Three Way Deal A Go

It looks like Brian Cashman is looking to make a deal along the lines of last season's steal of Nick Swisher. I am sure everyone remembers how Cashman fleeced the White Sox when he swapped Wilson Betemit for Swisher.

This offseason it looks like Cashman pulled down Curtis Granderson in a big three-team trade. Included in the deal is Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson, two of the biggest prospects in the Yankee system.

I have to say I am not entirely thrilled with the deal. While the loss of Kennedy is one the Yankees can absorb without a second thought, the loss of Jackson may be tougher to handle. Jackson is far from a sure thing. He has a hard time making consistent contact and he is not overwhelming in any area, but he is a solid overall player.

The third part of the deal was Phil Coke. Not many Yankee fans will miss Coke and with Damaso Marte rediscovering himself during the postseason I doubt the Yankees will miss him too much either.

Granderson has been on a steady decline these past two seasons, but his left-handed power will obviously play well in Yankee Stadium and considering he had a career low in BABIP his average will most likely rebound next season. The biggest concern would be his splits against left-handed pitching. They are ugly and there is no way to know if that is simply a lull if he will turn into a full blown platoon player in the next few seasons.

To me the biggest problem with the deal is the Diamondbacks shipping Max Scherzer off to Detroit and getting only Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson. I hope Arizona knows something about Scherzer we don't because Kennedy doesn't have his upside and Jackson is nothing special beyond the first half of the season.

It isn't a lock to go down yet but only physicals are standing in the way right now.

NFL Hyperbolic Statements-Week 13

A couple teams to watch for and a couple on suicide watch. What I want for Xmas. And cut this guy now...

I Hate You: Shaun Suisham, Redskins. I hate to keep advocating physical violence, but this dude needs a flogging with a broom handle. I looked at his numbers and really they're not that bad, but from my observation this guy misses so many easy kicks. I've been calling for him to get cut for two years. I knew as soon as the 'Skins allowed the Saints to tie the game and went into OT they were going to lose. It's just one of those seasons for both teams. The Saints at 11-0 feel like they're never out of a game. The 'Skins feel like they can never get a break. It reflects in both teams play.

Teams You Should Be Afraid Of: No one is really talking about them because of the ridiculous seasons the Colts and Saints are having, but the league needs to watch out for both the Cardinals and Chargers. Let's not forget that the Cards are the defending NFC champs. They served that notice to the Vikings in a big way Sunday night. The Chargers are another team I would not want to face when the playoffs start. They are quietly 9-3. Both teams have tremendous offensive weapons, fearless quarterbacks, and underrated defenses.

Teams I'm Not Afraid Of Anymore: The Steelers and the Patriots. The Steelers have lost four in a row. Two of those games were against the Chiefs and the Raiders. Yeck. A Super Bowl caliber defense should not give up 21 in the fourth quarter against anyone, never mind the Raiders. The Patriots have gone from offensive juggernaut to one dementional. And on the defensive side they are inexperienced. Furthermore, Tom Brady apparently thinks it's ok to just chuck the ball to Randy Moss even when completely blanketed. Not only that, but Brady seems to be calling out his teammates out for not working hard. According to some sources he may be talking about the aforementioned Moss.

Please God, Please: Can we have a Saints vs. Colts Super Bowl? It seems like it's been a long time since we've seen a real battle of the big boys in the biggest game. Some people like underdogs. I want to see the two most dominant teams with the two nastiest QB's go blow for blow in the Super Bowl. AND how freaking cool would it be for both teams to be 18-0 going into the game?

File This One Under WTF: I am attempting to cultivate my own Buffalo wing sauce. Frank's Red Hot etc. just haven't been cutting it for me. Today as I was cutting up jalepenos and habeneros to put in the food processor, I decided to sample a piece of the raw habenero. Aaahh, Scoville Units!!!! Well, as I write, the sauce is simmering and the wings are roasting. Let's how this turns out.

Yankees to Cut Payroll...

In the last two days I have seen a flurry of stories and blog posts about how the Yankees plan on shedding payroll for the coming 2010 season. For the Yankees that would mean dropping from about $205 million down to the more reasonable, yet still absurd level of $185 million.

It's not that I don't believe the Yankees will cut payroll, and not that I don't think they should considering they could be much, much more efficient with their money. However, what I think has been missed by the general tone of the stories is the biggest motivation for the Yankees to get their spending under control. That motivation would have to be the free agent class that will be after the 2010 season.

This class is highlighted by jewels like Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Joe Mauer and Carl Crawford on the position player side and an absurd amount of pitching talent. The Yankees are simply biding their time until the real talent hits the market.

Much like the winter of 2007-08, the Yankees should take a step back backward if it means a huge leap forward a year from now. That may mean letting Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon walk. It also may mean that the Yankees have to put their faith in Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes to round out the rotation.

The only move the Yankees must absolutely make is bringing back Andy Pettitte. Pettitte is an exact fit for what the Bombers need and he comes without the massive commitment it would take to get either John Lackey or Roy Halladay.

Sitting back would simply mean you shed to aging outfielders (Damon and Matsui at $13 mil a piece), a catcher without a bat (Jose Molina at $2 mil), another outfielder without a throwing arm (no I'm not double counting Damon I'm talking about Xavier Nady at $6.5 mil) and a broken down pitcher (Chien-Ming Wang at $5 mil).

That is close to $40 million dollars coming off the books this off season. That leaves the Yankees with $166 million committed to next season before arbitration numbers are handed out. Add in Pettitte and the Yanks will be right around $180 million. Subtract a few more expiring contracts for next season and the Yankees will have boat loads of cash to spend next off season.

Brian Cashman would loathe wasting any of that future money on either Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, both of whom are inferior when stacked up against what you could get for the same amount of money and years next off season. So for one off season the Yankees appear to be putting their check book back in their pocket and it couldn't be a smarter move.

It's All Relative

I just finished reading an interesting article by Tim Kurkjian from a 1992 Sports Illustrated archive. It's an examination of Ryne Sandberg's then record $7 million-a-year salary. How things have changed. As we all know, the Sox just signed another middle infielder, Marco Scutaro, with no where near Sandberg's pedigree for the same price per season. He won't be anywhere near the highest paid player on the team. Oddly, Scutaro and Sandberg were around the same age at the signing of both deals.

Sox to Sign Scutaro

Well it seems the great Pedroia to short stop debut will end before it ever really gets to begin. The Sox seem to have locked up shortstop Marco Scutaro for the next two seasons. Details are few but there may also be a third year option on top of the first two years.

It also means that the Sox will lose a first round draft pick after gaining one when Billy Wagner signed a one-year deal with the Braves.

If I wasn't a Yankee fan I wouldn't be too concerned with the Sox picking up a 34-year old short stop who is coming off a career year. The situation wreaks of a player cashing in on one final deal. But as a Yankee fan I have seen Scutaro beat my team on one too many occasions where he had no business being the hero.

I hope Scutaro fellows the normal career path of a 34-year old short stop, but part of me knows he is just one of those guys who shows up against your team regardless of how he is playing or at what stage of his career he is in.

A Little Baseball News for Sox Fans

According to Peter Gammons the Sox are considering moving Dustin Pedroia to the other side of second. There are more quality second basemen available than short stops so the logic of filling the position with a shift of Pedroia is sound. I look at Michael Young from Texas as a prime example of a player bouncing around positions due to need or primadonnas and maintaining an All-Star performance level.

My only qualm with the move is that, if it is made, we wont hear the end of the gritty, gutty, team-centric, short but giant spirited, one of a kind, man with the hand eye coordination (seriously Gammons they all have awesome hand eye coordination, that's the only way you can play baseball at the MLB level) of a god Dustin Pedroia.

Saints Spank Pats

Sorry folks. No in depth analysis or astute observations in this post; only utter glee at seeing the Patriots get pummeled. My personal favorite was the busted coverage on Devery Henderson's back breaking TD reception, not a New England player within 20 yards.

On the other side of the ball, I can't remember seeing Tom Brady play so poorly. Usually a Brady int. involves a tipped ball or a hit from a D-lineman. I've never seen him throw balls up for grabs the way he did last night. But give the Saints credit, they got after Brady all night and mixed in their blitzes well.

Call me crazy, but I don't think it's too early to talk about Drew Brees for the Hall of Fame. Normally the HOF won't pay any mind to a QB without a Super Bowl ring unless he's got stats that look like the figures for the national debt (ex: Marino, Fouts, Moon). Drew Brees is well on his way with nearly 30,000 yards and almost 200 TD's, and he's only 29. Barring injury he'll pass those benchmarks this year. Throw in his historic 5,000 yard season, and he's well on his way. Throw in a Super Bowl ring, and he's just about a sure thing. (So I lied about the astute observation).