who are you willing to deal montero for?

[Curmudgeon]

Well, it's a conundrum. Until Montero plays, you don't know what you've got. But if he starts poorly, his trade value goes down.

You know, the Yankee's rotation looks bad now, but things are never as bad as they seem--or as good as they seem. I'm certainly not in love with the Red Sox' highly-touted rotation. After Lester and Buchholz, everyone else is very hittable.

The Yankees need Burnett to get his head on straight and one other guy to step up. I read somewhere that Burnett is going through a divorce. Hopefully the messy part is over and he can devote more mental energy to pitching.

Now the Phillies.... there's a rotation for you. Lee, Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt. Not too shabby.

[moocow007]

interesting read

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/w ... z18CpUJX5r

For example, the Rays have David Price at just under two years of service time, and signed very cheaply through 2012. Given their upcoming payrolls, will they be willing to commit 15-20% of their salary dollars to Price as he approaches $10 million a year as a three-plus player in arbitration in 2013? If that sounds ridiculous, what about trading for Matt Garza, known to be available, less expensive than Price and unable to hit free agency until after 2013? The A's have a wealth of pitching and a lack of hitting; would they part with Brett Anderson -- who may be the next Pettitte -- for Montero? The Marlins have committed a lot of money to Josh Johnson through 2013, and while they have filled their catcher and DH slots, the opportunity to re-experience Miguel Cabrera -- another fair comp for Montero -- would have to be tempting. Similarly, the Giants have their future catcher in Buster Posey and re-signed first baseman Aubrey Huff, but the Yankees might consider pursuing Giants' starter Madison Bumgarner as a more productive use of Montero's value. You could also call the Dodgers, in their current state of flux and lacking anything resembling a catcher, to pry away Clayton Kershaw.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/w ... z18CyehFMK

imo, johnson would cost too much, nor do i think he is available

anyone in that paragraph interest you?

David Price obviously yes. Hard to find a 6-6" power pitching lefty who already has had (Cy Young like) success (to say the least) pitching in the AL. $10M for his is a bargain for the Yankees. Heck, the way he's pitched against AL East competition, considering his age and stuff, $20M is a bargain.

Kershaw I would definitely consider. Power pitcher with a nasty curve. Not proven like Price (especially in AL) but has potential ace stuff.

Bumgarner? Nah.

Anderson? No way.

Curious on Bumgarner, why not? At 21 years old he accomplished something in the playoffs CC and Price couldn't. He shut down a great Rangers lineup and even more impressively he did it in Arlington.

Basically what Curmudgeon said in the post right after yours in this thread. One has to assume that Montero is as good as labeled (until he proves otherwise). Assuming he is as good as advertised, I wouldn't trade him for anyone except for an ace. Bumgarner doesn't have ace stuff. He's a nice young pitcher and, yes, he did great in the playoffs but he's a middle of the rotation guy for NY.

[moocow007]

Related to Montero, I've been reading that a lot of people think that of the numerous top catching prospects the Yankees have (Montero, Austin Romine, JR Murphy being the other three) the best one may be Gary Sanchez.



One guy basically said if you combine Montero's hitting with Romine's arm you basically get Sanchez. Probably exaggerating a little but the guy has looked REAL good so far.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, lets see how well Sanchez does when he moves up from A ball. Do they plan to play him in Trenton next year?

[rappa]

Sanchez is 17yrs old, he will not be in trenton which is double aa. I'm hoping and am pretty optimistic he will be starting in low-a which is charleston.

He was signed for 3mil out of the dominican and he has the body / agility / arm strength to stay behind the plate. Montero's problem isn't from his arm, its his agility / body that will dictate if he could stay at the position.

I still wouldn't trade him unless it was for a Top 5 SP.

[Curmudgeon]

According to baseballreference.com, Sanchez was born on December 2, 1992. So he's 18 at the moment, and yes, the Sally League is probably the right place for him next year. So even if he develops nicely, he's 3 years away.

[moocow007]

According to baseballreference.com, Sanchez was born on December 2, 1992. So he's 18 at the moment, and yes, the Sally League is probably the right place for him next year. So even if he develops nicely, he's 3 years away.

Yep Sanchez is 18. The talk is that if the Yanks deal Montero that Romine (who is said to be almost ready) would bridge the gap to Sanchez.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, Russell Martin is arbitration eligible, so the Yankees control him through 2012, yes? So it's a short gap to bridge (assuming that Martin rebounds from his hip problems). And I haven't given up on Cervelli as a useful piece, even though he has no power.

[Ronito]

No one. I've followed this kid since the start. I remember reading the article on Yankees signing some teenager. There's a new core four coming, get ready folks. Instead of trading them for others, why don't we try to build a team around them?

[nykgeneralmanager]

Expect Sanchez to spend the entire season in Charleston, it would take a really really impressive season
for him to be moved up during the year.

As for Montero...I'll throw this out there. When we hear of trading a prospect or a young guy, the discussion is always for pitching. I know that is where we have a shortage, and our offense is great to begin with, but I think that kind of goes against logic. We all know a pitcher can only impact 30 games a year, while a hitter can impact 150+ games. More importantly, there is the risk of pitchers. They get injured, even the best ones have great years and not so great years, and obviously they tend to have shorter careers. I think the argument can be made that in a trade, a great hitter may be more valuable than a pitcher...but we all know great pitching trumps great hitting.

[Ronito]

Expect Sanchez to spend the entire season in Charleston, it would take a really really impressive season
for him to be moved up during the year.

As for Montero...I'll throw this out there. When we hear of trading a prospect or a young guy, the discussion is always for pitching. I know that is where we have a shortage, and our offense is great to begin with, but I think that kind of goes against logic. We all know a pitcher can only impact 30 games a year, while a hitter can impact 150+ games. More importantly, there is the risk of pitchers. They get injured, even the best ones have great years and not so great years, and obviously they tend to have shorter careers. I think the argument can be made that in a trade, a great hitter may be more valuable than a pitcher...but we all know great pitching trumps great hitting.

You have a point. The only thing is...who do we trade Montero and where does that person play? 3rd, 2nd, 1st are all on lock. It wouldn't make sense to trade Montero for another catcher, not like there's any elite catcher out there that we'd be interested in. Mauer isn't going to be available, obviously and neither is Posey.

[yaboynyp]

A lot of people... But they would have to be a bonafied star player that fills a need

[yaboynyp]

A lot of people... But they would have to be a bonafied star player that fills a need