Second, I'm failing to understand the logic of picking up Sheff's option just to trade him. You're basically giving a discount to any team you trade him to (since the Yanks would almost certainly have to eat some of Sheff's salary), and why would the Yanks voluntarily save another team money? Besides, Sheff has said multiple times he doesn't want to be traded, and why would another team trade prospects (or whatever) for a malcontent. The only thing I can see is that it's a $17 million insurance that he won't be on the Red Sox next year. Which is ok, I guess.

Third, it's too bad that Wakefield probably isn't going to be available. Although he would probably come with his very own Doug Mirabelli, and I don't know if the NYPD can afford escorting him around.

Fourth, when is Matsuzaka's team supposed to post him? November 1? The tension is killing me!

November to mid-January: Boras season.

Mr. Monopoly now owns Boardwalk (Zito) & Park Place (Matsuzaka), with four hotels on each. This is going to get fugly.

1 Why would the Yanks have to eat any Sheff salary? Mets, Angels, White Sox would happily pay $13 mill. for his bat.

send him anywhere else. would i pay to do so? i'm not sure, but it sounds as if ca$hman is already fielding calls about potential deals, so i'm sure he knows what he's doing.

and yes, matsuzaka and the lions are waiting until the japanese championship series is over before they post him, as not to distract.

in a way this is a good thing for me. i would be paying far less attention to the series (and midterms and papers) if they were in the thick of negotiations with this kid and boras.

Check your links to Plugh and SG above. You were twice as nice to Mr. Canyon.

And since columnists are paid to speculate, I feel its fair to speculate that Madden is, once again, wrong. In addition to mehmattski's arguments in 1, I'd be shocked if Ca$hmoney trades Sheff because there's no way he'd get equal value in return.

1) Sheff will be signed and traded. As to why? Um, so we can get some much needed help back for him. If we let him walk we get zippity doo dah.

2) A-Rod is going nowhere, because Cashman isn't an idiot. Simple as that. Take it to the bank.

1. Don't pick up his option just because you're afraid he'll go to Boston.

2. Don't pick up his option with the intent of trading him.

I say let him go and move on.

The Yanks obviously do think Sheff is worth the option price, but he's not worth a lot to them. The outfield at the Stadium is too dang crowded. And what do you do when you have too many good players in a position? Duh.

I'm with Schteve. Relax, old number $$ is on the job.

Is he done? I don't think so. Why let him go to Boston if he will bat behind or before the O and M boys and kill us and everyone else in the AL?

Why get nothing for him (other than a draft choice if he qualifies as an A or B free agent) when they can get something of immediate value and steer him to a safe place. Seems like a win/win and a no-brainer to me. Getting something they value for someone they don't seems like a reasonable move to me.

* = pronounced "oh-some"

But beyond that exactly what is it you're trying to say? ;-)

Alex, I just read your interview with Goldman. It was very interesting. Do you think that Marvin Miller will get into the Hall of Fame? I think that it is embarassing that he isn't there already.

I also read an article about a "screening committee" full of anonymous members that bring nominees in front of the veterans committee constantly overlooking Miller. Do you know anything about this part of the process?

And if he goes to the Red Sox? I say, go right ahead. Yeah, he'll make their offense better, as if offense were their problem. In fact, though, he might not benefit as much from hitting in Fenway as you'd think. Sheffield doesn't hit fly balls, he hits line drives - the hardest line drives I've ever seen, to be sure. But Fenway won't help him there; the line drive home runs and doubles he hits in Yankee Stadium may end up as singles off the Wall.

Even more: he'd also be playing right field at Fenway. That's a lot of ground, and one of the trickiest OF positions around. With Manny and Sheff in the corners, well, Coco Crisp is going to have one hell of a lot of running to do.

And finally, if the Red Sox signed Sheffield, that's money they wouldn't have available for pitching.

All in all, I like that deal just fine.

http://yankeefan.blogspot.com/2006/10/daisuke-matsuzaka.html

Who's the next Jaimie Moyers?

Tim Wakefield?

And more broadly still, is the waning of junkballing pitchers in this new age connected to the waning of slap-hitting, fundamentally solid batters?

Is the game, in general, more homogenized than maybe it used to be?

I think you're right though in saying that Manny and Shef in the corners leaves a lot of room for CoCo Puff to roam. My bet is though that his Win Shares, VORP or other metrics will be consistently scary and our lying eyes will confirm that as well. If we have a way of shipping him elsewhere that derives us additional benefit I say do it. I call it a no brainer. In fact I'd say it would be negligent not to do it.

If it's a good trade, presumably it's supposed to make your team stronger. If it makes your team stronger, have faith that Sheffield can't single-handedly thwart your plans.

If he does damage to you, tip your hat, only let the chips fall where they may.

The Yankees have done this to Boston many times so acting like this is a new strategy ignores numerous precedents. One might argue that A-Rod in NY is the result of such a move. Whether you think it's stupid or not, every GM who has funds available does it, so they obviously disagree.

More importantly, (as has already been pointed out) it would appear that Sheffield has a high value to several teams. Whether or not this is true is not something I know, but I trust Cashman to make that determination. If he has two or more GMs salivating over Sheff, and he thinks he can trade him for something valuable, why shouldn't he do it?

Since no one here is in a position to contradict that theory categorically, I think questioning Cashman's strategy at this point is silly. You don't know what conditions he may be exercising/not exercising Sheffield's option under so how can you evaluate the quality of the move? If he gets a backup catcher and a nice pitching prospect out of it, will you still think it's stupid? :-)