The Yankees made major waves in the baseball world tonight with a big time trade and free agent acquisition. The trade, which sent top Yankee prospect and expected starting DH Jesus Montero and big leaguer Hecter Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for stud pitcher Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campo, really makes both teams better and turns the Yankees into the class of the AL.
For the Mariners, the trade sends their number two pitcher away but nets them some much needed offense in the form of Montero. Jesus is most often compared to Edgar Martinez; he can hit with the best of them but really doesn’t have a position. The “C” next to his name is really just for show. Montero gives Seattle a middle of the order presence for potentially the better part of the next 2 decades (Montero is only 22). Also, the Mariners keep Ace Felix Hernandez, their best player and a major fan draw. The real interesting part of this deal is the Yankees point of view.
For New York, this trade, though not exactly a no-brainer, had to be done and makes them infinitely better. The Yanks give up Montero, their most prized prospect and a potential offensive weapon but they get an obvious number two in the rotation. Pineda had a 3.74 ERA in his first full season last year and was perhaps the most dominant pitcher in baseball over the first two months. Right off the bat, the 23 year old righty becomes New York’s second best arm in the rotation behind CC Sabathia and would be the obvious game 2 starter come playoff time. Pineda has AL experience and his stuff is electric, he will certainly give teams problems and is the young, exciting starter the Yankees really never have had.
Montero would have been a staple in the Yankees batting order but it’s not like the cupboard is left bare without him. New York still has Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and Robinson Cano, as well as Russell Martin, Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter. That’s a pretty potent lineup and even though it would have been deadly with Montero, starting rotation depth is way more important.
In addition to Pineda, the Yankees signed former Dodger Hiroki Kuroda to a one year- $10 million deal this evening. I’ve been rooting for this for weeks. Kuroda is old (36) but has a 3.45 career ERA and a career WHIP under 1.2 in four seasons. He is very good and an exciting addition to the rotation.
Going into today, the biggest question on New York’s roster was the starting rotation. Behind CC Sabathia, who signed an absolutely massive 5-year $122 million deal this winter, the Yanks had Ivan Nova as their default number 2 and Phil Hughes, Freddie Garcia, and AJ Burnett as the last three. Needless to say, this was not acceptable for a team with playoff aspirations. Burnett is absolutely awful and should be shipped out of town immediately, Garcia was a huge gamble last year and going into this season counting on him again is just begging to be burned, and Hughes is coming off of a disastrous 2011 campaign. Now, the Yankees may have to consider rotation depth a strength. Sabathia is the 1, Pineda is the 2, Kuroda the 3, Nova the 4 and one of the motley crew can be the five. This gives New York the flexibility to put Garcia in the bullpen and dump Burnett entirely if Hughes can get his act together.
Additionally, I’m looking forward to the playoffs, a top three of CC, Pineda, and Kuroda sounds pretty good to me.
As a Yankee fan, I’m thrilled. The Yanks now match up very well with the Red Sox and Rays and are in excellent position to repeat as AL East Champs. Also, AJ Burnett might be gone!
As a baseball fan, I’m thrilled. This deal makes the AL East all the more competitive, gives the Mariners a much better offense, and takes one of the elite offensives prospects in recent memory out of the shadow of the rest of the Yankee lineup. Also, AJ Burnett might be gone!
-Max Frankel
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