i dont see him regularly.. but Philly fans chief complaint... is he doesnt bring it defensively..

and a stat..

since last years ASG HR Derby.. he has a totalof 13 HRs.. ASG 05 to ASG 06 scary..

worth 25 mill over 1.5 seasons.. not sure?

The Phillies aren't in a position of power here: they need to rebuild and get out from under some of their horrid contracts. Obviously you don't give up Hughes, but you also don't give up Clippard, the team's second-best pitching prospect. If they want pitching, it's going to have to be Steven White, Matt Smith, etc. If the Yankees are taking on all that money they shouldn't give anything up.

Just one note, slightly off topic for a second. I'm off to the States for my sister's wedding this weekend. Philly. I'm going to dip to NY for the Yanks/Mariners game on the 19th (weather permitting), so I get to take in the hometeam.

I wanted to plug my semi-new blog Matsuzaka Watch:

www.matsuzaka.blogpsot.com

...and I wanted to announce a brand-spankin' new blog that will be fully operational in a few weeks....when I return to Japan. It's a look at a 19 year old kid that I think will be something special in a couple of years. He's kind of a Kazmir story, in that he was highly touted and rushed to the Japanese Pro game a bit too quickly to help a bad team.

His name is Yu Darvish and he's half-Iranian and half-Japanese. Very tall, powerful, and talented. Check it out at:

www.yudarvish.blogspot.com

I'll be back to my blogging on the 25th or so. Until then, maybe see you at the game on the 19th. (1st baseline 5 rows back...)

I guess it's because it always lost when we were kids, but I'm always delighted to see the the AL win the All-Star Game. I love that Ozzie Guillen said he intended to manage it like a real game. And I'm pleased to see that the Great Rivera is as respected around the league as he is in these pages and the Yankee Stadium grandstand.

I have one extra ticket for friday's game vs. the White Sox. (Moose vs. Contreras) It's a good seat in tier MVP and is free if any Bronx Banter-ers care to join me. Email if you want it. bripop at yahoo (dot) com

The Yanks can now take his name of of their "wanted" list.

You're assuming that NY is taking on Abreu's full contract. There's always the chance that the Phils pick up part of it (see: A-Rod).

1. prone to falling asleep in the field and thus making stupid gaffs
2. is a liability on the basepaths and,
3. most troubling, would rather take a BB and pass the buck then get the BIG hit when necessary.

I like Abreu and I too think that he could fit in with the pinstripers at this moment, but my impression of him is that he is the anti-Jeter, by which I mean that you have to watch Jeter everyday to truly appreciate how his day-in-day-out play transcends stats, where as Abreu's daily play doesn't support the numbers he eventually puts up.

Abreu is 'Arod Lite' – he'll provide fans with their share of frustrating moments but his numbers will look gawdy at the end.

So, would I like Abreu in pinstripes? Sure, provided that the Yanks make it a Philly salary dump and not give up too much talent in return. He woulod lengthen out the lineup as a bonafide impact corner OF, his lefty bat would provide more power into the short RF porch, his great eye would fit right in with the high-OBP Yanks, and he could take Shef's place in RF next year.

But if Yankee fans are expecting Bobby to be the savior, then we're in for a very long second half.

At least for 1.5 years, we might get a re-energized version of his former self...I would imagine not playing in front of the brutal Philly fanbase for 81 games would be enough of a change for most guys...

I would also imagine that playing for a team that annually makes the playoffs, and has another shot this year, would help. As opposed to playing for a team expected to make the playoffs every year for the last 6 years (including this one) that has zero appearances in that time - and isn't making it this year either.

No drawback to his lefty bat either.
Abreu's just been mashing lefty pitching this season:
.333 AVG, .453 OBP, .527 SLG, .980 OPS.

He has a cannon arm.

The biggest knock I've heard against him defensively is that he's not a wall crasher. Philly fans worship the Dykstra, Rowand types who will eat the fence for the team. Abreu is very much not that guy. He's perceived to play like a bit of a pretty boy, which, I'm told, is why Philly hates him.

That said, he's exactly what the Yankees need offensively at this moment: a bonafide RBI guy who also gets on base, steals bases, and scores a lot. Yes.

Problem is the Red Sox are drooling over him, too, which means the Yanks will have to pay top dollar to keep him out of Boston's lineup.

Another obtainable Phillie who fits the Yankees realistic needs is Leiber. I think he'd be a solid number 4 starter for the Yanks in the 2nd half.

A Phillies phire sale could seriously impact the AL East.

Lock up the kid (Hughes), and break out the checkbook, Cash, and both Abreu and Leiber might be yours.

"The Red Sox's David Ortiz didn't come through in the clutch in this year's All-Star Game....BUT HE PASSED ON HIS CLUTCHNESS TO HIS TEAMMATES!!!" (followed by clip of Michael Young hitting the triple)

I guess you had to be there. High comedy, really.

12 With all due respect, I don't recall Sheff as a wall crasher too. So perhaps Abreu can fit into the shoes just fine. And let's face it, with Bernie there we don't won't have a better luck.

13 Must be some true comedy.

Anyone else notice how quickly the FOX cameras cut away from Ortiz as he was greeting Jeter during the starters' introductions last night? Can't let people think the Red Sox and Yankee players are friendly with each other, now can we FOX?

I can't believe we have to put up with those hype-mongering, baseball-killing morons for another seven years.

One thing Yankee fans and Sox fans will always agree on - FOX is awful.

But you can't give up Hughes for a 32 y.o., and the Yanks have no one at the major league level to replace Cano at 2B or Wang at P.

Plenty of childhood memories were reawakened, but the pitcher summaries were really a shock. Goose went 5 innings in relief (7th through 11th) and Lyle then pitched 3 (12th through 14th) for the win. How the times have changed!

I also think Cano is untouchable unless, and only if, the Yanks can trade for Soriano with a long-term contract guarantee. Then, Cano becomes expendable because Soriano moves back to 2B. But that wouldn't quite fix our OF problems, would it? hmmm.

The Phils get a lefty starter (and yes I know Henn has been moved to the pen in Columbus, not like Philly couldn't undo that), a future bat who could move back to his natural 3B position, and another live arm for their otherwise so-so farm system.

I'm not saying the Phils would do it, but that's where I'd start negotiating, especially if Yanks are picking up Abreu's salary.

12 Matsui is not much of a wall-crasher either, and when he is, the ball is rarely in his glove.

I don't believe Cash will consider trading Hughes for anyone EXCEPT for an established, quality pitcher. (Bird in the hand...)

Madden echoed my sentiments that it will be a near miracle if the Yanks can get an impact pitcher. If we can simply replace Chacon with a league-average guy, that will be worth a few Wins right there.

If you have NOT seen SG's post on RLYW called:
"Run Values of the 2006 Yankees"
please take a look... it is must read.
http://yankeefan.blogspot.com/
In black and white the story of GOB and Melkdud is told... to the cost of 3 Wins so far, if will simply had a league average RF and LF (Score 0):
(4 Mike... it's possible that post is dedicated to you.)

Cashman stated in a news article that "the Yanks are NOT a Post season team"... so something will happen. Abreu is the real deal. Also, bet the Sox will improve their team more with trades/aquisitions... so an upgrade is really mandatory for us.

A question I would like answered if anyone knows (Cliff... are you there?).

Obviously, the Post Season generates revenues/profits for the participating teams. So roughly, how much do the Yanks LOSE if the don't get to at least the ALDS? How much do the Yanks LOSE if the don't get to the ALCS? how much do the Yanks LOSE if the don't get to the WS?

The real question may be NOT if we can afford Abreu or Sori, but if we can afford NOT to have (one of) them. As Alex pointed out, if we don't need to resign Shef next year ($13 mil), why is anyone the least bit concerned with what we can afford? We will also be saving $10mil (+/-) on Moose next year.

The Yanks have a lot of $$ coming off the books in the next 3 or 4 years. By that time, we should have legitimate talent from the Farm on the field. So hopefully, our post 2009 teams should have a reasonable payrole by dint of minor league talent. However, talent over the next 3 years or so is gonna cost us cash. Well... not us... but Steinbrenner. Hey, let's spend it before it ties. It might not be so good moneywise after he is gone.

He is a prospect many pegged at the beginning of the year as a sleeper. I know they did a write up on him at Baseball Analysts. I'll try to find it. I saw him at Charleston a bunch last year, and he gets lots of strikeouts and groundballs. Brandon Webb type pitcher. He's been out the year with an oblique injury.

17 I remember seeing a pregame on ESPN awhile back with Ortiz and A-Rod chatting it up and laughing just before the game. It's amazing that FOX can make ESPN look so good.

22 Wang won't be traded - his value to the team and his trade value are both so high that I can't imagine what they'd trade him for. As for your other scenario - picking up Soriano and signing him long-term to play second - Nonononono please God no. I couldn't stand to watch that again.

It isn't even close. lol.

If I could throw in my two cents, I would put any Abreu trade talks on hold. I don't see the Phillies trading him to the Yankees given what we have to offer compared with other teams competing within their divisions.

Also, we would have an utterly cranky unproductive Sheffield down the stretch should he come back and DH the late part of the season. I know Sheffield can be a pain in the ass but I would prefer we don't make the same mistake that the Braves did. The guy is as solid a hitter as there is. He is consistent year to year, he hits for average and power, he drives runs in. Simply, Gary Sheffield is a god damn good player. It doesn't matter how you measure it, sabermetrics or traditional AVG/HR/OBP/RBI statistics, he's a stud. We will alienate Sheffield and as far as I am concerned, Sheffield at DH or Right Field next year is a better choice than anyone else we might aquire. Further, the moves we have made these past few years have left us with nothing to trade, most of our guys are green and I would rather see how some of them pan out before dealing them.

If we could get Lieber cheap, I'm all for it. Well, he'd be a Yankee right now if we hadn't dumped every player that didn't perform over the short term like some tweaker Meth-head the past few years.

I think we just have to hold serve until Sheffield and Mats get back. Whoever might be available isn't likely to be as helpful to the club long term as the players we trade away.

Wang, gulp, are you kidding? We cannot trade Wang! We only have 4 starters and even that is hanging by a thread.

Also, trusting Philly fans' analysis of Abreu would be downright silly.

Isn't that what Wily Mo Pena is for? Why would the Sox want Abreu when they already have a young Nixon replacement signed? The Sox (and everyone, really) need another starting pitcher and some middle relief, not another OF.