Huh?
Kudos to Jimmy over at MVN for being on this story early and here's a link to a newspaper source, but it sounds like the Yankees are going to sign Mark Loretta.
Now Loretta is certainly an upgrade at the utility position over a Miguel Cairo, but I am confused over this move. Now maybe the Yankees are getting smart and are going to "only" carry 11 pitchers, but if they don't, someone has to go. Figure a bench right now of Giambi, Betemit, Duncan and Molina allows 12 pitchers to be carried. Now, I have no complaints with carrying 11 pitchers, it just surprises me. If they did that, you would have great coverage at all positions with the addition of Loretta, but isn't he very similar to Wilson Betemit?
You can also go to the darker implications of this move like Jimmy did. Is this a prelude to Cano being thrown into the Santana mix? I'm not sure, Loretta isn't exactly a spring chicken and the Yankees don't usually make that type of move without a replacement in mind. The 2009 free agent class isn't bustling with an obvious candidate at second and I don't think Alberto Gonzalez has shown that he will hit enough that you can count on him. But, I think that if they sign Loretta, it means there will be another shoe to drop. Let's hope it's not Cano.
Comments
Here's another ominous sign: the Twins traded their shortstop in the Young deal and their leading candidate to replace him is their second baseman, Casilla.
Let me go on record as saying that it would be absolutely dumb to trade Cano. Cano and Chamberlain should both be completely off limits. Everyone else is expendable.
Posted by: Corey | November 30, 2007 12:05 PM |
Loretta is very servicable and if you look at his stats, a good hitter (.298 lifetime) and a really good fielder. He was an all-star the one year in Boston.
Cano is .314 lifetime (helped by the monster year in '06) and a weaker fielder than Loretta.
I am not factoring in range or anything but purely errors and fielding percentages.
As a Sox fan, I hope Loretta is a bench player for you and you don't use Cano to get Santana. :)
Posted by: blmeanie | November 30, 2007 12:14 PM |
Peter, Mark Loretta is one of the best character guys in baseball. Maybe this move is an attempt to bring some additional leadership (not onfield necessarily) to the Yankees roster. You know, to build it up in the presense of ARod's big deal.
He is a banjo hitter, but can get on base a bit and plays a solid, if unspectacular 2b. He is a great veteran signing as a back-up.
You might be onto something with the Yankees offering Cano too. That might be the crux of the issue and not what I just said.
Posted by: andy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 30, 2007 12:50 PM
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Nah, the Yanks aren't going to trade Cano. That would be suicide with the fans. People would be calling for Cashman's head.
It's possible Yankees added Betemit to their deal to the Twins. I know the Twins are looking for infield position players and Betemit could easily fill one.
Posted by: Tripp | November 30, 2007 01:38 PM |
Perhaps this is just a sign that they are sending Betemit in the deal. Apparently the Twins have a need a 3B and the truth is, Betemit is a nice option for the Twins. Betemit has nice upside and is still cheap. Cannot complain if the package is Kennedy, Cabrera, Betemit and Tabata.
Posted by: Brian | November 30, 2007 02:28 PM |
Corey- Amen
BL/Andy- I like Loretta the player, just concerned about the motives behind it.
Trip/Brian- I hope you guys are right and I would do Brian's proposed trade in a second.
Posted by: Peter![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 30, 2007 03:03 PM
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Another head scratcher was the Mets trading Lastings Milledge today to the Nats for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. Hmmm 2 things are odd about this. The first is I thought the Mets were going to try and use Milledge to get Haren. Secondly, isn't Milledge worth more than Church and Schneider?!?
Posted by: andy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 30, 2007 03:37 PM
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They are getting slaughtered on the radio here in New York (another Kazmir trade, etc.) The only thing I can think of is that there has been all this talk of Reyes being distracted in the 2nd half (.251/.316/.402)because he went out too much with a teammate. Maybe Milledge was that teammate and this is addition by subtraction?
Posted by: Peter![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 30, 2007 03:44 PM
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Maybe that's it. But if no one else knows that, you'd think they could get more than what they did. Jeesh, I just don't get that one.
Posted by: andy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 30, 2007 08:51 PM
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What confuses me is that we have a platoon at 1B. Betemit is a switch-hitter, but absolutely sucks from the right side. So, in essence, he's a lefty. Shelley Duncan is the righty of the platoon.
Mark Loretta is a right-handed hitter. Trading Betemit would like a righty-righty platoon at first. It doesn't make sense.
If it's strictly a glove-man we need in the middle infield, we already have Alberto on the 40-man roster. Why would we need another?
And considering we already have 2 guys filling one spot, carrying another isn't going to happen. Someone is getting moved and I don't like it.
Posted by: Jim Johnson | December 1, 2007 10:35 AM |