easily solved though by giving him a few days off and Wise a few spot starts.
The fact that we are discussing this at all is a sign of how well things are going with the Yankees right now. Cashman should of course be opportunistic if there’s a way to improve the team but I don’t really see any pressure to make a move right now.
Some of the bloom has come off the rose as they say with Dominic Brown. I get a chance to see his home games on local cable and for as talented as he is, he’s been very inconsistent this year. They’ve also moved him to leftfield.
How about Josh Reddick? He’s played some LF and could take over RF for Swisher next year. Under team control through 2016. Not as good as Swisher in taking BB so OBP is not great, but not terrible. Power is probably equivalent to Swisher. Not a switch hitter, but hitting lefties well this year. Currently listed 9th in WAR for AL RF, so not bad, not a superstar, and still young (25). I’m not familiar enough with defensive sabermetrics, so not sure on his fielding.
I don’t agree that a Betances for Brown deal makes sense for the Yankees. Brown hasn’t shown that he can stick at the MLB level so I wouldn’t give up Betances, who has potential as a power reliever if he doesn’t pan out as a starter, for him. Shane Victorino is a more likely to be made available from the Phillies at a reasonable price – not that he really excites me.
Myers? Fugeddaboutit! Even the Royals aren’t that dumb.
Headley would be nice but the Pads will have many suitors for him and the price may get prohibitive.
Banuelos for Myers? No freakin’ way. Top tier pitching prospect is always more valuable than a top tier hitting prospect.
For all the Yankees offensive woes they are still a top four offense, w/o being able to hit a lick with RISP. As that trend reverses itself even just slightly, the offense gets even better.
Would make zero sense to pull trigger on that move. Maybe other pitchers, but not Banuelos.
That’s absolutely untrue; and would be even if Myers wasn’t a far better prospect than Banuelos anyway.
Actually David DeJesus would make the most sense. He probably wouldn’t cost a blue chip prospect, he can play all outfield spots, hits lefty, plays good enough defense and is under control cheaply with a team option for the next couple of years. Cheap, effective, wouldn’t have to give up a whole lot for him, would allow for payroll and roster flexibility.
I wanted DeJesus on the team for a while, but I think that time may have passed. He’s now 32 and clearly on the downswing of his career. His OBP is great this year , but he’s taking more walks than ever before in his career and I don’t think you can expect that to continue. He’s also lacking in power and his defense has slipped from what it once was, I don’t think you want that guy to be your main RF option for the next few years.
I’d like Denard Span. Good OFr who is young, has speed, plays very good defense and is signed to a team friendly contract. Plus, I think the short porch at YS would be to his liking.
I’d say no to Span. He can’t play RF, he has very little power so the short porch doesn’t really help him much, and since he turns 29 next season I wouldn’t exactly call him young. I don’t want two 29 year old Brett Gardner’s on the team next year, especially if we have to lose Swisher in the offseason and need to find someone else to play RF.