By 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.