1. They never happen in real life.
2. You cannot predict baseball.
3. Nobody can predict Cashman.
4. That's the job of 13-year-olds on bar stools.
5. Just because.
But the other day, somebody in one of the Murdoch salt mines suggested a deal that restored my hope for 2018 and my goal of bedding Taylor Swift. That it does not involve Clint Frazier is just icing on T-Swizzle's cake. (Yes, they call her T-Swizzle; as in "OMG! OMG! OMG! IT'S T-SWIZZLE!) I don't know if it can happen - hell, I'm seeing it through the bloodshot, 10-beer eyes of a guy who just wasted 10 minutes googling "T-Swizzle." But here goes:
We trade the 30-page contract of Jacoby Ellsbury - three more years at $21 million per season - to San Francisco for the 30-page contract of Jeff Sarardzija - three more years at $19 million per. We probably add a couple pages and a few mill - movie money - to bring the Giants on board.
They get a 36-year-old CF who can still steal home and who is poised for a BIG COMEBACK in 2018!
Ellsbury gets to live closer to home, especially during winter, because he lives in Arizona, where the Giants train. He also escapes all those NYC media clowns constantly proposing ways to run him out of town.
We get Sarardzija - (not looking forward to spelling that name) - who is a pitching version of Ellsbury. He's 33 and coming off a crapola season: 9-15 with an ERA of 4.42 (in the NL, no less.) It's been three years since Sarardzija's ERA landed south of 3.50, and though the guy still eats innings, he's a obese salary in need of waistband surgery.
But on the Yankees, Sarardzija wouldn't be the concrete bowel movement that Ellsbury has become. Right now, he is blocking Frazier, Jake Cave and Billy McKinney, plus younger outfielders all the way down to Estevan Floral and last week's Christmas crop of 16-year-old cabana boys. Nothing personal, but the Chief needs to go. And we need to keep Clint Frazier.
I don't know if the Giants would make this deal. My gut says it makes too much sense from our viewpoint. I don't know if Ellsbury fits into their world conquest plans, but hey, the guy's not chopped liver. In fact, as an everyday centerfielder, Jacoby wouldn't be such an albatross. And as our sixth starter, Sarardzija wouldn't seem so heavy a boulder. Both are fine, upstanding citizens of the game. Good grief, add a sweetener or two - after all, we didn't steal Bam Bam Meulens from them - doesn't it make sense?
Oh, and we keep Clint Frazier. Did I mention that? Because we need to keep Red Thunder.
ReplyDeleteAt only $19.8MM through 2020 vs. Ellsbury's $21.14MM through 2020 (with a $5MM buyout), this trade also represents a salary dump-ette.
If it simultaneously cures our longing for Gerritt Cole, I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to me. I'd like to see an outfield of Staunton inlet, Frazier in center and Judge in right with Hicks as 4th outfielder (all positions) and McKinney as 5th and back up 1st baseman.
Hicks is going to suck, watch. Not that we'll need Ells, but it would be a lot easier to move Hicks, bring up Frazier, and have Gardy and Ells share center. Or use Ells as fourth or fifth OF. He really ain't chopped liver. This doesn't solve the real problem, which is Cash's Cole fixation. We don't need him, we shouldn't trade any youngster for him, and of course we'll do precisely the wrong thing and go all out for him.
ReplyDeleteThe tangled web of brass egos will yet ensnare us.
I've said all along that SF was the most logical landing spot for Ellsbury (34, not 36). Close to his home and the Giants need a top-of-the-order guy. Perhaps we could spin off Samardzija to a team that desperately needs starting pitching enough that if we pay maybe 5 million a year they will take a flier on him, say the Orioles. Sure Cashman doesn't like trading to division rivals but if he remains bad it adds up to a couple more Yankee wins. Even if we get a low prospect in return, we save 18 million per in salary and clear roster space for Frazier.
ReplyDeleteNo need to get rid of Hicks. He is a switch-hitter and far superior a defender than Ellsbury.
There's no free ride. If we take this course - if San Francisco allows us to lick their balls tenderly while they lick Randy Levin's single gigantic testicle - what happens to Chance and Justus? Suddenly, the "concrete bowel movement," in Duque's happy phrase, just shifts bathroom stalls and moves to our pitching department. There's no getting around the basic physics of the equation: if you add the mass of one lumpen has-been, overpaid veteran, you decrease the speed and light of the youngsters patiently waiting in Scranton. It's either the outfield or pitching. Personally, I'd rather keep the outfield looking like the main concourse at Port Authority if we can keep the channels open for the young pitchers to come up. I don't want another old sack of shit with a tired arm trotting out to the mound every 5th or 6th day.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but pitchers take longer to find their groove. Small consolation , but some.
ReplyDeleteBut we must not treat this fantasy as if it had any basis in reality.
Jacoby will be a Yankee when the season starts.
After reading all of the above perhaps an amalgamation is the answer. Let's look at the wisdom of the crowd...
ReplyDeleteTaking John M. we do Hicks for Cole(which sounds like a political slogan in W.Va.)plus... one minor league player not sure who) and... I'll get to it.
Per Duque (I keep wanting to type Al as this idea's first name.) we trade Jacoby for Jeff. Avoiding spelling his last name!) We include at least 50% of the money owed Jacoby to get SF to go for it. They must also include some AA or single A fodder.
Next we send Jeff to Pittsburgh as the other player (Per Carl) to a) give them a starting pitcher back b) take the pressure off the farm and we pay 50% of his salary making it more palatable.
So to review. Jacoby and a boatload of cash to SF (problem solved) Hicks to Pittsburgh with Jeff (taking care of 13bit's worry about constipation.) a minor prospect and cash.
We get Cole (upgrading from Jeff) so Cashman is happy. Red Thunder stays keeping Duque (and all the rest of us are happy) and we get a single A guy.
Pirates get Hicks, Jeff, cash and minor league player (mid range prospect) which seems fair.
SF gets Jacoby and salary relief. Win/win for them.
Gardner goes to center and our outfield is Frazier, Gardner, Judge, Stanton with room to grow after Gardner plays his final year as a Yankee.
Done and done!
Doug K.
I LOVE THE SOLUTIONS.....
ReplyDeletePROBLEM IS WHAT I KEEP REPEATING....
CASHMAN'S DEVOTION TO AARON HICKS, (BECAUSE HE WANTS TO PROVE HE IS A GENIUS), BY TRADING FOR HIM FOR J.R. MURPHY.
OK, HE WON THE TRADE BIG TIME.... BUT I DON'T THINK HICKS WILL BE THE SUPERSTAR CASHMAN THINKS HE MAY BE.
....AND THAT IS REALLY SCREWING THINGS UP FOR RED THUNDER.
IN THE LONG RUN, WE ARE PROBABLY GOING TO TOSS AWAY A FUTURE STAR, FOR A FOURTH OUTFIELDER.
WRONG MOVE.
Good idea. We get the insurance policy of a sixth starter without overpaying in prospects.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure Hicks will suck; I think he showed enough last year to give him a shot.
ReplyDeleteOur real problem here, gentlemen, is Ellsbury.
The original, Duque idea of Ellsbury for Jeff "Appointment In" Samara is the best, no matter how much extra cash it takes to get it done.
It rids us of this troublesome outfielder, and gets us an "innings eater" who won't cost us Red Thunder. It's the most direct route. Occam's Razor, and all that, just don't let Occam know we've been using it, or he's going to be mighty ticked off.
Don't worry about "Giant Rat Of" Sumatra clogging up the pitching line, 13bit. You know the Bear is going to miss at least several weeks with knee problems, and the chances are good that Tanaka's arm could finally give.
Plus...while there is absolutely no lower a possibility that ol' Samarkand will bounce back than Cole, the most probable scenario is that he will be so awful—even sub-Jaime Garcia awful—that Cashman will be forced to junk him.
Have no fear: Chance will get his chance, and Justus will be served.
Glad I could explain it all for you.
Justus and Judge? What's next? Well according to Keith Law we'll be signing Jurykson Profar and hiring Floyd Barrister as a coach.
ReplyDeleteSorry.
Doug K.
Frazier will never play CF in the majors. He's not blocked by Elsbury, but by Judge and Stanton and will be until one of them is gone.
ReplyDeleteFrazier is trade bait, get used to it till he's gone.
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ReplyDeleteHow Have I never landed on this site before now. I actually LOLed at -" Hicks for Cole(which sounds like a political slogan in W.Va.)"
ReplyDeleteAND any NYY comment that includes a Sherlock Holmes reference is God's Country. Which god, I'm afraid to say. . ..
28 in 2018
Since Cain is leaving KC, send Ellsbury there for a mushroom and sausage pizza.
ReplyDeleteSign Alex Cobb.
Let Frazier be fourth outfielder until Hicks bites it.
Enough said
Remember this: Ellsbury hits righties much better than he hits lefties. With Stanton, Judge, and Sanchez hitting behind him, if he stays with the Yanks he won't see many righties in 2018.
ReplyDelete
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