Over the weekend we all got a bit of an education on the August
31st waiver wire trade deadline and how it all works. The Oakland
Athletics placed first baseman and soon-to-be free agent Yonder Alonso on the
waiver wire and the Seattle Mariners claimed him. The Athletics could have
pulled Alonso back and placed him on waivers again, they could have simply
dumped Alonso on Seattle and his remaining salary or the two teams could have
worked out a trade. The A’s and Mariners did the latter as Seattle agreed to
send minor league outfielder Boog Powell to Oakland for Alonso. Could the
Yankees have made a similar deal with Oakland, and should they have?
When I say “should the Yankees have made a similar deal” I
want to be clear in saying that I mean as a part of the Sonny Gray deal or in a
separate deal before the July 31st trade deadline. I fully
understand that the Seattle Mariners had a chance to claim Alonso before the
Yankees did and I fully understand how the whole August waiver wire trade
deadline works. Just to clarify and just to be clear since this is all
hypothetical anyway.
When I run these posts looking at if the Yankees could have conceivably
pulled off a similar trade it all comes down to who the other team gave up,
this time Boog Powell formerly of the Mariners. If the name Boog Powell is
familiar to you it may be because he was suspended 50 games for amphetamine use
by Major League Baseball back in 2014 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays
organization. John Sickels has since called Powell a “prototype reserve
outfielder” on Minor League Ball before Powell was suspended for 80 games for a
second failed drug/PED test in 2016. Before the 2017 season Powell was listed
as a “C” grade prospect and was not one of the Mariners Top 20 prospects in
their farm system, again according to Minor League Ball.
So who would the equivalent be to Powell in the Yankees
organization? Think Jake Cave or Billy McKinney, and even then that may leave
the Yankees paying too much. Powell hit .194 in 23 games with the Mariners big
league club this season in three different stints while he has also hit .340 in
58 games in Triple-A with Tacoma.
At the time of the trade Alonso, 30-years old, was hitting
.266 with 17 doubles, 22 home runs and 49 RBI along with his .527 slugging
percentage which is second best among qualifying American League first baseman.
So should the Yankees have made this trade? Absolutely. Chase Headley is hot
right now but we know it likely won’t last if history is any indicator of the
future. Meanwhile Alonso has been consistent throughout much of his career and
is a free agent at the end of the season. I was not involved in the negotiations
obviously but this one seems like a no-brainer to me. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Who does he replace? Obviously, Cashman has fully bought into Bird returning. With Holliday down, Hicks can take that spot. Then Castro will take Wade's spot. Then if Holliday returns before September call ups he takes Frazier's spot. Only other spot would be Torreyes, if Castro is back, one could use Chase there on a limited basis, I guess. Still playing time would be an issue.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'd like to see the Yankees really go for it this year, especially given all the talent they have to work with in the minors to get deals done, I'm not sure acquiring Alonso is necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees offense has certainly struggled in July and August, but I think the problem is more about some guy's "righting the ship", rather than the team needing to go outside the team for help.
Aaron Judge, for instance, has hit just .230 and .232 in July and August. I can see him improving on that right away thanks to his peripherals being in line with what he did earlier this season.
Gary Sanchez has also seen his batting numbers dip in July and August.
Finally, Starlin Castro, who hit .313 thru June was limited to just 24 plate appearances in July and none in August.
If those three get healthy/straighten things out like they can, I believe the offense will start scoring like they did earlier this season again.
BTW, if you add that with Tanaka finally figuring things out (2.89 ERA in his last 8 starts), to go along with Severino and Gray at the top of the rotation, this team can do some real damage in the postseason.
I have said time and again the team is not ready yet for a WS run this year! 2018 is the year they make a real run at the Gold Ring.As Luis Severino delivers ace-like performances and the BP has been rebuilt, I think things are almost set for next year. We have had many calls for Cashman to trade for a starting pitcher and I have been against doing so. We all know we could USE an Ace type pitcher, I just don't see the NEED for one.
ReplyDeleteA balanced team is a very hard team to beat, by that I mean; good defense, pitching, and timely hitting will carry the day, more times than not.
We have a chance to make the Play-offs this year without adding another pitcher. 2018 will be the Year we make a hard run at the WS. We have players out with injuries this year, If they can come back at pre-injury (or better) performance and we dump one/two contracts (CF/LF) the team will have all we NEED for a well balanced team.
2018
Starters...before trades....
Gary Sanchez-C, S. Castro-2b, Didi Gregorius-SS, Miquel Anduiar 3rd, Greg Bird-1stB,
Aaron Judge-RF, Clint Frazier-LF, Billy McKinney/Estevan Florial-CF.
Pitchers...before trades....
Luis Severino, Tanaka, Montgomery, Chance Adams, And one of...Clark Schmidt,
Domingo Acevedo, Justus Sheffield even throw in Adam Warren.
BP...before trades...
A. Chapman, Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, Chard Green, Domingo Acevedo,
Replacements...
Sonny Gray!
Just my synopsis of the talent we have IF the right guys are playing every day and dumping anyone holding a better play sitting down on the Farm from making the team.