Earlier this week The Greedy Pinstripes declared the Miami
Marlins open for trades and even went as far as to predict a fire sale by the
team in South Florida. Now I personally don’t have any inside information or
sources that will back that up, although I have a sneaking suspicion that many
of the “insiders” that claim to have those sources really don’t either to be
honest, but instead of relying on click baits, false information and “sources”
I personally prefer to rely on history as an indicator and common sense when laying
out my plans and posts here on the blog. When the team traded shortstop Adeiny
Hechavarria to the Tampa Bay Rays in a weak National League East Division I
knew more was to come and that “more” may include a Martin Prado reunion back
in the Bronx.
According to reports that are circulating online the New
York Yankees and the Miami Marlins are at least discussing and kicking the
tires on a potential trade that would bring the third baseman and utility
player back to the Bronx after the Yankees traded him three seasons back along
with David Phelps for Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Jones and prospects. For what
it’s worth that same report stated that the Boston Red Sox have also called
Miami to talk about Prado which could create an expensive bidding war between
the two teams. It is also worth mentioning that the Yankees asked about first
baseman Justin Bour as well although Bour doesn’t exactly make me want to jump
up and down and do a happy dance at the thought of his acquisition, I’m just
saying.
Through Prado’s first 83 at-bats this season the 33-year old
is hitting .277 although the sample size is down due to the righty missing time
with a hamstring injury. Prado hit .305/.359/.417 over 153 games for the
Marlins in 2016 though and brings with him about 14 defensive gloves, a slight
exaggeration but probably not by much, and an absolute ton of defensive
versatility. Prado has played every position during his 12-year MLB career with
the exception of center field and catcher, I think the Yankees have those two
positions handled pretty well thankfully.
Bour, although I did state earlier that acquiring him
doesn’t give me the biggest warm and fuzzy feeling, is having the best season
of his young MLB career in 2017 hitting .298 with a .365 on-base percentage, 18
home runs and 50 RBI. Those numbers are great but Bour is a left-handed hitter,
which makes having both him and Greg Bird on the same team a bit redundant to
me, and has three-plus seasons of team control left making him potentially
expensive. If Bour had more than 258 games of experience to base the decision
off of, and around 70 games of experience this season where he is hitting so
well, the decision may be a bit easier for New York but as it stands now there
seems to be more questions than answers at this point.
This trade, like all trades, will come down to the price tag
for the Yankees. Acquiring Prado and his two-years and $28 million will likely
keep the price tag down for New York but Bour won’t reach free agency until the
2021 season. Not only would Bour block Greg Bird or potentially take at-bats
away from him but I also can’t see Miami simply giving him away with that much
team control left. Having Bour’s left-handed swing inside Yankee Stadium, yes I
know every left-handed swing is just “made” for Yankee Stadium, and in the
middle of the Yankees lineup would be a huge upgrade over what the team has
gotten from first base though, I admit that, but at what cost? What does the
team do with both Bour and Bird when Bird returns healthy in 2016 and beyond?
Again, I go back to the word “redundant.”
Whatever the Yankees and their GM Brian Cashman do remains
to be seen but it seems like we once again have proof that those guys are
reading what I write. I suggest going after Prado, they go after Prado a couple
days later. I suggest starting to look at the July 31st trading
deadline and potential acquisitions early and here we are a month almost to the
day in advance talking about New York already having discussions with other
teams. They read me dammit, they really do! That may or may not be sarcasm,
only time will tell.
Stay tuned and Happy Friday!
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)