New at third base?

[Pugsley_2491]

Ok here are some of the potential 3rd basemen for us in 2008

In organization possibilities:
Wilson Betemit
Moving Robbie Cano from 2nd to third

Trades:
Miguel Cabrera
Miguel Tejada
Adrian Beltre
Eric Chaves
joe crede
or scott rolen

Free Agents:
mike lowell
Corey Koskie
garett atkins
a possible return of aaron boone
or i know it is EXTREMELY unlikely but there isssss the possibility that we re-sign arod (even though it's been made very apparent that the organization has NO intention of re-signing him because of him exercising the opt-out clause)

what do you think??

yeah any other ones that i missed just post them and i'll add them here

[PR07]

I'd add Joe Crede to the trade list. Garrett Atkins as a potential free agent target too?

I really don't have a favorite, it just depends on what we have to give up for each of them or how much they want (if a FA).

[Jitpal]

From that, I would look to do this in order:
1. Trade for Chavez if he is healthy and the cost isn't a premium
2. Trade for Beltre if the cost isn't a premium
3. Move Cano to 3B and get Iguchi on the cheap for 2B

Those would be my moves. -Jitpal

Edit: You can add Corey Koskie as a potential free agent. He was released earlier today. -Jitpal

[PR07]

MLBTradeRumors mentioned a Damon for Crede trade, and I think that would make a lot of sense for both parties. It would allow us to sign one of the top FA OF's: Rowand, Fukudome, or Hunter.

[Fury]

Crede is good defensively, but he's way overrated offensively. He rarely walks. His back is also an issue, but i'd take a risk on him if we platoon him with Betemit, or just let them fight it out for the job. Adrian Beltre isn't bad either. We could move Cano to third, and trade for Kelly Johnson too.

[Pugsley_2491]

i kind of want beltre, for some reason idk. hes a right handed power threat who we could get pretty cheap. hes a great second half player and i think he could thrive in the yankee offense because he is truly capable of having an mvp caliber season (see 2004 LA) however if not he can be counted on as at least a 25 hr guy and 100 rbi's, especially batting behind abreu who would allow him to see multiple pitches to get a read on the pitcher....but thats just me

another great right handed hitter that i would like to get would be tejada who is deff an upgrade over beltre and we could probably get him relatively cheap depending on how the orioles organization feels on their future

of course the slam dunk is miguel cabrera however he would cost wayyy too much that i would not be comfortable giving up.

[Pugsley_2491]

MLBTradeRumors mentioned a Damon for Crede trade, and I think that would make a lot of sense for both parties. It would allow us to sign one of the top FA OF's: Rowand, Fukudome, or Hunter.

The only thing with damon is, you saw how great we played when him and abreu got healthy (and that was no coincidence) i mean who is batting leadoff, i guess jeter could go there...idk its tough

[Jitpal]

MLBTradeRumors mentioned a Damon for Crede trade, and I think that would make a lot of sense for both parties. It would allow us to sign one of the top FA OF's: Rowand, Fukudome, or Hunter.

I don't like it. Damon when healthy is our only legitimate leadoff guy. Melky is not a leadoff guy and neither is Jeter. Crede isn't leadoff either. Rowand is a product of his ballpark. Plus, we still have Melky, Matsui and Abreu in the outfield. Unless you plan to make Matsui the full-time DH and move Melky to LF, those guys aren't a worthy plan. Not saying, I wouldn't be against moving Matsui to DH and Melky to LF but we have no real leadoff hitter then. Melky, while a good OB guy for his age, is not as good as Damon. I'd keep Damon over trading Damon for Crede. Now if they want someone else, I'd be willing to talk. -Jitpal

[PR07]

Still, the Yankees are going to have to make up for AROD's power somewhere. It's going to be hard to find another 3B (the only one is Miguel Cabrera), but there are some FA OF's in Hunter and Rowand who are coming off 25+ HR seasons.

[Jitpal]

i kind of want beltre, for some reason idk. hes a right handed power threat who we could get pretty cheap. hes a great second half player and i think he could thrive in the yankee offense because he is truly capable of having an mvp caliber season (see 2004 LA) however if not he can be counted on as at least a 25 hr guy and 100 rbi's, especially batting behind abreu who would allow him to see multiple pitches to get a read on the pitcher....but thats just me

another great right handed hitter that i would like to get would be tejada who is deff an upgrade over beltre and we could probably get him relatively cheap depending on how the orioles organization feels on their future

of course the slam dunk is miguel cabrera however he would cost wayyy too much that i would not be comfortable giving up.

I really like Beltre too but he is not a cleanup hitter. I'd rather put Cano or Posada in the 4 slot over Beltre. Beltre is like a 6 hole hitter.

Tejada is not worth it and it will be difficult to get him. First, Tejada doesn't run out ground balls and that isn't the type of thing we want. He is a big enough name to say no to Girardi in the running out ground ball situations. Plus, he would need to converted to 3B and Baltimore would be looking for a lot for him and I'm sure some team would give them what we would plus the added benefit of not seeing him 19 times a year.

Cabrera is far from a slam dunk. Great hitter and he would replace Arod's offense but he is lazy and a horrible 3B. He is a DH and we already have more than we can use in Damon, Matsui, Giambi and Duncan. -Jitpal

[cmaff051]

Still, the Yankees are going to have to make up for AROD's power somewhere. It's going to be hard to find another 3B (the only one is Miguel Cabrera), but there are some FA OF's in Hunter and Rowand who are coming off 25+ HR seasons.

Don't rule out a big bounce back year by Giambi... it is his contract year, after all. If he can give us 37 home runs like he did in 2006, that would help a ton in replacing Arod.

[Jitpal]

Still, the Yankees are going to have to make up for AROD's power somewhere. It's going to be hard to find another 3B (the only one is Miguel Cabrera), but there are some FA OF's in Hunter and Rowand who are coming off 25+ HR seasons.

The move that could be done. Deal Melky + prospects for pitching in either a top-flight setup man or a number 2 pitcher to anchor the backend of the rotation. Then you focus on getting Hunter to sign and provide that RH offense. Hope then that Sardinha or Gardner are ready to be the 4th OFer in case of injury because our OF would not be young. -Jitpal

[Pugsley_2491]

What we really need to do is get giambi out of here there really is just no room for the guy. hopefully he takes the hint from his limited role in the end of the season and playoffs that its not gonna change this year, and maybe he can waive his no-trade clause

now the reason i brought this up is that it ties in with our 3rd base problem. does anyone remember back in around may before he got the plantar fascia. the yanks were talking with the angels about possibly trading giambi to the angels for figgins and some prospects. now with figgins we can basically play him anywhere meaning maybe moving him to 3rd or 2nd and moving cano to 3rd. or we could trade him there and just take the prospects from the giambi trade and make any of the above possible trades.

(i'll try to find the article)

[cmaff051]

i kind of want beltre, for some reason idk. hes a right handed power threat who we could get pretty cheap. hes a great second half player and i think he could thrive in the yankee offense because he is truly capable of having an mvp caliber season (see 2004 LA) however if not he can be counted on as at least a 25 hr guy and 100 rbi's, especially batting behind abreu who would allow him to see multiple pitches to get a read on the pitcher....but thats just me

another great right handed hitter that i would like to get would be tejada who is deff an upgrade over beltre and we could probably get him relatively cheap depending on how the orioles organization feels on their future

of course the slam dunk is miguel cabrera however he would cost wayyy too much that i would not be comfortable giving up.

I feel the same way. Beltre has a pretty bad contract in comparision to his production, but it's not that bad. He's only got two years left on his contract at $12 million each. I'd take that chance.

But of course, by first option would be Betemit.

[Knicks 316]

Why do we have to replace 3B specifically? Can't we put a stopgap there and decline Abreu and bring in a power bat?

[Pugsley_2491]

and what would declining abreu's option accomplish? just check the yankees record before he started playing up to par and after and you tell me if we should decline his option

[PR07]

^Who plays 3B then?

We could probably get Crede for some non-elite prospects and cash maybe.

Either way though we need to move one of Damon, Matsui, or Giambi.

[cmaff051]

What we really need to do is get giambi out of here there really is just no room for the guy. hopefully he takes the hint from his limited role in the end of the season and playoffs that its not gonna change this year, and maybe he can waive his no-trade clause

now the reason i brought this up is that it ties in with our 3rd base problem. does anyone remember back in around may before he got the plantar fascia. the yanks were talking with the angels about possibly trading giambi to the angels for figgins and some prospects. now with figgins we can basically play him anywhere meaning maybe moving him to 3rd or 2nd and moving cano to 3rd. or we could trade him there and just take the prospects from the giambi trade and make any of the above possible trades.

(i'll try to find the article)

Why get rid of Giambi? We'd be paying somebody almost half his contract to take him off our hands. He's only got one year left on his contract (2008), I think we should just take our chances and keep him. He has a track record of success and I doubt he wants to retire after next year. He should be very motivated to have a good year in 2008 so he can get his next contract.

[cmaff051]

^Who plays 3B then?

We could probably get Crede for some non-elite prospects and cash maybe.

Either way though we need to move one of Damon, Matsui, or Giambi.

Why do you get rid of any of those guys when we just got rid of our best power hitter? We need them all, one of them might have a down year, one of them might get injured. Giambi has one year left on his contract.

[PR07]

Giambi clearly is not right, and he has fallen severely out of favor with the Yankees organization judging by his postseason plate appearances.

Damon plays a decent LF, but he costs the team a lot of power at the position, and his weak arm hurts us big time if he can't get to a ball. He's still a really good leadoff hitter though.

Matsui is fine at DH. He hits for some power and a consistent average. I don't really want to see him in LF field though anymore.

You have to move one of these guys, especially when you can get a more natural fit in the OF like a Rowand or Hunter.