The Yankees Can't Lose

Future ace?

For a while people have been saying that you can't grade the trade of Jesus Montero & Hector Noesi for Michael Pineda & Jose Campos for many years, and I have been agreeing with that assessment. Until we see what each player has to offer MLB, then there's no way to know one way or another that the trade was good or bad. But maybe that's not true.

I've been having a discussion/argument with Greg from Evil Empire Prospects and Bronx Baseball Daily about the trade. He believes that if Montero turns into the perennial all-star that many believe he will be, and Noesi turns into an ace, that the Yankees lost the deal. It won't matter if both Pineda and Campos are aces for the Yankees, because the Bombers would have lost something that they really don't have in the minor leagues right now... an incredible hitting prospect, that could lead the middle of their order for many, many, years. His point is that the Yanks already have CC as the ace of the staff, an excellent pitching prospect in Manny Banuelos, and many more B+ pitching prospects in guys like Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, DJ Mitchell, and David Phelps. And the team simply doesn't need that many aces to succeed (look at the Cardinals' pitching rotation versus the Phillies' pitching rotation).

It's hard to disagree with that logic. However I've been pointing out that it's better to buy hitters than pitchers, and the Yankees have plenty to buy with. Combine that with an awesome young pitching staff and the team can be incredible successful for years. But today I hit upon something that I wanted to share...

The trade simply can not be called a bad trade. Bad trades, to me, are those that damage a team's ability to win. Look at the damage Omar Minaya did to the Expos/Nationals by dealing away Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon. That's a bad trade (if any Indians fans are reading this I apologize for making you cry over this again). But the Yankees will continue to have one of the best offenses in the game, and they will continue to be able to acquire top pitching. So even if Montero and Noesi are future HOFers, while Pineda and Campos are future journeymen in MLB, it won't make a lick of difference. The Yankees will still be winning, and will simply look back on this trade and think "damn, that sucked, but we don't have time to dwell on that because we're gearing up for the postseason again".