I'm as annoyed with Steve Trachsel as the next New Yorker, but does the Mets' scorched earth policy toward using him again this year make any sense? If he is healthy, can they afford to pass over him out of spite? There is even a rumor that Hernandez would replace him on the Series roster if it comes to that. I find it hard to believe.

at least. a three for one shouldn't be out of the question.

3 the numbers rodriguez could put up at wrigley would be frightening.

Figure an A-Rod trade rumor will give us something to talk about for about three days.

Day 1: A-Rod is being traded to _____ for ____, ______, _______, & _______

Day 2: Why it makes sense for A-Rod to go to _______, why it's a good idea for the Yanks to trade their best player for _______, ______, ______ & ______ and how the trade will impact Jeter's lovelife.

Day 3: Yanks couldn't get enough in return for A-Rod. He stays. Discuss.

29 teams: 29 A-Rod trade rumors X 3 days per rumor = 87 days.

Next thing you know it's January 11th, NFL playoffs are in full swing, and we're about 5 weeks from pitchers & catchers.

Hoo-ray for A-Rod trade rumors. Not.

Meanwhile, props to the Red Sox for signing John Farrell to be their new pitching coach. Farrell was the head of player development with the Indians and a former Indian hurler from the late '80s/early '90s. I spoke to him last year when I did the Indians chapter for Baseball Prospectus and was impressed by his generosity and warmth on the phone as well as how much he appears to get it when it comes to player and particularly pitcher management. With the Tribe, Farrell instituted strike-throwing incentives throughout the organization, rewarding pitchers for first pitch strikes, strikes in 1-1 counts, and overall improvement in K and BB rates. In 2005, at least, walk rates plummeted throughout the organization. Impressive stuff. Congrats to Farrell and props to the Red Sox for a smart hire.

After an offseason of rumors, he goes into next season and starts slowly. Many people are just waiting for him to not come through and boo when it happens (as I doubt the people who booed him last season will decide to stop next year). He has another solid season numbers wise, but the Yanks unfortunately don't win the World Series.

What will stop ARod from then opting out of his contract after 2007? I wouldn't blame him at that point, as there is no reason any player should take being booed at home for two years when he is an All-Star.

Does Cashman have to take this possible scenerio (one I don't think is too far fecthed) into account? It would be miserable to both lose Alex, and get nothing in return.

A strike-1 incentive might be a good for Farnswacker. I think he's too careful sometimes when he should be trusting his upper 90's-101 mph heater.

I predict Alex "bounces back" from this "awful" season.

11 I agree it's not a question of Farnswacker's desire. I think he tends to lose focus, and is sometimes too careful. A strike-1 incentive might make him more aggressive and go after batters, which is obviously better approach for him.
You're right though. How much incentive can you offer a guy who makes Farnswacker money?

For him opting out though I think he can only do that if the Yankees don't give him an 8 million dollar raise (LMAO can Mr. Boras be my agent?) or $1 million more than the highest paid player....that would be Alex right? Not sure how that works out (if the Yankees would have to offer 1 or 8 million more).

Hmmmmm.

Yes, that means that A-Rod would have to be paid an infinite quantity of money. Could happen, but man wouldn't other fans around the league squeal about that one? Not the owners, though. They'd dig the luxury tax.

Unless he's only comfortable on a team that doesn't have the sort of all-star roster that NY has. Who knows, I don't pretend to know what's going on in his head.

If I was Cashmoney, I'd start the asking price for A-Rod at D-Lee, Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Donald Veal, and Sean Gallagher - plus enough money to pay Lee, Ramirez, and big Z.

If Hendry asked me a second time after he stopped laughing, I'd ask for those five, the money, and Felix Pie too.

I think he'd stop calling me at this point. I would be very happy, as Yankee fans the world over wouldn't have to spend every day picking apart the latest A-Rod trade rumor. And I could focus on more important tasks, like pitching.

This situation actually reminds me of the agenda that the same media has against T.O. These are athletes who the media have grudges against for one reason or the other so they pursue their agenda and exaggerate everything that happens with the athlete. T.O. didn't destroy the Eagles last season. Their quarterback got injured and couldn't play effectively. A-Rod wasn't the reason that the Yankees lost these past post-seasons, but they go on and on about the Yankees having to trade him because he is a distraction, yada, yada ... Cashman better tell these people where to get off and refuse to trade A-Rod.

13, how the heck do you figure the Cubs will take Pavano? That's beyond fantasy. If Cashman insisted in packaging Pavano with ARod, that would kill the deal all by itself.

And just what young pitching studs does Chicago have? Prior? Wood? Please. We already have Pavano, why would you want any more injury plagued pitchers who cost too much for what they give you? Zambrano? Well, I don't see the Cubs trading their one solid starter, and personally, I don't want him. He walks too many people and against AL lineups I just don't see him being an ace. Finally, as far as I know, the Cubs have no elite pitching prospects, but if they did, I doubt they would use them to get ARod, when their own pitching sucks. The Cards this year have proven you don't need much to win the Central, and If D Lee comes back next year and Ramierez is still there and does well, the Cubs should be in decent shape, given that no one else in the division is in a position to get a whole lot better. Actually, that last part is not true as the Cubs ahve become better by subtraction: Baker and Neifi are gone. In other words, an ARod deal to the Cubs ain't gonna happen. Nor should it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, hopefully all these trade rumors will show that the Yanks can't possibly get a fair deal for A-Rod and the best move is to make no trade at all (as they say, sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make). Then the "Trade-Rod" crowd could stop booing, learn to like the guy and get used to having a HOFer at 3B. BTW, does the "Trade-Rod" crown realize that they agree with Steve Phillips on this (that would be enough for me to change my mind right there)?

As for the "chemistry" argument, didn't Randy Johnson and Jorge Posada have chemistry issues that got resolved? Haven't Gary Sheffield and Bobby Abreu both fit in (at least from the reports I've read) when others thought they wouldn't? IMO, it's time for Jeter & Mo to publicy voice their support for A-Rod similar to the way they voiced their support for Torre (I don't think this is too much to ask if it will make the team better).

As for the booing, the so-called fans could and should just stop doing it. What's the point? If you don't like A-Rod and the Yankees have explored every possible option to trade him, then just learn to like him or find another team. This question of "earning pinstripes" is silly. He was a Yankee the first day he put on the uniform. If fans can't accept that and feel the need to boo a current member of the team that I have loved through good and bad for 30 years then I say that maybe those fans haven't "earned" their pinstripes as fans yet.

Obviously, I'd rather keep Alex and have him produce, but you have to admit we may be dealing from a bit of a surplus here - and if someone's willing to deal us some decent young pitching in return for someone who perceivably can't handle the stress of playing for the Yankees, who am I to argue?

I'll only entertain A-Rod trades because
1) It's 121 days to pitchers and catchers
and
2) Everyone is tradeable -- for the right price, except Mo and Jeter.

no one will trade such a prospect unless they're getting someone of rodriguez's ability in return.

i think we can all agree that the yankees need some pitching. badly.

all avenues should be considered. that doesn't mean that the trigger should be pulled on any offer, but more options are better than none.

it doesn't hurt to see what could be had. at the same time, he will likely play out his contract in the bronx.

So, it seems like A-Rod's reputation as a postseason failure basically stems from 3 straight bad series. Here's his line from those series:

16 games, .183/.300/.333, 10 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 0.81 RC*/G

I decided to see who else from baseball history has had a similar or worse 3-series stretch. I found somebody from each position just for fun.

C Yogi Berra, 47WS-50WS ... 14 G, .140/.204/.260, 6 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 0.64 RC/G
1B Jeff Bagwell, 97NLDS-99NLDS ... 11 G, .128/.261/.128, 3 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 0.64 RC/G
2B Jackie Robinson, 47WS-52WS ... 19 G, .212/.342/.303, 9 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0.79 RC/G
SS Derek Jeter**, 01ALDS-01WS ... 17 G, .226/.262/.290, 5 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0.47 RC/G
3B Mike Schmidt, 77NLCS-80NLCS ... 13 G, .164/.233/.218, 4 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0.54 RC/G
OF Babe Ruth, 18WS-22WS ... 14 G, .211/.333/.368, 4 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0.71 RC/G
OF Mickey Mantle, 61WS-63WS ... 13 G, .130/.216/.217, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0.23 RC/G
OF Ted Williams*, 46WS ... 7 G, .200/.333/.200, 2 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0.43 RC/G
DH David Ortiz, 02ALDS-03ALDS ... 14 G, .200/.231/.280, 0 R, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 0.43 RC/G

I think we can all agree that this team of chokers could never make it out of the first round.

* runs created (R+RBI-HR)
Jeter also had a pretty crappy 98ALDS-98WS ... 13 G, .235/.328/.294, 7 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0.77 RC/G
* OK, Ted only had 1 postseason series, but I figured in the spirit of judging players off of small sample sizes, I'd include him

You do whatever you can to make the team better, so each offseason you assess the trade value of pretty much everyone on the roster. You deal from strength and go after scarcity. There are 2 high profile hitters on the market (Sori and Lee) and both figure to top $15M/yr. A-Rod is a better hitter than either of them, and the Yanks are only paying him $16M/yr.

(Has it been confirmed one way or another that the Texas contribution is nullified should the Yanks trade him onwards?)

Offensively, the Yanks are stacked. The bats got shut down, to some degree in the postseason, but not having power arms hurt worse. 3B is a relatively abundant offensive position. Ergo, if you can trade A-Rod for some good young chuckers, and acquire a decent 3B either in that trade, or thru other means, you do it.

You can't do this with Giambi, b/c his age and salary vs his defensive position don't offer the same value. Matsui is a possibility, but he's kind of overpaid in terms of corner OF production, and then there's the whole unraveling of how much more he might be worth b/c of the Japanese exposure, esp if going after Matsusake.

There's really no one else you could think about trading (off the top of my head).

The Cubs are not a good fit, b/c they'd want to send Aramis back in the deal, which would eat up much of the value coming back in NY's direction, at the expense of pitching. That would be a trade simply to dump A-Rod, not get better. There'd need to be a 3rd team involved that has some pitching.

The market for guys of such extreme ability and salary is tough to make.

*as of mid-August

Righties:
1. Philip Hughes, Yankees
Age: 20.2 H/9: 5.74 BB/9: 2.17 K/9: 10.40

2. Homer Bailey, Reds
Age: 20.3 H/9: 6.23 BB/9: 2.99 K/9: 10.13

3. Nick Adenhart, Angels
Age: 20.0 H/9: 7.67 BB/9: 2.39 K/9: 8.24

4. Luke Hochevar, Royals
Age: 23.0 H/9: 3.86 BB/9: 1.93 K/9: 9.64

5. Tim Lincecum, Giants
Age: 22.2 H/9: 4.39 BB/9: 3.04 K/9: 16.54

6. Yovani Gallardo, Brewers
Age: 20.5 H/9: 6.04 BB/9: 2.96 K/9: 10.95

7. Mike Pelfrey, Mets
Age: 22.6 H/9: 7.57 BB/9: 3.08 K/9: 10.18

8. Adam Miller, Indians
Age: 21.7 H/9: 7.62 BB/9: 2.66 K/9: 9.10

9. Eric Hurley, Rangers
Age: 21.0 H/9: 7.39 BB/9: 2.81 K/9: 8.96

10. Jeff Niemann, Devil Rays
Age: 23.5 H/9: 6.50 BB/9: 3.13 K/9: 9.75

Lefties
1. Scott Elbert, Dodgers
Age: 21.0 H/9: 5.88 BB/9: 4.86 K/9: 11.03

2. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Age: 18.4 H/9: 7.00 BB/9: 1.25 K/9: 13.00

3. Andrew Miller, Tigers
Age: 21.3 H/9: NA BB/9: NA K/9: NA

4. Donald Veal, Cubs
Age: 21.9 H/9: 5.47 BB/9: 4.78 K/9: 9.77

5. John Danks, Rangers
Age: 21.4 H/9: 9.10 BB/9: 3.03 K/9: 10.13

6. Franklin Morales, Rockies
Age: 21.3 H/9: 7.75 BB/9: 5.26 K/9: 9.97

7. Jacob McGee, Devil Rays
Age: 20.0 H/9: 7.14 BB/9: 4.36 K/9: 11.21

8. Troy Patton, Astros
Age: 21.0 H/9: 8.29 BB/9: 3.30 K/9: 8.88

9. Gio Gonzalez, Phillies
Age: 20.9 H/9: 7.77 BB/9: 4.57 K/9: 9.75

10. Chuck Lofgren, Indians
Age: 20.6 H/9: 7.10 BB/9: 3.45 K/9: 8.23

I don't see a single team above that would be willing to surrender one (or more) of these guys for A-Rod. They all need these guys to turn into effective big-league pitchers as desparately as the Yanks need Hughes to become an ace.

(OK, maybe the Tigers don't need Andrew Miller to become an ace, but you can bet they are drooling over the prospects of a Verlander-Miller-Bonderman big-three rotation. I would be, too.)

There is one team I can think of with an overabdunace of young power arms. Its also the one team in the majors that would never take on A-Rod's contract - the Marlins.

http://tinyurl.com/y889pd

that Tony Pena could manage the Nats (they're interested), Joe Girardi could take his place as bench coach and heir apparent to Torre's job.

Intriguing, and a more digestible speculation than any A-Rod rumor.

After Lackey, Jered Weaver, and Adenhart, Santana is at best the 4th-best Angels' starter.

I'd hope we all agree that A-Rod is worth more than a team's fourth-best pitcher, even if an All-Star 3B was part of the deal too.

But why is it preposterous that one's comfort level could effect one's performance?

I don't know if Arod is a cancer or not, but I do think that, given what human beings are, the notion that an individual's presence could adversely effect the performance of his teammates on the field is perfectly legitimate.

Optimal performances come when players have struck a balance between being loose and being focused, which is to say, when they're in the zone.

Morale, comraderie, chemistry; whatever you want to call it, is real, isn't it?

I know people think it's created by winning and of course that's true. But it's also true that high morale (good chemistry) can facilitate winning by turning out players who are relaxed instead of tense.

Again, I have no idea what Rodriguez' psychological impact is on the club, but I think it's wrong to discount this as a factor.

And the reason I think Arod draws so much attention isn't because of his salary, but his potential.

It's hard for me to watch a guy with so much potential who seems so regularly to underachieve. Compare him to Jorgie, a guy who (in my view) constantly overperforms, managing to get the very most out of his limited natural abilities.

I think these sorts of nuances are lost when we focus too much on production, per se.

Part of being a fan is about forming attachments with players; too often it seems to me that people form emotional attachments with their stats instead. This is fine, and its their prerogative, but it's a little frustrating that for some reason statistical production is the trump card people play when trying to argue for or against roster moves.

I don't hate Rodriguez, but I don't much like him either; I don't like watching his at-bats and still fervently believe that his chief assets are his strength and his mechanics, which obviously get him very far.

But he still doesn't inspire confidence in me as a hitter, as someone who's in tune with the situation he's in and is ready to make adjustments. In a way, it seems to me like he slides by on pure talent and that's what I find frustrating.

Anyway, if he stays, fine, but if he can be moved in a good trade, great.

What's a good trade? Right, that's the question.