Looking Back At The Trade Deadline

It would have been great if the Yankees traded for an ace-like pitcher like Johnny Cueto, David Price, or Cole Hamels. But I think we all agree that the asking price for those guys, which likely would have included one or more of Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Greg Bird, and Jorge Mateo, was a bit high. 

However, pitchers such as Dan Haren (traded to the Cubs), Mat Latos (traded to the Dodgers), and Mike Leake (traded to the Giants), were available for a much more reasonable price. Yet the Yankees were never truly in on those guys. 

Instead of making a move to acquire a pitcher from outside the organization, the only move the Yankees made to improve the rotation was to promote Luis Severino. Even though a lot of fans wanted to see Severino promoted, many weren't satisfied with Brian Cashman's lack of action at the trade deadline (the non-waiver one, that is). But how has that worked out?

"I'll give you a clue... not bad."

Here are some stats since the trade deadline...

Dan Haren - GS: 3, ERA: 5.40, WHIP: 1.467, FIP: 7.17
Mat Latos - GS: 3, ERA: 6.75, WHIP: 1.432, FIP: 4.40
Mike Leake* - GS: 1, ERA: 2.84, WHIP: 1.579, FIP: 4.53

*Leake was placed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain after just one start with San Francisco.

Luis Severino - GS: 3, ERA: 3.18, WHIP: 1.059, FIP: 3.40

I won't go as far as to say Severino will be the better pitcher for the rest of the season, but it's certainly possible. And one thing is certain, and that's the fact Luis has been the best pitcher out of the four since the deadline. 

Now, some may say the Yankees should have gone harder after a pitcher once they found out that Michael Pineda was headed to the disabled list, especially since it looked like it would be for longer than 15 days. However, Latos and Leake were dealt at about the same time it was learned that that's where Pineda was headed. And as for Dan Haren, I think the Yankees would have been better off with Bryan Mitchell and the bullpen, anyway.

In fact, especially if CC Sabathia can build on his last few starts (3.38 ERA and a .647 OPS against), Joe Girardi will have some tough decisions surrounding the rotation to make in a couple of weeks.

Time to Call the Marlins GM Dan Jennings?

The Miami Marlins have not lived up to expectations this season despite signing Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich to major extensions while signing or acquiring Dan Haren, Dee Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, David Phelps, Martin Prado, Mat Latos and a slew of other pieces leading many to wonder if a fire sale is in order once again in Miami. On Sunday I posted an article labeled “Bring Me Martin Prado” asking the New York Yankees to re-acquire their second baseman from the second half of 2014 while taking advantage of the Marlins while they are down. Are there any other players besides Prado that may interest the Yankees if Marlins GM Dan Jennings decides to sell this July?

Before we get too ahead of ourselves let’s remember that Stanton broke the hamate bone in his hand over the weekend and may be out at least six weeks or longer which could potentially bury this team in the playoff races and National League East Division. While I don’t expect Miami to flat out start selling every piece they have they could move, as I stated on Sunday in my Prado piece, players that are set to hit free agency before the 2016 season anyway.

We went over Prado Sunday and I don’t think I need to beat that dead horse any longer, if Prado is healthy and proves he is healthy before the trade deadline he could be moved and would be a welcomed addition to the team’s struggling infield. New York needs more than infield help though and could look at some of Miami’s pitching. I am reluctant to include Haren since he is so reluctant to pitch outside of the Southern California area but he has been Miami’s best pitcher and eventually came around to pitching for the Marlins, maybe a playoff race could keep him quiet and happy for two or three more months? If not Haren would you bank on Latos and his 3.62 FIP and ignore his 5.49 ERA and -0.6 WAR in hopes of another Brandon McCarthy resurgence?

It’s hard to bank on Miami really trading many, if any, of their players at this year’s trading deadline. The team has already expressed an interest in re-signing Ichiro to a deal for 2016 as he continues his march towards 3,000 hits making a deal for him unlikely while the team obviously does not want to trade away a player to make Stanton or Yelich disgruntled players. Jennings and owner Jeffrey Loria’s hands seem tied at this point so it seems like Haren, Prado, Latos or bust in a deal involving Miami and New York this July.

Miami went all out for Ichiro

The Miami Marlins announced their one year deal with Ichiro Suzuki this week making the one year and $2 million deal official. Miami went all out to make their new 41 year old fourth outfielder feel welcome as the team made an 18 hour journey to Japan to announce the deal.

Five team executives made the 18 hour flight to Japan in an effort to make a strong first impression to Ichiro and to welcome him to their family. Ichiro was said to be humbled and energized by the gesture and was quoted as saying “I feel incredible enthusiasm. My feeling then was that somehow I really wanted to respond to their enthusiasm. That’s also a very good driving force to be a good player for this team. Now what I needs to do is prepare for this great season I’m anticipating.”

Ichiro will be the first Japanese born player in the Marlins franchise history after starting his career off in Seattle with the Mariners before being traded to the New York Yankees in 2012. Suzuki is a 10 time All-Star and a mere 156 hits away from the 3,000 hit mark in the United States.

Suzuki will join Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna in the Marlins outfield and will join an ever growing list of newcomers to the team including Dee Gordon, Michael Morse, Mat Latos, Dan Haren, David Phelps and Martin Prado. 

Andrew Friedman Goes Crazy When He Has Money

Remember when the Los Angeles Dodgers fans and fans around Major League Baseball were excited about getting former Tampa Bay Rays GM Andrew Friedman? Many praised Friedman for what he did with such limited resources and finances which worried some around the league now that he had the highest payroll in baseball. And then the third day of the Winter Meetings happened.

Dan Haren was traded to Miami along with Dee Gordon for a nice prospect haul while Los Angeles agreed to pay Haren’s $10 million in salary. Haren had stated multiple times that he would likely retire rather than leave Southern California if traded which makes me seriously question why a GM would want to pay someone $10 million to retire elsewhere when the team could use him in the rotation. This was a small price to pay when they traded Andrew Heaney, the top prospect they received from Miami, to Los Angeles to receive the Angels Howie Kendrick to replace Gordon.

I praise Freidman for acquiring Jimmy Rollins as he is still above average offensively and defensively and is probably the best shortstop available not named Troy Tulowitzki. That praise was short sighted when I learned that the team gave Brandon McCarthy a four year deal worth $48 million. In no way, shape, form or market is McCarthy worth four years or $48 million. No way, good luck with that.

You have to give credit where credit is due though as he fixed the Dodgers outfield logjam, traded away their highest paid player and a $100 million contract, improved the infield and added some nice prospects to their farm system. All in all a good week for Friedman but seriously, about that McCarthy contract... 

Add Haren, Arroyo, & Feldman To The Yankees Wish List

Add a few more names to the Yankees Christmas wishlist and shopping list this evening as Jon Heyman is reporting that the Yankees are interested in pitchers Bronson Arroyo, Scott Feldman, and Dan Haren. Okay so I know that Brian Cashman has to work the phones, do his due diligence, leave no stone un-turned, explore every option, etc. I get that and I appreciate that and the effort but being interested in a guy like Arroyo makes absolutely no sense. Either way the Yankees seem to be ready to become very aggressive at next week's GM Meetings.

Arroyo is 36 years old and went to the National League because he could not cut in the American League anymore, specifically in the AL East, so I think a move back would be foolish. Arroyo is coming off of a 3.79 ERA and 4.49 FIP in a traditionally home run friendly ballpark in Cincinnati in 202 innings pitched. If the Yankees needed a 5th or 6th starter type and had every other position filled then sure you an make room for a big innings eater that can keep you into games but right now I still say we have to pass on Bronson.

Feldman had a pretty decent season split between the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles and may be a sleeper pick for whoever acquires him in 2014. Feldman is only 30 years old and is coming off a combined 3.86 ERA and  4.03 FIP in 182.2 innings pitched. Feldman will likely not command a long or big money contract and could fit nicely in or around the #3 spot in our rotation so I say make a guy like Masahiro Tanaka a priority but after that is in the bag I could see us going after a guy like Feldman.

Dan Haren scares the hell out of me after he struggled in a strong National League East division last year with the Nationals. That task is only going to get harder in the American League East with the Yankees if he were to come here although he did pitch better in the second half then he did in the first. I know we were after him at the end of last season but that was only to upgrade over Phil Hughes, now he has a little bit bigger shoes to fill so right now I may have to pass.

Yankees Tried To Trade For Dan Haren

The New York Yankees tried to acquire Dan Haren from the Washington Nationals earlier in the month but never came close to a deal. The Washington right hander is owed $1,500,000 for the rest of the season and would only make three starts for the Yankees since he would not be eligible for the post season roster so the Yankees passed on a potential trade. With Phil Hughes struggling and David Huff getting lit up by the Red Sox in his only start you can see why the Yankees would want to try to improve the back end of their rotation but that will not happen with Dan Haren unfortunately.

Should The Yankees Trade For Dan Haren?

Three days ago Dan Haren cleared waivers, and since then a lot of Yankees fans have talked about the possibilities of the Yankees trading for the Nationals' right-hander. 

"Look into my eyes."

If you look at his totals for this season, they aren't very impressive. Haren's ERA this season sits at 4.82, which is not a whole lot better than Phil Hughes' ERA of 4.97. If you take into account that Dan would be moving from the National League to the American, then I wouldn't blame people for wondering if Haren and Hughes are pretty much one in the same.

But they're not.

For one, Haren doesn't walk as many batters. Phil is walking 2.5 batters per nine innings, while Dan's rate is currently only 1.7 per nine. It's not like Hughes is having a strange season in that department, as just a couple of seasons ago that rate was a career-high 3.3. Meanwhile, Haren has never had a BB/9 higher than 1.5 in his entire career. 

The biggest difference between those two pitchers is what they've done lately.

In July and August, spanning eight starts, Phil Hughes has an ERA of 5.27. On top of that high ERA, opposing batters are hitting .290/.339/.537 off of him during that time frame. His only quality starts then are against two struggling teams... the Twins on July 2nd, and the Angels a couple of nights ago. Notice the time between those quality starts too.

Meanwhile, Dan Haren has only thrown seven starts since the beginning of July. But in those 7 starts you'll see quite a gap between him and Hughes. Haren's ERA during that stretch is 2.30, while opposing hitters have only managed a batting line of .191/.250/.283. Only once in those seven games did Dan fail to go at least 6 innings, as he was only in for 5 innings against the Pirates on July 22nd. I wish I could give him a free pass on that start, but even though Pittsburgh is in first place in the NL East, they still have a poor offense (they've only scored 471 runs this season, which is actually less than the Yankees).

"LESS than the Yankees? Yikes."

By the way... Haren has 10 more strikeouts during that time, and that's in one less start. At the same time, Danny has 2 less walks as well. Not that it's all rosey, because Dan Haren is prone to the long-ball just like NOT-Philthy (yes, I know that not long ago I fought for Hughes, but alas... I was wrong). While Phil's home run rate is 1.7 per nine innings, Haren's is right there at 1.6. However, while Phil's rate has risen in each of the last three years, Haren is only a couple of seasons removed from a rate of only .8 home runs per nine innings. So I can see Dan improving in that department.

Now that we've seen that Dan Haren would be a big improvement over Phil Hughes in the rotation, the question is... what would it take?

Well, I looked at who the Nationals will have around next year, when they'll surely try and compete again. The fact is, they won't have many holes to fill. 

The only offensive roles that may need to fill are a backup catcher, as Kurt Suzuki is likely headed to free agency as he hasn't been good enough for the Nats to pickup his $8.5 million option for 2014. And since Danny Espinosa has been awful, Washington may be interested in a backup shortstop as well. 

Therefore, Francisco Cervelli, who the Yankees may want to deal away due to his connection with Biogenesis, seems like a viable candidate for trade. However, I'm not so sure about that. If Wilson Ramos had been replacement level, then I could see that team's desire to have a good alternative behind the dish. But the 25 year-old has held his own with the bat, so I wouldn't expect the Nationals to be interested in Cervelli or any other catcher.

The only real trade chip the Yankees have at shortstop is Eduardo Nunez, and I use the term "real" very loosely here. I can't see Nunez attracting much attention at all, thanks to him simply being a bad hitter. A triple-slash of .262/.310/.369 in 713 MLB plate appearances is not going to make anybody's mouth water. On top of that, the Yankees may need Nunez around since Derek Jeter may not be able to handle that many games as the starter at short.

That leaves us with pitching, where the Nationals will need to look at a 5th starter. They have Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler, and of course Stephen Strasburg for the rotation next year. Then again, Ross Ohlendorf has looked good this season, even in his two starts. But I can't help to think they would rather keep him in the bullpen. So I'm sure the right starting pitcher would pique their interests.

Like any team, Washington wouldn't mind picking up another bullpen piece. And that's where a deal for a starter could work out, since if the guy they trade for can't handle starting, they can always send him to the bullpen to see if they can get some value out of the guy. 

That's why I'm thinking of offering Washington Adam Warren.

"At least he doesn't want to send me to Boston. Ewwww."

Warren has an ERA of 4.32 in 58.1 innings in Major League Baseball. That doesn't look great, but keep in mind that that number is skewed thanks to a horrible one-game debut in 2012, in which he got shelled by the White Sox (6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, and only 1 K in 2.1 innings). But in 2013 Adam's ERA is 3.54 after 14 relief appearances. And don't worry about his ability to start, as he started 53 games between 2011 and 2012 in AAA, where his ERA was 3.66.

Add in the fact that Adam Warren is only 25 years old, meaning he could improve on those numbers (not to mention joining an easier league to pitch in), and I think we have a solid trade on our hands.

Dan Haren Comes Off The Board, Signs W/ Nats

I do not know if Dan Haren was on the Yankees radar or not, if not then he should have been but I digress, but he came off the board this afternoon when the Washington Nationals scooped him up. The Nats got even more scary after they signed Haren today on a one year deal worth $13 million with no word on incentives and such. I am sort of surprised to see this much guaranteed money given to a guy coming off such a down year but I guess the market has been set.

Dan Haren Off Yankees Board, Right Back On

It was reported earlier that the Cubs and the Angels agrees on a deal that would send RHP Dan Haren to Chicago and the Angels would receive closer Carlos Marmol in return. Marmol waived his no trade clause and all that was left was for the Angels to pick up the option on Haren for 2013 and the deal was done. Late last night news broke that the Angels have declined Dan Haren's option, thus making him a free agent in this years off season class. Wait, what? They had a deal in place to get a young effective cheap closer and they did not take it? The Cubs must have been the one to take this deal off the table because I cannot see how the Angels did not bite on this. Now that Haren is a free agent i fully expect the Yankees to at least kick the tires on him so this will be something worth watching.

LAA To Trade Dan Haren And Ervin Santana

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of North America of Earth of the Milky Way galaxy of the Universe have announced that they are looking to trade both Ervin Santana and Dan Haren. The Angels hold club options on both players, Ervin for $13 million and Dan for $15.5 million. The buyouts on each deal are $1 million and $3.5 million, respectively. So this is a case of the team having options for the players that are too much, but where simply buying them out gets the team nothing in return.

Seeing as how they'd basically be on one year deals for the Yankees, and therefore wouldn't affect the 2014 payroll, it seems like a good idea to kick the tires on at least one of those pitchers (I'd think about Haren before Santana). But after hearing the news about Kuroda being okay with signing a one year deal, and a chance that Pettitte does return, I see no reason to give this a serious thought. Both pitchers had below average seasons (4.33 ERA for Haren, and 5.16 ERA for Santana), and I'd rather use the prospects to sweeten a deal for a young outfielder to take over for Nick Swisher.

In a few months I may look back and wish the Yankees had given things a harder look, but since the price isn't "all that" I don't think I have to worry.