Tagged: Bronson Arroyo

Trade winds still blowing

by Glenn Giangrande

I don’t buy it. Not for one second. The Yankees aren’t done dealing.
 
While the Red Sox added an impact bat in Victor Martinez, the Yankees stood pat, choosing to hold onto all their prospects. Of course, deals can still go down for another month as long as players go through waivers, so this means the Yankees might be choosing to flex their financial muscle and absorb a bad contract held by a starting pitcher.
 
Make no mistake about it: This team still needs a starter. Joe Girardi has acknowledged that the Yankees are a little thin. Chien-Ming Wang is gone for the year, perhaps for good. Let’s assume the organization will hold strong on Joba Chamberlain’s innings limit. You have to hope that the minor soreness that Alfredo Aceves is dealing with doesn’t develop into something more serious. As well as the Yankees have played since the All-Star Break, they still only hold a slim lead over the Red Sox in the AL East. The Rangers’ young pitching might be for real. The Rays still linger. Detroit added Jarrod Washburn, and Jake Peavy could give the White Sox a late season push. This playoff race is far from finished.
 
So, who could be on the radar? My colleague, Jon Lane, name checked Bronson Arroyo, who some later, denied reports linked to the Yankees last week. Arroyo will be making $11 million next year with a club option for 2011 that includes a $2 million buyout clause. His teammate Aaron Harang, is also commanding big dollars — $12.5 million next year plus the same club option\buyout for ’11. In today’s economy, a contending team might spring for Harang, one of baseball’s more underrated pitchers in recent years, while Arroyo could probably be had in a much easier fashion. Economically, Arizona’s Doug Davis could be a top target for teams. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, and the 33-year-old lefty has pitched better than his 5-10 record, posting a 3.76 ERA heading into his start Friday night against the Mets.
 
Don’t turn off the trade wires just yet.

Yankees acquire Jerry Hairston Jr.

By Jon Lane
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees have acquired Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds. More on this later and how this may affect Shelley Duncan.

Earlier today, Chad Jennings is reporting on his Scranton Yankees blog
that Duncan was on his way to Chicago to join the Yankees for tonight’s
game. The Yankees have been lacking in bench and outfield depth since
Brett Gardner went on the disabled list. Hairston helps fill those
voids.

No word on who will be sent down, but the Yankees have
been carrying 13 pitchers, so my guess is either Jonathan Albaladejo or
Mark Melancon.

Meanwhile, the Yankees took a hit in the rush to
the non-waiver trade deadline when the Tigers acquired left-hander
Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners, someone looked at as an ideal
alternative to Roy Halladay. SI.com’s Jon Heyman had reported the team
will let the deadline pass
and go through the waiver wire. This might mean Bronson Arroyo is on
their radar. No team will claim Arroyo and pay the full $17 million
he’s owed through 2010.

4 p.m.
Sherman reports Duncan
will remain with the team and two roster moves need to be made, one of
which will involve a relief pitcher.

4:19 p.m.
Class-A catcher Chase Weems sent to Reds system for Hairston.

4:29 p.m.
Roy Halladay, Tweets Sherman, has not been traded.

Munson, Arroyo, rumors and more

munson_250.jpgBy Jon Lane
Sunday
marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Thurman Munson, one
of the most gritty and popular players to ever wear a Yankees uniform.
We’re taking this week on YESNetwork.com to honor the captain with a
diary Yankees senior advisor Ray Negron kept during those five days in
August when the team mourned the loss of their teammate and friend.
Negron was the Yankees’ batboy in the 1970s and for the first time
shares his thoughts in the first of a five-part series.

I’m
spending this week compiling and producing a series of tributes to No.
15, including one of my own using interviews from Munson’s teammates
and associates, which will run on Sunday, August 2, while at the same
time keeping tabs on a Yankees team that’s 10-1 since the All-Star
break and 23-6 in its last 29 games. Not only do the Yankees have a
chance to bury the Rays, with a little help they can put some distance
between them and the Red Sox before their showdown at Yankee Stadium
next week. The Red Sox trail the Yankees by 2 1/2 games in the AL East
and have already made two deals before Friday’s non-waiver trade
deadline.

You wonder if, as well as the Yankees are playing,
whether they’ll make a move be it minor or a blockbuster, maybe not fix
what’s not broken, or perhaps do something in response to what the Red
Sox end up doing. In this time of trade talk, believe everything you
see and half of what you read, but the latest rumors in Beantown is the
cultivation of a mega-deal that would import both Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez from Cleveland.

Late
yesterday, word circulated that the Yankees were interested in
acquiring veteran right-hander Bronson Arroyo from the Reds provided
that the Reds pay the bulk of the $17 million he’s owed by the end of
2010. A baseball source told the New York Daily News there’s
nothing to that. You figure that the Yankees would not invest any
serious dollars into what would amount to their fifth starter, since
Sergio Mitre has fit the job description through two starts. But if the
Reds were willing to eat Arroyo’s salary – I seriously doubt it –
Arroyo would be a nice addition, a battle-tested vet who’s pitched in
big games (see ALCS, 2004).

Furthermore, if Arroyo would become a Yankee, Alex Rodriguez would have to learn his first name. It’s not Brandon.

Another
name being floated is Ian Snell, though Snell is a big if. The
27-year-old right-hander is 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA for the Pirates, who
appear willing to give him away if a team would take on his guaranteed
$4.25-million salary for next season. The Daily News added that
any sort of deal for Snell is possible given that the Yankees and
Pirates have worked out trades for Xavier Nady, Damaso Marte and Eric
Hinske. If that happens, you’d think it’d cost the Yankees
next-to-nothing in prospects, only $4.25 million to bet on the
change-of-scenery theory.

Steven Goldman encouraged the Yankees to deal for Snell last week, citing the best is yet to come from the right-hander.