Assessing the team's needs

Hi Everybody! Remember me? Didn't think so.

Well, I know it's been a while, but with the big move, wireless Internet that goes in and out, and 8 AM classes, its tough to keep up with a blog. With the July 31st Trade Deadline rapidly approaching though, I wanted to discuss the teams needs and find out what you guys (realistically) think the team should do, if anything at all.

The Yankees have obviously played very well this year, currently at 52-37, 3 games out of the AL East but at the top of the Wild Card standings. With that said, they do have some problems.

The starting rotation has been interesting. Currently, our best pitcher is AJ Burnett at 8-4 with a 3.81 ERA. He has been a solid addition, but very streaky, seemingly unhittable for 5 starts and then possessing the skills of a 5 year old the next.

Sabathia has been solid, but not the ace we had all hoped (though he is currently pitching 6 shutout innings).

The remaining three are all a toss up to say the best. Nobody expects the world from Andy Pettitte, maybe a mid 4 ERA and 12-15 wins. The one thing we all can and should expect from Pettitte is innings. Pettitte is 8-5 with a 4.85 ERA. Too high for my liking. The worst part though is that he is only averaging 5.5 innings pitched per start, way too little.

Now we come to Joba Chamberlain. The man I have defended his whole time as a starter, but now, even I am getting sick of him. In 17 starts he has gone 4-2 with a 4.25 ERA. In his last two starts, he has gone only a combined 8 innings with 18 runs (13 earned). I understand that errors are a part of the game, but Joba seems to be the one pitcher who lets in every single run that reaches due to error. Errors are part of the game, so is pitching properly to deal with those errors. To make matters worse, his comments as of late have been less than satisfactory. Saying the sun will come out tomorrow, he still has a job and he had his best stuff he had all year (that one was after giving up 5 runs in 4 1/3). If you're not pitching well, don't go to the Nuke LaLoosh cliche playbook, you just look like an idiot and make me not want to be one of the few people who still defend you.

The 5th spot in the rotation is a joke right now. Sergio Mitre will be starting for the Yankees on Tuesday. He has a career 5.36 ERA, has never pitched in the AL, had Tommy John surgery and has not pitched in a game since September 15th (!) 2007. On the other hand, he cannot be worse that Chien-Ming Wang, who as we all know, is 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA. He is currently on the DL for the 2nd time this year and has not had 1 quality start all year. What we can expect from him when he comes back is anyones guess, but I highly doubt anyone will guess anything good.

Moving onto other aspects of the team outside of the rotation, Phil Hughes better be a starter next year, but for now, he is finally the 8th inning guy everybody wants (especially after last nights 2 inning, 6 K performance). Alfredo Aceves has done very well also and Coke, Robertson and obviously Mo make for a bullpen that has done fantastic lately and does not need any changes.

The starting line-up has done very well, tied for the league lead in homers. Mark Teixeira is a possible MVP candidate. Alex Rodriguez is finally starting to hit (see what happens when you give someone rest after they have hip surgery?). Derek Jeter is having a great year as well. Cano is performing well, but considering he his hitting .209 with runners in scoring position, he obviously could be doing much better. Posada is somehow hitting .286/.371/.510 as a 37 year old catcher, but hey, I'll take it. Damon is performing well, especially at the stadium, but he has struggled lately. Matsui is OK. Gardner and Melky have platooned at CF to provide combined rates that are actually better than the average AL CF and although Swisher has struggled having to play every single day due to the injury to Xavier Nady, he has done around what is expected and draws enough walks to always be a productive player.

The bench does have some weak spots. Jose Molina is an all-catch, no hit back-up, but as long he he is backing up, it is OK. Erik Hinske has been a solid addition hitting .333 with three homers in 4 games with the team. Finally, we come to Cody Ransom. Since Ramiro Pena is learning to play OF, we have no other option than this guy. The 33 year old is hitting .176. Seriously? .176? I'm not even getting into that. The problem is, this guy has to play once a week. A-rod has had a resurgence since his rest program was put into place, so he clearly needs it, meaning Ransom is the only man who can be put in that spot.

So there's a recap of the 1st half which brings me to the whole question of this blog. What, if anything, should the Yankees do at the trade deadline?

One thing I think this team needs is a very good, super utility guy. Mark DeRosa or Chone Figgins. A guy who can let A-Rod, Jeter, Tex and Damon all DH and not have to sacrifice a bat. The problem is, neither of those guys are available. DeRosa just got traded to the Cardinals and Figgins will not be dealt. The good thing is, both of those players are free agents after the year so we can deal with them then. Expect to read many posts about those players in the off season, even though I already wrote one on Figgins months back. With that said, anybody is better than Cody Ransom. Get rid of him. You can trade nothing for a guy and he will be better than Ransom. Any random guy can be claimed off of waivers and odds are he will be better than Cody Ransom.

What I think this team could use is a pitcher. Joba is a mess, Pettitte is not performing to expectations and the combo of Mitre and Wang in the 5th spot is about as good as a combo of Danny Devito and Peter Dinklage in a slam dunk contest.

Lets go through the available pitchers, leaving my pick for last. These names courtesy of www.mlbtraderumors.com

Roy Halladay-Pass. Too expensive in both dollars and prospects. Not gonna happen.

Cliff Lee- Pass. Pretty affordable contract with an $8 mil option for 2010, but would cost too much in prospects.

Javier Vazquez- Having a great year, but costs more than $11 mil next year and we have already seen what he is like in the pinstripes.

Gil Meche- Again, $11 mil and prospects is too much.

Doug Davis and Jon Garland- No way. theres a reason their teams want to trade them.

Brad Penny- Don't want him but won't be traded from Red Sox anyway.

Paul Maholm- Ever since facing Billy Crystal in spring training last year, this guy has turned into a real special pitcher, but I would be shocked if he was traded.

Carl Pavano- HA!

Jonathan Sanchez- Gained a lot of stock with his recent no hitter, but there's a reason his ERA is over 5.00 for his career.

So here's my pick, none of them! There are still good free agents available. Paul Byrd and Tom Glavine are both available. Ian Snell is available. Finally though, (after this very long blog making up for lost time), Mark Mulder is available.

Mark Mulder was one of the big 3 in Oakland from 2000-2004. He is a two time all star and has finished as high as 2nd in Cy Young voting. He is 31, so while not in his prime, he is not over the hill yet and can still be productive. He has been injured the past two years so he will cost nothing. He has been working out and rehabbing and is ready to pitch. He will cost League minimum. Actually, since its July, half of the league minimum. Less than $250,000 for a 31 year old with a career ERA of 4.18 and a career record of 103-60. I am not saying Mark Mulder is going to make us win the world series, but for a guy who would cost almost nothing and possibly contribute to the team, when you have 2/5 of your rotation struggling and 1/5 of your rotation a joke, why not try this guy out? It is a low risk/high reward signing, exactly the type I like at this point in the year. Not to mention, since it is a free agent signing, he won't cost the team any prospects at all.

So what do you guys think? Should the Yankees trade for a big pitcher like Halladay or Lee? Should they go after a smaller name in a trade? Should they go after one of the numerous free agents still available? What about the offense? Should Cody Ransom go? Could anybody be worse? Should they go after Matt Holliday earlier than expected? Maybe call up Austin Jackson or Shelley Duncan? Or, is everything OK and should they stand pat with the team that they have right now?

Let me know what you think and let me know how bad you think my Mark Mulder idea is. Looking forward to the feedback!

On a quick side note, I said it in spring training and people called me crazy. I put in in a blog post before the year started and people called me crazy (looking at you Poppa D), but even though is he only 19, Jesus Montero is a one-of-a-kind hitter who will have a fantastic career. Do yourself a favor, remember his name and do some research on the kid. You will not be disapointed.