December 06, 2007
Interesting Rumor
The Yankees should go for this:
A source says the Giants did call the Yankees about Hideki Matsui. They're offering their starting pitchers (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain or Noah Lowry) for bats, but they are just exploring to see if there is a match. Matsui has a full no-trade clause, and it isn't known whether he would waive it to go to San Francisco or anywhere else.
This is a lot better deal than trading the farm for Santana, especially if they can get Lincecum or Cain.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:14 PM
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Trading for Lowry would be trading for our #7 starter. No way is better than Moose. Lowry has a 1:1 K:BB ratio last season. Abominable.
It's hard for me to imagine that the Giants would trade Cain or Lincecum straight up for Matsui. Even Sabean can't have that much of a fetish for veterans.
If Alex Rios three years away for Free Agency can't get Lincecum or Cain there is no way in hell Matsui could. The Yankees and Giants are talking about Noah Lowry or Jonathan Sanchez not Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain.
"Moose" is toast. Even Torre figured that out last year. Lowery has a much brighter future ahead of him than Mussina has. Mussina will be lucky to make it through the season.
Lincecum or Cain in some deal for Jay Bruce. Otherwise, Lowry should be the only one moving and NOT for Matsui or any player over 30.
I've been telling my Yankee-fan co-workers all winter that the Yankees should see if they can get younger by dangling Matsui. They need to make a move like this or they could decline very quickly in the next couple years as guys like Jeter and Posada all start to show their age at once.
Lowry might be a middle reliever for the Yankees. The AL East will east him alive. The guy walks WAY too many guys and doesn't strike out nearly anyone. He's worse than Wang, Pettite, Hughes, IPK, and Joba. So he's at least #6. If we need a #6, we have plenty of guys to choose from.
I wouldn't mind packaging someone with Matsui, though. Something like Matsui and Horne (plus another?) for one of their better guys (Cain, Lincecum).
Oh, and one more interesting stat about Lowry. His career GB/FB ratio? 1.00.
(Full disclosure: GB/FB for 2007 was 1.29. Better, but he's still not a classic GB pitcher like Wang who can get away with low strikeout totals. GB/FB for 2006 was 0.82.)
Dumping Matsui helps NYY by getting rid of 1 overpaid underperforming LF/DH type - but they seem to like those.
I love the range in pitchers being offered in this rumor, as if they're all somehow of equal value and indistinguishable. It's like hearing that the Mets are offering either David Wright, Carlos Beltran, or Luis Castillo.
"Dumping Matsui helps NYY by getting rid of 1 overpaid underperforming LF/DH type - but they seem to like those."
Ummm...WHAT?!?! A guy who reliably hits 20 HR and reaches 100 RBI with good average? Did you see the contract that jose Guillen - JOSE GUILLEN - just signed? I'll take Hideki Matsui for $12M, Alex. Nowadays, that's a reasonable rate. Also keep in mind that he brings in somewhere in the neighborhood of $5M a year in money for the Yankees in the form of Japanese ad revenue.
Matsui may not be "underperforming," but the basic point is nonetheless true: the Yankees have a whole LOT of guys in their lineup who are too old already, or will get there in a hurry. If Hughes, Chamberlain and Kennedy are as good as advertised -- and that's a huge "if" -- then the Yanks will be on their way to rebuilding an over-the-hill pitching staff. But the lineup is still loaded with aging veterans, especially the outfield.
Matsui
2005 ALDS NYY LAA L
5 20 4 4 1 0 1 1 2 3 .200 .273 .400 0 0
2006 ALDS NYY DET L
4 16 1 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 .250 .250 .313 0 0
2007 ALDS NYY CLE L
4 11 4 2 0 0 0 0 5 2 .182 .438 .182 0 0 0 0 0
The guy slugged over .500 once, can't run or play the outfield
those postseason numbers are clearly A-rod's fault, though.