Does Cashman have a Card up his sleeve?

Now that left field has been vacated by dispatching of Melky Cabrera to Atlanta, I suspect Brian Cashman may have something bigger in the works. We've heard about the need to monitor/cut back payroll. We've heard about possible discussions to/about Mark DeRosa and other low cost moves. But may very well be laying in the weeds to make a big, scratch that, very big move.

Matt Holliday in a Yankees lineup would likely make some opposing managers quit before the season even started. It would make anti-Yankees sentiment burn even hotter. It would cause those who want a salary cap to scream from the mountain tops. And of course it would satisfy those Yankees fans who ridiculously feel they need an All-Star at every position.

I think it's still not likely to occur, but Holliday could very well end up in a Yankees uniform if the length and amount of the contract was to the liking of Hal Steinbrenner and company.

That means that Johnny Damon is still an option as is Jason Bay.

The Yankees could still use a number five hitter to protect A-Rod and Holliday would certainly fit that role to a tee.

So to recap:

Plan A - Holliday

Plan B - Bay

Plan C - DeRosa type

Plan D - Damon

The order of this can all change of course if Damon lowers demands or the front office nixes a four or five year deal for Holliday or Bay. But the feeling here is that signing Holliday is Cashman's true agenda.

Window Shopping

Today we take a look at the NY Mets in our continuing series, "The Trade Winds are Starting to Blow". The Mets are the first BUYER that we'll be delving into. They sit atop the NL East today, a half-game in front of the World Champion/division rival Philadelphia Phillies.

A rash of injuries and ineffective performances have put the Mets into a shopping position. How quickly they pull the trigger, is a completely different story.

Nick Johnson - Mets fans are in love with the former Yankee right now. It's one of the rare times in his career that Johnson isn't on the disabled list. With Carlos Delgado out indefinitely with hip surgery, Johnson would be a great fit. He's hitting .337 with 4 HR and 26 RBI. Imagine how many RBI he could have with a real team around him rather than the 20-games-under-.500 Nationals. He's also a top notch fielder, who could help take away some of David Wright's throwing errors.

Mark DeRosa - Just about on everyone's wish list, DeRosa would be play 1st Base and outfield for the Mets, and occasionally fill in for Wright or 2nd Baseman Luis Castillo.

Bobby Abreu - Abreu's on a one year, $5 million deal with the Angels. At some point, the Angels are going to have to start playing better or fold up the tents. He would be an ideal fit in the Mets outfield.

Jason Marquis, John Garland - The Mets, like everyone else, would like to get Cliff Lee, but don't have the chips to do it. They do need to strengthen their starting rotation, however, and could swing a deal for Marquis, or possibly Garland.

Pedro Martinez - You just get the feeling that this could still be a possibility. The Mets let him walk this past off-season and laughed at the notion of giving Pedro a guaranteed $5 million. He hasn't thrown in a game since this past Winter's WBC, but some team will snatch him up if the price is right., Though we deem this a long shot, we could see Pedro back in Flushing under the right circumstances.

The Trade Winds are Staring to Blow

With Memorial Day Weekend fast approaching, teams are going to start deciding whether to be buyers and/or sellers this year. It's still early, but teams that are off to rocky starts could look to bail, while teams out in front will look to seal up any leaks.

Cleveland Indians - SELLER

We never claimed to be excellent prognosticators, but we right on the money this year concerning the Cleveland Indians. After 39 games, the Indians sit in the cellar of the AL Central, 11 games under .500 and 7.5 games behind first place Detroit. Here are three players we think the Indians will or might move.

Cliff Lee - Last year's AL Cy Young winner got hammered in his first two starts, but has posted a 1.43 ERA in his six starts since. Lee's in the last year of a 3-yr deal, though the club holds an $8 million option (what a bargain) for next season. At just 27 years old, Lee could bring back a number of valuable players should the Indians decide to deal him.

Mark DeRosa - Though 33 and in the last year of a deal, teams will be lining up to try to acquire DeRosa's services. He can play three of the four infield positions, as well as the corner outfield spots in a pinch. DeRosa had 21 home runs, 30 doubles, and 87 RBI for the Cubs last season. He's not hitting much this year, but he's still second on the team in RBI.

SI's Jon Heyman reported today that the Indians are fielding offers for DeRosa.

Kerry Wood - The Indians gave their new free agent closer a 3-yr deal this past off-season, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be willing to move him in later in the season. Teams are constantly in need of bullpen help and teams could either use him to close (Texas) or set up (Yankees).

The Wanger's Tale of Woe

Here's my recap of today's debacle for Baseball Digest.

Browns score 3 touchdowns…Wait a minute

April 18th, 2009

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Anthony Claggett • Asdrubel Cabrera • chien-ming wang • Cleveland Indians • Fausto Carmona • Grady Sizemore • Mark DeRosa • Mark Teixeira • New York Yankees • Yankees recap 4/17/09

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Cleveland	0	14	1	1	4	0	0	1	1		22	25	1
NY Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		4	7	1

WP - Carmona (1-2) LP - Wang (0-3)
HR - Hafner (4), V. Martinez (4), DeRosa (3), Sizemore (4), A. Cabrera (1), Choo (2), Teixeira (3), M. Cabrera (2)

Anyone who thought that the Yankees were embarrassed in their home opener couldn’t have known that today’s game would be far worse. The Cleveland Indians clobbered Chien-Ming Wang and Anthony Claggett to the tune of 14 runs in the second inning and went on to a 22-4 win.

It was the Yankees’ most lopsided loss since the Indians beat them in Cleveland, 19-1, on July 4, 2006. It was the worst loss at home since the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Yankees, 19-6, just 25 days later on July 29.

The biggest concern, of course, is figuring out what has gone wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. He was the Yankees’ most consistent pitcher for the last three seasons, compiling a 46-15 (.754) record along the way. After two horrendous outings that saw his ERA skyrocket to 28.93, Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland hoped that Wang’s side work would pay off today, and for a very short time it appeared as if it had.

Wang breezed through the first inning, and Mark Teixeira gave the Yankees a quick 2-0 lead in the home half of the first with his third home run of the year against Indians’ starter Fausto Carmona. But the game quickly unraveled for Wang in the second inning.

Travis Hafner led off with a harmless squibber for an infield single. It would be the last softly hit ball in the inning. Jhonny Peralta followed with a single to left and left-handed hitter Shin-Soo Choo proved the baseball doesn’t take off only toward right field in the new stadium. Choo hit a long 3-run home run to left-center for a 3-2 Indians lead.

Wang retired Ryan Garko, but Ben Francisco followed with a double. Asdrubel Cabrera singled him in and back to back doubles by Grady Sizemore and Mark DeRosa increased the lead to 6-2. Girardi stuck with Wang in the hope that he could work his way out of further trouble. But a wild pitch and an RBI single by Victor Martinez drove Wang from the game to a chorus of boos (and maybe booze). Wang’s ERA actually increased to a mind boggling 34.50 (Sending fantasy owners into a tizzy).

Claggett, who was making his major league debut, fared no better. He allowed eight runs (and allowed an inherited runner to score) on nine hits over the next inning and two-thirds. His contribution to the second inning included a grand slam by Asdrubel Cabrera followed by a Sizemore solo shot. The game was only one and one-half innings old and the Yankees were already down 14-2.

The rest of the game couldn’t go fast enough, but unfortunately for the remaining fans, it took nearly four hours (3:49) to complete. The Indians hit six home runs in all and DeRosa and Cabrera combined for 11 RBI. The only other highlight for the Yankees was a 2-run home run by Melky Cabrera, who had also homered on Friday.

Game Notes

The Yankees will look for a split of the four game series on Sunday (1:05 pm EDT) when A.J. Burnett (2-0, 2.70) faces old nemesis (Possibly the only time in history a nemesis was a teammate), and newly goateed, Carl Pavano (0-2, 16.71).

The three home games have produced 17 home runs, nine by the Indians and eight by the Yankees.

Chien-Ming Wang’s three game losing streak is the longest of his career.

World Baseball Classic - 3/9

The US blew out Venezuela on Sunday, belting three home runs en route to a 15-6 victory. Kevin Youkilis, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Braun all went deep as Team USA banged out 16 hits. Mark DeRosa and Chris Iannetta enjoyed big games with four RBI each.

Derek Jeter went 0-2 after replacing starter Jimmy Rollins. Matt Lindstrom picked up the win after starter Roy Oswalt struggled through three innings. Victor Zambrano was saddled with the loss, the first for the Venezuelan team.

The Dominican Republic shut out Panama 9-0 in a elimination game on Sunday. Miguel Olivo pounded two home runs and Johnny Cueto struck out five batters in 4.1 innings pitched for the win. Ramiro Mendoza took the loss for Panama.

Nelson Cruz also homered for the D.R..

Cuba opened their play in the WBC with an 8-1 win over South Africa on Sunday. The Cuban squad hit a classic record six home runs, two of them by Frederich Cepeda. South Africa was held to four hits and struck out 11 times.

3/9

Korea out dueled Japan 1-0 on Monday, with the lone run coming in the fourth inning. Tae Kyun Kim had two of the four Korean hits and drove in the lone run. Kenji Johjima had two of Japan's six hits. It was the first loss for the Japanese team.

Around the Horn - 2/28

Mark DeRosa had minor surgery to repair an irregular heart beat and should be back with the Cubbies on Monday.

With no good offers in sight, veteran Shawn Green has decided to call it a career. The 15-year veteran hit the 328 home runs and posted a .283 lifetime average.

Cardinals utility man Scott Spiezio is, quite frankly, in deep shit. The Irvine, CA police department has issued an arrest warrant for Spiezio on 6 counts, from an incident on December 30th. Spiezio, who is already on baseball's restricted list due to a substance abuse problem, is wanted for DUI, hit and run, aggravated assault, and assault and battery. The Cardinals' quickly released him as soon as the news hit.

With no one breaking down his door, Freddy Garcia is going to wait until his arm is in better shape before signing with anyone. Garcia and his reps are counting on the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and others having renewed interest when Garcia can prove to them that he's healthy.

Around the Horn - 2/28

Mark DeRosa had minor surgery to repair an irregular heart beat and should be back with the Cubbies on Monday.

With no good offers in sight, veteran Shawn Green has decided to call it a career. The 15-year veteran hit the 328 home runs and posted a .283 lifetime average.

Cardinals utility man Scott Spiezio is, quite frankly, in deep shit. The Irvine, CA police department has issued an arrest warrant for Spiezio on 6 counts, from an incident on December 30th. Spiezio, who is already on baseball's restricted list due to a substance abuse problem, is wanted for DUI, hit and run, aggravated assault, and assault and battery. The Cardinals' quickly released him as soon as the news hit.

With no one breaking down his door, Freddy Garcia is going to wait until his arm is in better shape before signing with anyone. Garcia and his reps are counting on the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and others having renewed interest when Garcia can prove to them that he's healthy.