We Finally Won A Trade With The Seattle Mariners

Everyone in the Yankees blogosphere has discussed and beat into the mud the whole Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos trade desperately looking for a winner but there is one trade the Yankees definitely won with Seattle. Last Spring Training the Yankees traded Double-A outfielder Abraham Almonte to the Mariners for now set up man Shawn Kelley and the trade has been pretty one sided after a season and a month plus.

Almonte was optioned to Seattle's Triple-A team yesterday in favor of prospect James Jones after hitting .198/.248/.282. Kelley was huge for the Yankees bullpen in 2013 and has been the closer while David Robertson was out with an injury and a very viable setup man for the rest of 2014. Kelley sports a 3.60 ERA in 15 innings but has a 2.51 FIP and a 1.200 WHIP to go with it.

The Yankees may not have won the Pineda for Montero trade, yet anyway, but they definitely won this trade and that's good enough for now.

Seattle Is Quite Happy With Cashman's "Steals"

Being posted as a part of Syndicated Sunday from It Is High....!

It's not always fun to look at Brian Cashman's trades from the other side of the equation. The Yankee version goes that we acquire solid veterans and give up nothing, either because the other team wanted to dump salary or they simply aren't as smart as us.

Take Seattle, of course. Of course, the ultimate deal - Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda - now looks, at best, to be nothing for nothing. It's still on the board. But two lesser trades that have been widely celebrated as Yankee victories might need a second look.

According to the Seattle Mariners blog Lookout Landing, the acquisitons of Sean Kelly and Ichiro were not the giveaways the Yankees wanted us to think. In fact... yeesh. 

For Kelly, we gave up Abraham Almonte. Here's what Lookout Landing says:

"Abraham Almonte, 24, who received the Mariners Minor League 2013 Heart and Soul Award for his exemplary play and leadership, went from organizational filler to a potential big time player in the club's 2014 outfield plans with the season he turned in. The switch-hitter who came over in exchange for Shawn Kelley combined to hit .295 between two stops in the minors and in Seattle this season, cranking out 17 home runs, walking 73 times and stealing 27 bases while playing all three outfield positions. He showed a lot of defensive ability in all three outfield spots during his 25 game late season trial with the Mariners and looks like a steal for what he cost. His athleticism and versatility are a big change from the outfield the club started the 2013 season with, and that could see him stick on the 25-man roster in 2014."

 

And then there was Ichiro. Does anybody remember the non-entity we gave up for him? Of course not. It was a steal, right? Well, Seattle remembers him.

 

"Of everyone on this list... Danny Farquhar is probably the most surprising to have turned into something valuable at the big league level in 2013. Danny (26) came to the Mariners as one of the pieces in the Ichiro trade... Somewhat of an enigma as a 5-foot-9 right-hander that employed a lot of three-quarters and below arm angles, Farquhar had only two big league innings before his promotion to Seattle this season, but he ended the year as the club's closer and posted the 9th highest SO/9 rate of all MLB relievers in his 55 2/3 innings this season. And while his ERA was an uninspiring 4.20 his FIP was 1.86 -- the fourth best number in the majors among relievers. Farquhar's curveball really made a huge difference for him this year, and sticking to a more natural arm angle allowed him to refine his command past where it had ever been for him before. His 1.9 fWAR was the third highest number on the club and tied for 9th among MLB relievers for the 2013 season."

 

Farquhar is expected to be Seattle's closer this year, and Almonte might start in the outfield. Kelly pitched well for us this year until he ran out of gas, and Ichiro - well - less said, the better.

 

Surprise, folks: We don't get these washed up players for nothing.

Shawn Kelley Reports To Yankees Camp

Shawn Kelley has officially shaved his beard and reported to Yankees Spring Training camp after being traded for earlier in the week when the Yankees sent minor league outfielder Abraham Almonte to the Seattle Mariners. It was announced that he will wear #27 for the Yankees so he will have big shoes to fill after the clinic that Mr. Yankee Raul Ibanez put on last year. Welcome to the team Shawn!

Yankees Acquire Middle Reliever Shawn Kelley

The New York Yankees have acquired middle reliever Shawn Kelley from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for outfielder Abraham Almonte. The Yankees have added Alex Rodriguez to the 60 day DL to make room for Kelley on the 40 man roster which is currently at full capacity. Kelley will be entering his age 28 season after posting a 2-4 record with a  3.25 ERA in 44.1 IP while striking out 45 batters in 47 appearances last year for the Mariners. Kelley also made 14 appearances for Seattle's AAA team last year going 2-0 with six saves and and 0.90 ERA in 20 IP with 25 strike outs. I am not sure we need another reliever to be honest but with a blog named The Greedy Pinstripes how can I complain, right?

Prospects : Top 10 Yankees Outfield Prospects

Our friends over at Bronx Baseball Daily employee a good friend of mine, Greg Corcoran, who does some of the best stuff on prospects that I have ever seen. That should really resonate with people who know me because I have been following prospects like a religion since about 2005 and did the whole forum thing up until this past season. I actually tried to get Greg over on TGP in it's infancy before BBD offered him a position but I am getting off topic. He wrote up his Top 10 Yankees outfield prospects list, which is suddenly stacked with talent, so go over HERE and check it out. With his permission I am also posting it here for your reading enjoyment but I encourage you to head over to BBD and give them some views too, thanks and enjoy! For the full write up head over to BBD!!

BBDP: Yankees Top 10 Outfield Prospects

Outfield prospects have not been a strong suit for the Yankees organization since Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera were coming up. Now there is a new batch of prospects knocking on the door and the organizational depth at the position is actually pretty extraordinary. Hopefully, somewhere in there lies a replacement for Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson. Hopefully that replacement arrives soon. There is an expectation both within the organization and with scouts that at least one or two of these outfielders will work out, and the Yankees will save a ton of money.

10. Adonis Garcia 

9. Ronnier “Musketeer” Mustelier 

8. “Honest Abe” Abraham Almonte

7. “It’s Gam-Time” Ben Gamel

6. Melky Mesa ”Melkman 2.0″

5. Zoilo “Zee” Almonte

4. “Ray-Flo” Ramon Flores

3. Slade Heathcott

2. “Stone Cold” Tyler Austin

1. “Mad Mase” Mason Williams

As you can see with this system outfield depth is one of the major strengths. The Yankees have an excellent blend of major league close talent, extremely high upside talent, and long term projects. It will be interesting to see how these guys pan out, but all of them show significant promise and could help the major league team in one way or another soon.

Honorable Mention: Taylor Dugas, Rob Segedin