Monday, June 30, 2014

The Martin Prado Fire Is Heating Up & It Started Here


The Martin Prado to the New York Yankees rumors started here when my friend Bryan Van Dusen wrote about in a piece a few weeks back, see HERE and see below:

While Prado's batting line so far in 2014 is not impressive (.274/.318/.377, with only 1 SB in 2 attempts), he's hit pretty well this month (.307/.338/.427). Along with having a solid bat, Martin's versatility would work well in New York, since last season he played over 200 innings at both 2B and LF, while playing almost 900 innings at 3B.

Improving in the infield may not be the Yankees most pressing need, but Yangervis Solarte's fall from grace and Brian Roberts being... well... Brian Roberts, should make Brian Cashman take a hard look at Prado.

I then touched on it and tweaked the idea a little turning my attention to Prado replacing the Yankees Kelly Johnson and not Brian Roberts, seen HERE and below:

The first reason for not wanting Prado to replace Roberts is this is a typical Yankees move signing a veteran guy long term to block a prospect like Rob Refsnyder. The second reason is I do not believe Alex Rodriguez can be effective in 2015 after basically sitting out for two consecutive seasons late into his 30's. The third reason is Kelly Johnson needs to go and go now. Roberts plays adequate defense and is a switch hitter, if worse came to worse for Roberts he could be a pretty damn good bench guy for the Yankees. Johnson is basically a bench guy for the Yankees and is not having a great time at it.

Johnson was brought in because of his versatility and potential for pop and RBI's at the bottom of the order. Johnson has played 810 games at second base, 133 games in left field, 43 games at third base, and 27 games at first base in his career making him a good guy to have around. Prado on the other hand has played 374 games at third base, 252 games in left field and one game in right field, 245 games at second base,  56 games at first base, and 16 games as a shortstop. Losing the versatility of Johnson is not only replaced but improved upon if you add Mr. Prado.


Many thought we here at The Greedy Pinstripes were just pulling this awful idea out of our behinds and then Pinstripe Alley, one of the biggest and best Yankee blogs, wrote a piece on it. Now The New York Daily News and Billy Madden wrote about it. Now it's on MLB Trade Rumors. The fire is spreading, remember where you heard it first.

10 comments:

  1. Add River Avenue Blues to the list...

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  2. I can see going after a 2nd baseman but we have two of them teaing up the farm.Pirela (.812 OPS) and Refsnyder (1.129)...your pick! Then there are; Wheeler (R) and Roller (L)
    Bp we have a few but Thornton must go. Rondon is a lefty and throws hard. Pat Venditte (wip of 1.304) but not really have a put-away pitch. Tracy and Turley both of whom are fly ball pitchers.

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  3. Prado is not a second basemen, did you read my article?

    He is a third basemen by trade but has played a ton of SS, 2B, LF, RF, along with 3B. He's versatile as hell.

    Pirela has been moved to learn the outfield and is no longer considered a second basemen after being bumped by Ref. Ref is still learning second base, you dont learn positions as a rookie in the Bronx, you do that in Scranton. Plus he's only been there for about 14 minutes.

    Wheeler is not someone you don't block, he's old for a prospect and not someone who prevents a deal. Roller is a 1B only pretty much, Prado isn't.

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    1. All true Daniel, I may have put things in a bad way but the idea is to bring up a back-up at first and Pirela is and outfielder (for Soriano). Ref can learn in the Bronx and maybe add something at that position. Wheeler is old, but hitting well!
      I don't mean and didn't mean to suggest not trading for Prado, I just think Prado would fit as our utility guy and let the other guys play...if they can.
      There have been many player playing the infield and called up to play the outfield...Tom Tresh, Mickey Mantle.
      But I see your point, I get upset with incompetence that all. I have a good one down the line, you will absolutely love...my rant for the month! LOL

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  4. I don't see any reason at all to bring Refsnyder up now. He's played exactly 19 games. 19. Games. There's some truth to the fact that AAA is a glorified holding cell for MLB call ups, but that's another story. Why not just see how he handles AAA a second and third time through, and re-evaluate in September when the rosters expand?

    It's not like Refsnyder will help the starting rotation after all, which is the main problem with this team. There are offensive woes, yes, but getting less than 6 innings guaranteed from Whitley and Nuno doesn't help anything.

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    1. I've been saying this for all 19 of the games John, it seems like a losing battle.

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    2. These same people who are screaming for Refsnyder are probably the same ones who will do the inevitable screaming for when the Yankees do in house options for the rest of the infield. I've been saying it since 2012 when Jeter broke his ankle, get ready for a bunch of stop gaps (Roberts, Solarte, Johnson) until the farm produces young, ready MLB talent.

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    3. I am tied of this...trade away our farms best (2and 3 at a time) for guys that once were great but now on the wrong side of 32/35. Yes, sometimes it works out...for a year or maybe 2 years, but in the end we loose.
      So, play the guys...what will they do, loose us more games than those we already have. We are loosing games by one or two runs nightly. How we loose is immaterial, because a kid didn't get a hit or because Brett or Tex didn't get that clutch hit. A lose is a lose!

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  5. Most of the time we trade for anyone, we end up giving up too much for what we get.
    Other than CC (for a while) and now Tank, are the only pitchers that have been worth what we gave up in return, or paid for them.
    We sure need pitching, that is a fact, but to go out and give up two or more top players is ludicrous. That is what got us in the mess down on the farms! We are slowly recovering from that mess...!
    We do have a plethora of catchers and out fielders but, do we want to give up our replacements for Tex, Jeter, Beltran, Roberts, Ichiro?
    Hal says cost is not the problem anymore! If that is true, go after a Price but not a pitcher over 32/33 years old.
    Play the kids, so I don't have to watch a once proud Team go down the drain because they will not hurt someones feelings or try one of the kids out for a while (every day) and send him down if he can't cut it. Hell, if they can send Mickey down and say that Mattingly doesn't have enough power for a 1st baseman and sit Posada....
    Writing like an idiot, right...so what, as I stated before, "I get upset with incompetence"!
    1) Change ownership, or
    2) Get rid of the Tampa Cabal
    3) New GM? As long as everything is going through the Cabal and Hal...you can forget the new GM. Not one good GM would take the job!
    Then we can yell all we want about the team because we can't say..."He will be at or around the back of his baseball card.

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  6. I agree 100%. I'm not entirely sold a team of prospects at certain positions, positions we have all named 100's of times, can be a .500 team like this team is.

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