The All-Star break is approaching and that is usually when trade talks start heating up. Rumors are flying around all over the place: chat rooms, internet blogs , news reports, etc. One of my favorite places to find the latest rumors is MLBTradeRumors.com . Here are the following moves and rumors from the Yankees and Mets that have popped up this past week: Yankees - The Yankees have been scouting Mariners starter Cliff Lee but they claim it is just routine coverage of a pitcher on their free-agent wish list. - CC Sabathia has said he would be happy to help recruit his friend Cliff Lee if needed. - Dustin Moseley has been called up to the majors with Boone Logan being sent back down. I'm not sure this makes much sense. Moseley had an ERA over 4.00 in Triple-A so far this year. He did, however, have an opt-out clause in his contract and could have left the Yankees system if he was not called up. Logan had been pitching better of late. Anyone else think they should have released Chan Ho Park or Chad Gaudin instead of optioning Logan? Count me as one! - Catcher Chad Moeller cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A. I give the guy credit; he must love playing the game. Outfielder Colin Curtis had been called up to take Moeller's spot on the roster. Curtis has already seen some game action. - Yankees have had scouts watching Arizona Diamondbacks starter Dan Hare n. - Team President Randy Levine played the role of Captain Obvious this week when stating it is "highly highly unlikely" that both Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are not back with the team next season. Mets - The team has begun preliminary talks with teams regarding pitching help; this includes Seattle about Cliff Lee. - Rumor has it the Mets won't trade Jenrry Mejia for Lee unless they can sign Lee to an extension. Other reports say that's not true. Believe whatever you want. - Michael Barrett has signed a minor league deal with the Mets. This move adds catching depth, as Barrett could be a possible backup to Barajas . Or depth because the team plans on trading Josh Thole? - The Mets have acquired outfielder Jorge Padilla from the Blue Jays in exchange for pitcher Clint Everts . Padilla was batting .330 with four home runs for Toronto's Triple-A squad. - The team is not actively pursuing a trade for a second baseman. - Orioles Ty Wigginton said he would not mind playing for the Mets. The Orioles are reportedly asking for a young shortstop in return, however. - Reports are saying Jenrry Mejia would not get a Lee trade done, but shortstop prospect Wilmer Flores could. - The Mets have no interest in pitchers Kevin Millwood and Jake Westbrook, little interest in Roy Oswalt and Fausto Carmona , but could have interest in Ted Lilly. Lilly is likely the team's top alternative to Cliff Lee. I said a while back that I would try to get Lilly if I was the Mets. For more Yankees and Mets news, visit Double G Sports .
Posts Tagged ‘Chad Moeller’
Francisco Cervelli Makes Me Wonder if the Yankees Should Call Up Jesus Montero
July 1st, 2010In the middle of May, it looked like the Yankees had such a good backup to catcher Jorge Posada that they might even have a future starter on their hands. Through Francisco Cervelli’s first 20 games, he had a staggering .400 batting average and an impressive .987 OPS. Obviously, he wasn’t likely to keep that up, but if he could come even close to that, the Yankees had a real secret weapon.
The problem is that Cervelli hasn’t even sniffed those numbers and has been about as close to an automatic out as you can get. This is coming at a time in Posada’s career when he is just not able to handle the load of everyday catching.
Here are Cervelli’s numbers since May 18:
33 G, 101 AB, 6 R, 19 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 14 RBI, 11 BB, 17 SO, .188 AVG, .274 OBP, .238 SLG, .511 OPS.
With numbers like those, the Yankees might as well have had Chad Moeller as their backup catcher.
At this point, it could be reasonable to wonder how bad this will get before the Yankees make a change. Not only has Cervelli gone over a month under the Mendoza Line (batting average under .200), but he has almost no power whatsoever in his bat.
What’s making this harder is that Jesus Montero is in Triple-A and, after a very slow start to his season, he has picked it up. During the month of June, Montero hit .283 with nine doubles, two triples, and three homers. That’s 14 extra-base hits compared to Cervelli’s three over the same span.
Cervelli is a skilled backup catcher, especially defensively, but he has almost been the Yankees regular with Posada dealing with foot problems. At a certain point ,it might be wise to carry three catchers, including Montero, until Nick Johnson returns from his wrist injury. Montero might not be 100 percent ready, but it’s probably better than having an automatic out in the lineup every day.
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Yankees vs. Orioles: Arrieta Impressive in Major League Debut
June 11th, 2010Baltimore rookie pitcher Jake Arrieta had the difficult task of facing the New York Yankees in his major league debut.
However, Arrieta held the powerful Yankees offense in check and picked up his first big league win in the Orioles' 4-3 win Thursday night at Camden Yards.
Baltimore ended a 10-game losing streak to New York and avoided being swept by the Yankees for the third time this season. New York finished their six-game road trip with a 3-3 record.
Arrieta (1-0), who posted a 1.85 ERA in 12 appearances at Triple-A Norfolk, allowed three runs on only four hits over six innings. All four Yankee hits were extra-base hits. He struck out six and walked four. David Hernandez pitched a scoreless ninth for his first career save.
Yankees starter A.J. Burnett (6-4), who entered the game with an 11-2 career record against Baltimore, lost his second consecutive start. In 6.2 innings, he allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
Baltimore struck first in the bottom of the first inning. With runners at second and third and one out, Ty Wigginton delivered a sacrifice fly for the first run. After Luke Scott was hit by a pitch, Adam Jones’s RBI single gave Baltimore a 2-0 lead.
After one out, Robinson Cano doubled to right field. Cano finished the game 1-for-3 and is batting .489 (23-47) against Orioles pitching this season. He eventually scored on Curtis Granderson’s two-out RBI triple.
The Yankees tied the game and took the lead in the top of the third. Chad Moeller led off the inning with a walk and came around to score on Derek Jeter’s run-scoring double. Nick Swisher gave New York a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Burnett had retired 10 straight hitters going into the bottom of the fifth inning. But Scott Moore ended Burnett’s streak with a game-tying home run over the right centerfield wall.
After the Yankees left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Baltimore reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Scott tripled with one out and scored on Jones’s RBI double to give the Orioles a 4-3 advantage.
Baltimore relievers Frank Mata, Will Ohman and Hernandez held New York hitless over the final three innings. New York was held to five hits or less for the second time in their last six games. The Yankees totaled five hits in their 6-1 loss at Toronto last Friday.
New York will return to interleague action on Friday when Houston visits Yankee Stadium.
Brett Myers (4-3, 3.01) will start for the Astros, while the Yankees will counter with Andy Pettitte (7-1, 2.47). New York is 5-1 all-time against Houston; however, the only Astros win was a combined no-hitter in an 8-0 win on June 11, 2003.
With Nick Johnson’s Return in Doubt, Keep an Eye on Jesus Montero
June 5th, 2010According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated , the Yankees are not confident that 1B/DH Nick Johnson will return at all this season and that they may look to trade for a replacement.
Johnson went on the DL almost a month ago with an inflamed wrist. The initial diagnosis was that Johnson would miss at least a month and then possibly need surgery to remove inflammation that would be another four to six weeks out. That would put him at an August return if surgery was necessary. It sounds like it may be necessary.
If Johnson did miss the entire season the Yankees would likely look for a bat to replace him, but it doesn’t seem completely necessary. Right now Jorge Posada is their everyday DH and they could just let him do that with Francisco Cervelli taking care of the catching duties.
The Yankees might be worried that Posada will be upset about remaining the full-time DH and might not want to rely on Chad Moeller on days where Cervelli inevitably needs a day off.
It is also a shame that Jesus Montero is struggling so much offensively in Triple-A Scranton this season.
Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office insisted that they would not call him up to the majors this season, but it would be a lot cheaper for the organization to simply call him up than to be forced to deal some prospects and expand payroll (David DeJesus is one name that keeps getting mentioned and he won’t come cheap).
Keep an eye on Montero, though, because once Posada is healthy enough to handle catching duties again, if Baby Jesus starts hitting and Cervelli’s numbers slip a little the Yankees will be tempted to call him up.
The biggest reason for keeping him down this season were defensive and from what we hear he is doing well defensively this season so if that bat shows signs of life it is legitimate to think he could get called up.
That bat will have to heat up though otherwise we won’t see this kid until September at the earliest .
Activate Posada, Send Russo Down, DFA Moeller, Call Up Curtis
June 3rd, 2010The Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is probably coming off the DL today, but there is no clear choice of whom the Yankees will send down to the minors when they activate him.
It could be back-up catcher Chad Moeller, but because of the nature of Posada’s injury and the position he plays, that’s probably not a smart idea. Especially as Posada is expected to DH through this weekend.
It could be Juan Miranda, as his at bats will take a big hit with Posada taking up space as the team’s DH for at least the next week. The problem here is that Mark Teixeira is day-to-day after leaving yesterday’s game early because he fouled a ball off his foot. If Miranda is sent down than there is no insurance at first base while Tex is questionable.
No, the person the Yankees should send down is Kevin Russo.
Russo is doing well for himself since coming up, despite his mediocre numbers, because he has come up with some timely hits and has played three different positions, doing well at all three.
The problem is that up until this season Russo was primarily a middle infielder. He never really played third base or any outfield positions, which is how the Yankees have been using him. In fact, he probably never would have been called up if Colin Curtis had not been on the DL.
So the Yankees should send Russo back down to Scranton when they activate Posada. There he can continue his development defensively in the outfield (he’s already spent an entire season at Triple-A, so his bat is probably about as ready as it’s ever going to be).
Meanwhile, when the time comes and Posada is ready to step back behind the plate full-time, Moeller will no longer be necessary. At that point the Yankees will have to DFA him and, if he clears waivers, they’ll send him back down to Scranton. To take his spot on the roster the Yankees will then call up the outfielder Curtis.
Curtis is, after all, not Russo and not Greg Golson, the outfielder the Yankees would have called up in the first place had he not been on the DL. That gives the Yankees a halfway decent bat off the bench, somebody who can play all three outfield positions, and it will give time for Russo to become the super-sub that he probably needs to be to stay in the Bronx for good.
