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.