1. As of Tuesday — before the Yanks lost to the Red Sox 7-3 — GM Brian Cashman was still saying he wasn’t thinking of making the ultimate concession speech by trading anybody before Sunday’s deadline to have a player eligible for the playoffs on a new roster. But reality is that the Yanks are now six back in the wild card and could be as much as eight back by Thursday night. If they are, the Yanks might have to think more seriously about dealing veterans to see if they can add a few prospects.
The trick is who? Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera all have full no-trade protection and Johnny Damon has partial no-trade protection. So the Yanks would have to get approval to deal any of these guys.
The Yanks are not going to trade A-Rod, Jeter or Rivera. I-Rod has no value, particularly because of how miserably he has played for the Yankees. It is hard to identify a contender that needs a first baseman/DH, so that eliminates Giambi. Matsui’s iffy knees and $26 million payday for the next two seasons eliminates him from consideration. Damon might draw interest, but the Yanks have to decide if they want to deal their most consistent offensive player of 2008 and — if they do — wouldn’t there be a bigger market in the offseason? Abreu is going to be a Type-A free agent, so the Yanks would have to get the equivalent of two high draft picks for him to make it worthwhile, which is improbable. Mussina and Pettitte would draw interest, but I find it difficult to believe that either would accept a trade.
So who else? I don’t think the Yanks are ready to give up on Robinson Cano, but if they were that is an offseason deal in which you get multiple teams involved to drive up the price. Maybe the Yanks could deal a set-up man, but the one they probably would be most willing to move, Brian Bruney, would not get much of a return. Maybe they could get something in return for Damaso Marte, but not nearly as much as they recently had to give up for him, which makes a trade unlikely.
You know who might actually draw some interest? Carl Pavano. He pitched competently in his first start on Saturday. If he can back that up on Friday with another good start, a starter-hungry team might be willing to grab him for September, as long as the Yanks ate a large chunk of the approximately $4 million Pavano is owed between the rest of this season and his $1.95 million buyout. The Yanks would not get much for Pavano, but it would be nice to finally get something from him. Of course — this being the Yanks — even Pavano has a limited no-trade clause.
2. Two of the players the Yankees intend to promote sometime after rosters expand on Sept. 1 are Alfredo Aceves and Phil Coke. Neither player is currently on the 40-man roster, but the Yanks have to put them on the 40-man this offseason or risk losing them in the Rule 5 draft. And they plan to protect both players anyway so will just do it now so both can be available in September. Especially if the Yanks are out of contention, you can expect to see the Yanks use Aceves, probably in the rotation, and Coke, as a lefty set-up man. It is never particularly good to trust in September judgments, but the Yanks will want to get some gauge on both going into the offseason. On the season in the minors, Aceves is 8-6 with a 2.62 ERA and a .217 batting average against. Coke is 11-6 with a 2.62 ERA and a .240 batting average against.
3. Alex Rodriguez’s high-profile failure with the bases loaded on Tuesday night brought him cascading boos and a 2008 record of 1-for-10 in 11 plate appearances with the bags full. He has just four RBIs overall in those situations of a possible 44 to drive in. He is joined in this Yankee lineup by Ivan Rodriguez, who also is 1-for-10 with the bases loaded with five RBIs and Jason Giambi, who is 2-for-18 in such situations. At least, Giambi has made both hits count. Both are grand slams.