Thursday, February 2, 2012

Trading Ivan Nova

"I look good in pinstripes" - Ivan Nova


ESPN.com's SportsNation has regular chats with Wally Matthews. Wally has worked with Newsday, the NY Post, the NY Sun, 1050 ESPN radio, and is currently a beat writer for ESPNNewYork.com. I read his chats, but I have to admit that the vast majority of things discussed make it more of a time killer than a good reference for Yankee fans. I mean, with places like River Avenue Blues, The LoHud Yankees Blog, The Yankee Analysts, etc (see the right side for a list of other great Yankee blogs), I see no big reason to check in with ESPN and Mr. Matthews each week.

There was a question posed that made me think of a longer answer, and what better place to express that bigger answer than here at The Greedy Pinstripes?

Anthony (NYC) - Ivan Nova's trade value will never be higher. I wouldnt mind mind seeeing him dealt for a good young player

Wallace Matthews - Like who? The Yankees don;t really need a bat and I think they believe he can be an imprtant part of their rotation for a long time. Maybe not a 1 or 2, but certainly a No. 3. and those aren;t alwasy so easy to find. And besides, he has shown something that the Killer B's have not so far -- the ability to handle big.-league pressure. I could be very wrong on this but I don;t think he;s goin anywhere

I agree with Matthews on this one. If the Yankees had a clear hole in the lineup then I could get on board with this idea, but that's not the case. And before you start talking about the DH... no, that's not a clear hole. Jorge Posada was the primary DH last season, and he batted 7th or lower in 75% of his plate appearances. So Tony here is saying the Yankees should trade a guy that was their #2 pitcher last season for a DH that'll hit at the bottom of the order? That makes no sense.

Other than a clear lineup hole, I suppose the Yankees would like somebody to possibly replace Swisher in RF for 2013, or an heir to SS or 3B for Jeter and ARod. But it makes less sense to trade a key piece of the rotation for a minor leaguer, who won't have any affect on the 2012 Yankees, than trading for a DH that hits 7th. How does it make sense to make the 2012 Yankees worse?

What do you think? Does Anthony have a point? You can comment below, or go here to discuss.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)