What’s going to happen if continues to struggle? Throw away the mental stuff from this weekend for a second and let’s talk purely physical struggles. If the hits don’t start falling, there’s no way the Yankees can justify running him out there every day. I have to acknowledge this weekend, though, and given the way that went down, benching Posada outright could be a problem. Again pretending, let’s assume Posada learned from this experience, knows he’s hurting the team, and takes the benching without any complaints. What alternative could the Yankees go to?
They could just take the platoon tag off of and have him DH full time. I wouldn’t be completely against this, but he hasn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball (last night’s homer notwithstanding).
They could call up Jesus Montero. We’ve been anticipating this since 2011 started and it’s probably coming soon. Again, it’d be super cool if this happened; he’s everyone’s favorite prospect and he’d probably get some catching duties to spell .
They could also make a trade in the mold of the trade last year. Enter . Beltran has always been a favorite of mine and I think he’s been incredibly under appreciated during his time in New York. So, what could/would a trade for Beltran look like?
At FanGraphs last week, Matt Klaassen did the heavy lifting on exploring Carlos Beltran’s trade value. His conclusion:
Given Beltran’s abilities, salary, the time remaining on the season, and the increasingly high value teams place on their prospects, it is hard to imagine the Mets getting more than a couple of C prospects in return for Beltran if they send a few million dollars along.
Who are the C prospects the Yankees have? Mr. Sickels, if you please:
13) Eduardo Nunez, SS, Grade C+: Good speed, makes contact, but looks more like a utility guy to me than a regular.
14) Brandon Laird, 3B, Grade C+: I like the power, but discipline is sketchy and where does he fit?
15) David Adams, 2B, Grade C+: Can hit if healthy.
16) J.R. Murphy, C, Grade C+: More young catching depth but needs a lot of polish with the glove, bat should improve.
17) Corban Joseph, 2B, Grade C+: Another second base option with a nice bat.
18) Cito Culver, SS, Grade C+: I know the Yankees love him, and he has a high ceiling, but a long way off and lots of risk.
19) Brett Marshall, RHP, Grade C+: Tommy John survivor must be watched closely.
20) Jose A. Ramirez, RHP, Grade C+: Live arm with some breakthrough potential.
21) Angelo Gumbs, OF, Grade C+: Great tools, raw.
Off the bat, the Yankees are not going to trade Murphy, Gumbs, or Culver, so we can eliminate them right away. Adams hasn’t played enough this season, so I’m not sure how attractive he is, despite the Mets’ apparent need at 2B (Adams isn’t close enough to the Majors anyway). I definitely think Laird is a piece of trade bait, but I assume he could be part of a package to acquire a pitcher. Besides, he’s not helpful to the Mets in the immediate or long term future. Nunez might make sense for the Mets, especially if they also look to unload Jose Reyes, but for whatever reason, the Yankees are pretty high on him and are determined to make him stick on the Major League roster, so I doubt they’ll part with him; I would, though.
Anyway, despite those limitations, there are still some names the Yankees could look to flip to the Mets, but there’s one thing we haven’t gone over. Klaassen mentions that the Mets would have to eat money for a deal to go through. That applies to almost everyone, but it doesn’t apply to the Yankees. If they felt it essential enough, they could eat the money for the Mets in exchange for a smaller hit in terms of prospects.
Bottom line, I’d like to trade for Beltran, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I’m not sure the Yankees and Mets match up too well in terms of prospects, even if the Yankees can take the financial hit for their cross-city counterparts. I think they’re much more likely to roll the dice on Jesus Montero hitting at the Major League level while doing a good deal of DHing and some catching to back up Russell Martin. That plan could work well on multiple levels: it would get Montero consistent plate appearances at the highest level and it could give a boost to non-Russell Martin inclusive lineups.
Another snag is that Jorge Posada can only play first base aside from DHing. Theoretically he could catch, but I’d put the chances of that happening ever again at below absolute zero. We saw the Yankees acquire a DH in Berkman last year despite ‘ presence and his lack of versatility, though that was mitigated by a platoon situation. I don’t see the same thing happening if Carlos Beltran is a Yankee.
It would probably be a good, relatively cheap acquisition for the Yankees, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one.
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I rather them call Montero up because I think that this team really needs a jolt or something and he would be the perfect person to do it. Remember in 05 when the team was winning but was still sluggish and then they called Cano up and it seemed he got everyone excited about playing again. I think Montero could do that.
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What about if Swisher continues to struggle? Can Beltran be a replacement with Swish on the bench?
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EJ Fagan Reply:
May 16th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
If Beltran is relatively cheap, I support this option. The Yankees can take on Beltran’s financial burden as well or better than most teams, have a slot at DH for him, and he’s hitting the crap out of the ball right now. Some sort of RF/DH/Bench/C/1b tandem of Beltran, Swisher, and even Montero (theoretically, later in the season) would really boost an offense that needs it.
That said, I think he’ll be more expensive than a couple of C prospects. Lots of teams are looking for hitting, and he might be the best hitter available on the trade market. I don’t think they’ll start talking about the catchers, Heathcott, and Killer B’s, but names like Adam Warren, Hector Noesi, Brett Marshall, Corban Joseph, etc could also come up. I’d consider that kind of trade for a player of Joseph’s caliber.
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Nunez has 9 SB in 10 SBA and only 4 SO in 70 career AB, so he’s not going anywhere, at least not for an aging RF, and the Yankees are not getting Beltran with dudes who Ramiro Pena got called up in favor of. Pena didn’t even get an at-bat up here this year – did he even play in the field? The fact that Nunez is the only backup infielder and this team has only three bench players speaks volumes about how piss-poor their minor-league position player depth is. The Mets have enough guys who can’t hold down 2B, they don’t need another one, or a backup when they have one and Wright-Reyes will probably make at least 150 starts each.
Why would the Mets want to help the Yankees? Dealing Beltran to the Yankees would send an awful message to Mets fans.
The solution is simple, folks:
Teach Montero RF, have him share RF with Swisher then if he’s good enough, take over RF, Swisher to DH, Posada to the bench as a $13.1M pinch-hitter/spot DH/third-string catcher/backup 1B/co-mentor to Montero with Martin. Montero could still keep his hand in catching. Swisher seems like the kind of guy who would take Montero under his wing and show him the ropes with RF.If Swisher helped Montero, Swisher back for 2012. Maybe the Yanks could buy him out then sign him so he makes a little less than what he woud’ve got if his option was picked up. He seems O’Neillian i.e. seems like he’d take less to remain a Yankee like ONeill did.
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Matt Imbrogno Reply:
May 16th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
1. Pena got sent down due to a roster crunch. In terms of fielding, he’s much better than Nunez. The small offensive upgrade Nunez offers is negligible, considering how little PT either would/will get.
2. No way is Jesus Montero playing right field. He’d be Adam Dunn out there. His offense is going to be good, but not Dunn-good that’ll at least partially cover up his bad defense. Doing that and moving Nick Swisher hurts the team and both players.
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Btw when I say “teach Montero RF” I mean he’s taught RF for at least a month and then gets called up if he is still hitting well enough to get the call.
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