Friday, August 24th, 2007 by Michael Sklar
On Alex Rodriguez
Over the last couple months, there’s been speculation that unless the Yankees win a title this year, Alex Rodriguez, baseball’s prodigal son, will find himself in a different uniform next year. The Los Angeles Angels have been the first team mentioned, and when discussing this with Adam, he estimated what he felt it would take: Ervin Santana, John Lackey, Howie Kendrick, and Brandon Wood. Jump:
After putting my eyes back into their sockets, I decided this would ultimately destroy the Angels’ franchise, and as such, was gross overpayment. Sure, A-Rod is the Sidney Crosby of baseball, and fair payment for Crosby would probably be a package along the lines of the LA Kings’ Anze Kopitar, Jack Johnson, Patrick O’Sullivan, and Jonathan Bernier, but comparing baseball and hockey= apples and oranges. A single player in baseball simply does not affect a team’s performance the way Crosby, LeBron James, or Peyton Manning can.
However, seeing as how A-Rod is the best singular package in the game, and the third most valuable trade asset (behind Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera), he can still fetch quite a group of players. So what would it take, then? First, we have to examine the Yankees (sans A-Rod) of 2008, and 2010. After doing some research, I think I have a rudimentary understanding of the Yanks’ formerly barren farm system.
The Yankees of 2008 should have a vastly improved pitching staff, simply because the group of prospects that includes Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy has been superb this year, along with steady contibutions from Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte. They are set at 2b (Cano), ss (Jeter), two of the OF spots (Cabrera and Matsui), and Catcher (Posada). However, Giambi, Abreu, and Damon are on the decline. Third base is an enigma with A-Rod gone and Eric Duncan looking increasingly like a bust. The Yankees have Wilson Betemit, but they may be searching for slighly more production there.
The Yankees of 2010 should have an excellent pitching staff, but plenty of question marks otherwise. They’re still set for the long-term with Cano, Betemit and Cabrera, but Jeter, Posada, and Matsui are aging. The Yankees have two solid prospects in Catcher Fransisco Cirvelli, and Outfielder Jose Tabuta, and Duncan could always live up to his former super prospect status. Of course, the Yankees have likely signed at least two position players and traded one of their young pitchers for another at this time.
So, what would they ask for? Well, even though their pitching staff is set for quite some time, Cashman would feel obligated to acquire a young pitcher as part of an A-Rod package. Their second most glaring hole in the short and long-term is first base, so Cashman will likely acquire a first baseman. Now, in my opinion, if a team gives up two young all-star caliber players at each of those positions, that should be enough to acquire Rodriguez. If the players are anything less, Cashman should demand 1-2 more players, namely at outfield and third base.
So, from my point of view, a team like the LAA or Arizona could put together a package for A-Rod fairly easily. If the Yankees’ trading partner is indeed the LAA, I think a package of Santana, Wood, and Casey Kotchman is entirely fair. So Adam wasn’t that far off, really, from my point of view. He can probably rebut this, but he’s too busy wasting his life trying to get an education, and thus reading Pride and Prejudice and redesigning a newspaper. Yuck.
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