Haren Worth More Than Santana??

The Yankees are supposedly out of the Johan Santana derby. It has been rumored that the Yankees have now turned their attention to Oakland's Dan Haren. The A's are said to be asking for even more for Haren than the Twins have been asking for Santana. Their reasoning is that any team that trades for Santana will have to give him a $150 million contract in addition to the prospects they give up, while Haren is reasonably priced for the next 3 years. Although I do think Haren is an excellent pitcher, he is not Santana. Santana is on a level that Haren can only hope to reach one day. The Yankees were willing to give up Phil Hughes for Johan Santana but they should not give him up for Haren. Hughes has the potential to be as good or better than Haren. If the Yankees are going to give up a prized prospect like Hughes they better be getting greatness in return. Haren is very good, not great. Santana is great.

Cabrera and D-Train in Detroit

The Florida Marlins have traded Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers. This has got to be the biggest trade of the off-season. In Cabrera the Tigers have gotten themselves probably the best young hitter in the game. There have also been reports that Cabrera has been working out very hard with hopes to ease concerns about his expanding waistline. Cabrera is an amazing talent, if he ever actually gets into shape he is going to be even more of a monster. Dontrelle Willis is a big question mars. From 2003-2005 he was one of the best pitchers in the game, but over the last couple of years he has really fallen off. If he can somehow return to something close to what he was the Detroit rotation will be very good. The Marlins received 6 players in return for Cabrera and Willis. The 2 most important players in the trade were Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin. Miller has ace potential and Maybin is a five tool talent.

Hank's In Charge

Over the last few years the Yankees have been overly secretive about their interest in trades or free agents. That has changed since Hank Steinbrenner has taken control of the team. When he re-signed with the Yankees a couple of years ago Brian Cashman was given full autonomy over the baseball operations of the Yankees. He was known to give as many no comments and evasive answers as any general manager in the game. Hank Steinbrenner has seemingly gone about doing business the complete opposite way than what Cashman would like. One has to wonder how Cashman feels about the current situation. One of the main reasons he returned to the Yankees was out of loyalty to George Steinbrenner, but now he finds himself working for his son. How does he feel about that??

Keep Away

The Yankees cannot let Johan Santana go to Boston under any circumstances. If they do they can get comfortable second place because they are going to be stuck there for the next few years. The combination of Josh Beckett and Johan Santana would be unbreathable. Right now the Yankees are saying that they will give up Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and a third second level prospect but will not include Ian Kennedy. I do not want the Yankees to give up Kennedy either but if it comes down to either giving up Kennedy or watching Boston trade for Santana the Yankees do not have a choice. Getting Santana is a must for the Yankees. Chien Min Wang showed in the playoffs that he is not an ace. The Yankees need someone to match up with Josh Beckett and Santana is that guy. They cannot let them become teammates.

Johan in The Bronx???

The Yankees are in preliminary talks with the Twins to acquire Johan Santana. This is a move that they have to make. The Yankees do not have an ace. Chien Min Wang is not ace and Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are too young to be counted on as sure things. In order to get Santana the Yankees will most likely have to put together a package that starts with either Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, or Ian Kennedy. They will also likely have to include Melky Cabrera and another prospect. I would be willing to give up any of the young players except for Joba Chamberlain. Besides the fact that they need an ace the Yankees also have to prevent Santana from going to the Red Sox. If the Red Sox are able to start Josh Beckett and Johan Santana back to back they will be almost unbeatable in a short series.

Glavine Back in Atlanta

Tom Glavine is headed back to Atlanta after siging a 1 year $8 million deal with the Braves. This is something that nobody could have seen coming when Glavine left the Braves to sign with the Mets 5 years ago. It is clear that he took a hometown discount to return to the Braves. He could have stayed with the Mets if he had picked up his player option for $13 million but instead chose to accept a buyout of $2 million. Glavine never really wanted to leave the Braves but 5 years ago he was not ready to accept less money to play for the Braves the way he is today. I guess after 5 years with the Mets taking less money to play for the Braves was something Glavine was very eager to do.

Get Mo

The Yankees have had a real busy few weeks. Just when it looked like there were going to be huge holes to fill they re-signed Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez. These are both good moves but they will not mean anything if the Yankees do not re-sign Mariano Rivera. The Yankees have offered him 3 years and he is now looking for four years after Hank Steninbrenner made stupid comments in the newspaper about how Rivera was getting a great deal for a guy his age. Hank is right but that does not mean he should have said anything. Rivera has been the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball and he has been a model citizen off the field since he came up to the Majors in 1995. Three years should definitely be enough for him but if it is not the Yankees should give him a 4th year anyway. They just gave a four year deal to Jorge Posada who is a 36 year old catcher and they are talking about giving four years to Mike Lowell who has never done anything for them. Rivera may not be as great as he was but there is still no replacement for him.