Sigh. Vets with fat contracts.

This is a season from hell, let's hope that Cashman takes the opportunity to better the team and not try to make the playoffs with big gambles.

Actually Jason hasn't been hitting all that well, so I don't think it'll hurt too much (though now there's less protection for A-Rod).

(1) Acquire a long-term replacement such as Texeira.

(2) Acquire a short-term replacement such as Scott Hatteberg or Dmitri Young.

If losing Giambi meant giving more ABs to a promising rookie, that'd be one thing. Because that isn't the case, I don't the Yankees can simply leave the void unaddressed.

Yo Bernie. Answer the phone. It's Cashmoney.

Because of age?

Right now and for the last four years:

Helton is the much better fielder.
Helton is the much better hitter.
Helton will be cheaper to acquire (lower quality prospects).
Helton will be cheaper to pay (especially if the ROX throw in cash and/or take Farns).

Further, even if Helton is not optimal at the end of his contract (age 38), where do folks think Teixeira will be at the end of his 6 year, 100 million deal when he turns 34?

If history (and their stats) is any guide, Helton will still be a better player in 2011 than Teixeira.

(It's kinda sad that as Alex and Cliff have added even more awesome content this season, the comment section has taken a corresponding turn for the worse, so I'm a stay out of it after this…)

Phelps plays more hopefully heats up a bit, Damon to play some games at 1B, maybe Matsui as well. Melky as roving OF. Minky as LIDR only.

Cash needs to not look desperate, and by doing this, he can search for an available bat either in the OF or 1B, widening his options. Given this setback and Philthy's ankle roll, this season is looking more and more grim, so any moves need to be made with next year in mind as well.

In May he was hitting .177/.350/.323,
Melky was .254/.338/.424 -- a bit less pop, but on base more.

Now if only Matsui could get on a real hot streak . . .

He's on the downhill side of a good career made great by playing in Denver.

And if you don't like the comments section, speak up or lose all right to complain. It belongs just as much to you as to any of us - but only if you use it.

Also, relative effectiveness aside, a 27-year old is far less likely to be develop injuries than a 34-year old. Helton has had his first bout with nagging injuries over the past two seasons, while Texeira has not.

I have no idea how you could suggest that Helton from age 34 to 38 will be anywhere near as good as Tex from age 27 to 31? Even if you commit 7 years to Tex, he would still walk away younger than you'd be getting Helton at the start.

2003: .358/.458/.630 33HR 168OPS+
2004: .347/.469/.620 32HR 159OPS+
2005: .320/.445/.534 20HR 144OPS+
2006: .302/.404/.476 15HR 119OPS+
2007: .337/.457/.497 5HR 149OPS+

Mark Teixeira

2003: .259/.331/.480 26HR 103OPS+
2004: .281/.370/.560 38HR 128OPS+
2005: .301/.379/.575 43HR 146OPS+
2006: .282/.371/.514 33HR 123OPS+
2007: .295/.396/.515 9HR 137OPS+

Much better? Eh.

Cheaper to acquire? Cheaper to pay? Highly debatable.

9 I think you're right on, Knuckles - Cash can't look desperate. Ride it out with Phelps and Minky and see what happens. Yanks also have 6 interleague games in NL parks later in June, so that should give Cashman more time. Giambi wouldn't have played then anyway.

Forget "I'm already 33" Helton, and the maybe-not-available Teixeira. I say wait out the Reds and see if they would trade Adam Dunn. They hate his many Ks; he's a free agent after this year, so they know they're probably going to lose him for nothing. Finally, the Reds are always looking for bullpen help, right, and aren't afraid to give up talent to get it?

Wayne Krivsky, say hello to former closer Kyle Farnsworth. =)

My point on the comp: Teixeira is already a significantly worse fielder and a worse hitter, in spite of the age difference. Why expect his decline to be more graceful?

Moreover, Helton's already shown his resistence to decline.

11 Actually, Helton's producing much better on the road this year. And Teixeira is even worse away from the bandbox at home.

In addition, Teixeira has the Mattingly connection, which might make the Yankees his preferred place to play (something that can't hurt his adjustment.

Finally, Teixeira already knows the league, so you wouldn't have to worry about the adjustment period that some hitters seem to go through.

Cheaper to acquire - ROX will willing to move Helton for Lowell and Tavarez. I really don't think that's going to be the price of Teixeira.

Cheaper to pay - All depends on:
1) Any cash the ROx throw in or take pack in salary (Farnsworth)
2) The extension Teixeira will demand.

Hey, I'm not saying Teixeira is a bad choice. But if it requires Kennedy or Joba or even Clippard, no thanks. If not, then I'm listening.

Secondly, age 27 may be a peak, but that doesn't mean the drop from 28-30 is significant. Helton, on the other hand, is the mid-30s range where you start to approach the cliff. What's more, peaks can be off my a season or two. Teixera may very well still be reaching his summit. We know for a fact that Helton has long passed his.

If your point is you'd rather get Helton for no prospects with the Rockies picking up cash, that's one thing. Any attempt to make Helton look even remotely as attractive as Teixeira simply doesn't hold water.

Difference in OPS+ to Helton:
2003: 65
2004: 31
2005: -2
2006: -4
2007: 12

The main difference is Teixeira hits for more power. Helton for a better AVG and OBP. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of sick of power hitters that don't put the bat on the ball when it's most needed. And that's the traditional definitiion of a pure hitter.

And Helton's 149 OPS+ this year is showing what fact?

Second, forget Texeira and Helton. If the Yankees go after either, they will likely have to overpay, especially considering their poor bargaining position now. Instead, it'a time really to write the season off and begin building for the future. So, instead of adding a 1B fill-in, let's start dumping players (if possible with those contracts--egads).

Posada - age 35
Jeter - age 32
Abreu - age 33
ARod - age 31
Matsui - age 32
Damon - age 33

The Yanks have plenty of graybeards to rotate at the DH spot to stay fresh.

Helton will never get close to that ever again. He's in decline. Is he still good? Sure. Good until 2011 for a boatload of money? Uh...

The of course there's this for your water glass house:

Teixeira Career
Road: .263 .355 .485 .840

Helton career
Road: .296 .395 .508 .903

Home and away - Helton is better. Teixeira to the Yanks and you're getting the guy that hits .260 with a sub .500 SLG. And top-quality prospects? And a six year extension?

Nah, that's one move I can't second guess - though the return in the trade...

30 Never get close to that again??? What do you call what he's doing now??? And with the better numbers on the road??? And a 111 RATE in the field???

Also, using career numbers helps us determine who HAS been better, but doesn't necessarily talk about who WILL be better.

As much as you want to ignore the 7-year age difference, it is a giant elephant in the equation. I am not willing to dismiss all the conventional wisdom (supported by numerous studies) in hope that Helton will not continue to age.

They show:
Helton = better hitter
Helton = better fielder

Teixeira meanwhile has been overated for years, based on his home park. And he'll manage to parlay that into a 6 year 100 million deal. It's that I want no part of - especially since it will take great prospects to trade for him.

Helton 2007 Road -
.354 .458 .525 .983

Small samples noted.

Texeira NOW vs. Helton NOW - I'll take the 27 year old, thanks. We're NOT going to get those career numbers out of someone approaching 35.

See: Bernie Williams

Seriously, others have gone down that road with Jim before (he also knows that I am one of the few who agrees with him about Helton) and the results are usually the same: a whole lotta stats posted and not much decided either way. That being said, I wouldn't mind having either one of you guys defending me in a court of law.

While I like both Helton and Teixeira, I don't think we will end up with either one of them any time soon. The price is just too high.

And to think, at some point this offseason we were worried Melky wouldn't get enough playing time this year.

Nah.

42 43 On principle, I would agree. But on the specifics of Helton v. Teixeira I can't, because of:

1) Teixeira's splits. You're not getting Teixeira's career numbers. You're getting his career ROAD numbers. Big difference (yes for Helton too - but if anything he's showing it doesn't matter as much any more).

2) Teixeira's glove. If he's already trending to below average at age 27, where will he be in two or three years? It's not like he's new to the position.

3) Teixeira's next contract. Mostly because of 1 and 2 above. If he's already a .850 OPS hitter, where will he be in three years in the middle of whatever monster deal he gets? If he's already an average fielder, where will he be again in three years?

Yes, you want young players. But it's a mistake to advocate young players just because they're young. Teixeira ain't a solution. Helton would be but only if they could get him cheap.

51 He's never had a hot streak above AA and the Yanks can stand the notion of rushing anyone. Remember, he is still 22 and could still show life if given time.

I'm really disappointed about Giambi because although he hasn't contributed much, I was predicting he would go on a HR tear at some point in the season and win us a few games.

Not to inflame the debate, but Jim Dean has pretty much convinced me.
Where can I find helpful Park Factors? The ESPN chart looks very suspicious, even unbelievable: Yankee Stadium has a significant + for hitters, which I think is very unlikely.

Unfortunately, I can't see Torre playing him out there especially if he couldn't see playing Phillips at 3B or 2B. The whole notion of flexibility befuddles him - weird when you consider his own playing career.

Unless he thought he could have been even better with a constant position?

Anyone seen recent scouting reports?

.250/.354/.390 5 HR in 136 AB

In his last 10 games he's 12 for 35 (.343) with two homers.

I think there's a chance Eric turns it around. But at this point, Shelly Duncan, who's absolutely murdering the ball in Scranton (.305/.380/.605 with 13 HR in 167 AB) deserves a shot over Eric, and frankly over Kevin Thompson as well. The problem is Shelley needs to be added to the 40-man, which would require shifting Phil Hughes to the 60-day DL. Apparently the Yankees aren't inclined to do that, I guess.

And I'm sorry I broke my own Voldemort rule. Please forgive me.

As for roster shennanigans, don't forget that the Yanks also need to make room on the 40-man (and 25-man) roster for some dude, Roger something-or-other I think is his name.

The 40-man roster is full right now, so its possible to move guys to the 60-day DL. Let's say HWMNBN gets moved to make room for Rog on the 40-man. We know he's out for 60 days.

Is there any reason not to move Karstens or Hughes to the 60 day DL, to make room for Duncan on the 40-man? Hughes certainly isn't coming back early; Karstens could, I guess, so that's one reason why to not move him.

The only other thing I've got is maybe there's something in Duncan's contract that triggers if he's put on the 40-man, and the Yanks don't want to do that.

Meanwhile, the one who has really been raking is Andy Phillips. Hes been playing mostly 2B though, so at the least he could repalce Cairo. Duncan has never hit for the kind of avaerage hes been holding up in AAA, so I wouldn't expect much. He can probably do about what Phelps could, maybe a bit worse. Hes also only one year younger than Phelps. I don't see why Phelps shouldn't just inhereit the full time 1B job and see what he can do...Free Josh Phelps!

I think they're also thinking ahead to Ed Ramirez. If they bring him and Shelley up, they they have to start DFA'ing guys. Now I wouldn't mind bidding adieu to Mghjkdg and Vizcaino, but I'm sure they're not ready to do that yet.

And I'll second the "give Phelps a chance" cry.

Now you'd have Phillips and Duncan to sub in for Cano and Abreu against lefties if they continue to struggle or as RH bats off the bench.

68 You're probably right.

Again...just my humble, naive opinion!

Except Torre wouldn't use Bernie at DH. No, we've seen this play before - Torre can't resist. Torre would put Damon at DH . . . and play Bernie in CF. Meanwhile, Melky rots on the bench. That is completely unacceptable.

Plus, it's not like he's in shape now with all the Allman Bros concerts and commencement ceremonies.

So what, he'd need a month? By then Giambi could be ready.

Supposedly, Bernie has been working out and keeping in shape, so who knows, maybe a couple of weeks in the minors?

AVG .224 | HR 2 | RBI 15 | OBP .284 | SLG .306

Steve over at WasWatching once said, pre season, that it wouldn't be a tragedy for Giambi to go down because it would get Melky more at bats. More at bats with those numbers is not what the Yankees need. Nobody can say with any certainty whether this is a sophmore slump or just what he is as a hitter.

There are no good bats in the minor leagues or we wouldn't have Cairo and Phelps on the team.

Is Bernie the best answer? Of course not, but nobody is going to be afraid to walk A-Rod because Kevin Thompson is on the roster.

(sigh)

Here's hoping Abreu finds his swing. And soon. Like tonight.

Would you say that Bernie is the best option for the team?

As strictly a DH and strictly against lefties, I'm with you. But because I don't think it would end up as that (recalling last year), I just can't be.

(double sigh)

Being able to say "At least Bernie has nothing to do with this mess" is a consolation I'd rather not part with.

Before tonight's game federal investigators accuse A-Rod of spreading tuberculosis.

Fresh out of prison, Jack Kevorkian arrives at Fenway wearing a Yankees hat... asking where he can find Pavano.

I'd love to see Bernie back, yes he probably would not light the world on fire, but used right he could contribute, probably better than a Melky/Thompson combination.

88 this is definitely a drawback in bringing Bernie back unfortunately

When I was a kid, that may have been true. Then, 33 was considered 'on last legs'. It's VERY different now, with players taking MUCH MUCH better care of themselves, and wanting to earn big bucks through their 30's.

ARod and Jetes are 32ish. Much decline there? A few good years left? Forget about 32ish... how many players are over 35 and still very productive?

Helton will still have some productive years, but certainly players are more injury prone once they hit their mid 30's. At 27, Tex still has lots of good, healthy years ahead of him. If they were both 27, I'd go with Helton. But considering age and cost, Tex looks like a better get.

I agree in philosophy with 18. One impact player will help, but the only way we make the PS is if EVERYONE plays up to their potential/career norms. Except in extreme circumstances (Beltran? Santana? Maybe Tex?) I really think we must stay away from long, expensive contracts.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2007/06/01/2007-06-01_not_a_good_team.html

not that abreu's been any good this year, but frankly, "anonymous scouts" are the worst refuge of the laziest of sports writers