I would say that the rumors are true...

ESPN Breaking News:

Abreu Appears Headed to the Bronx

The Yankees and Phillies reached a tentative deal Sunday that will send Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to New York for three minor-league players. The Yankees will also pick up Abreu's contract in full.

Its not like we can't afford it eh

That's the one thing I will always hate... the Yankees ability to just "buy" a player whenever they need to. Can't fault them for that, but I don't have to like it.

Uhhh they have to give up prospects

Nah to be honest i think it sucks that teams like us, the Red Sox etc can do that but eh, aslong as the MLB aren't doing anything about it there's no reason for us to stop.

Also, Derek Jeter is on fire, this year right now looks like being better than even 1999 for him, hitting .356 as of today, OBP well over .400 and over 60 batted in now

Yankees get:
OF Bobby Abreu
SP Cory Lidle

Phillies get:
RP Matt Smith (AAA)
SS C.J. Henry (A)
C Jesus Sanchez (Rk)
SP Carlos Monasterio (Rk)

Phillies obviously more interested in dumping salary than getting top prospects

I wholeheartly agree. I don't knock them at all for trying to improve their team, but at some point it gets to be ridiculous. Sheffield is supposed to be back in September and when he does, either he or Abreu DH's, the other plays right and Bernie and the like become expensive bench ornaments. Before anyone tells me that its not that big of a deal, explain to me how many teams in baseball can throw a million dollars at a player and say, 'ok, you're gonna be a part time player,'

Whether people acknowledge it or not, having one team have so much more money than the competition hurts competitive balance. Yes, the Red Sox have a ton of money. Yes, the Mets have a ton of money too, but let's face it, if Jose Reyes went down until September, I can say for certain that the Mets arent bringing in Miguel Tejada to replace him. Same with the Sox, if Manny goes down for 5 weeks, we're not seeing them bring in Soriano as a 5 week stop gap. The only reason this deal got done was because the Yankees have the money to pay off the contracts, because if the Phillies were looking for talent either in ML ready players or in prospects, they could have gotten a much better deal elsewhere.

woooo Corey Lidle.

I love that guy

He's the man in August. Watch out

Damn, imagine if every Yankee was healthy right now

C: Posada
1B: Giambi
2B: Cano
SS: Jeter
3B: Rodriguez
LF: Matsui
CF: Damon
RF: Abreu
DH: Sheffield

Fucking scary to even think about

Good lord


Whats the betting Lidle has a spectacularly bad spell with the Yanks?

Originally Posted by Big Vito 22:
Damn, imagine if every Yankee was healthy right now

C: Posada
1B: Giambi
2B: Cano
SS: Jeter
3B: Rodriguez
LF: Matsui
CF: Damon
RF: Abreu
DH: Sheffield

Fucking scary to even think about

With a lineup like that... they still won't make the playoffs.

Not unless we get some consistent pitching beyond Mussina and Wang no

Mussina = 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 8 SO

Well if ther postseason started today they'd be in so I guess having Matsui, Sheffield, and Cano healthy and Lidle on their team will make them worse somehow

I dunno, i think we'll make it but thats hardly a certainty aslong as we're getting poor starts from 3 of our guys

They are a half game behind the White Sox in the wildcard... so how in the world would they be in?

As of this moment its a tie but the Sox are just about to beat the O's, the Yanks have a game in hand though

Yankees might just have the WC lead back... O's tie it up in the 9th.

Damn that Jenks, killing another win for one of the White Sox 5 potential 20 game winners

Yeah what happened to that?

All 5 have 9+ wins, but only Contreras has an ERA under 4, and the rest all have 4.80+, Vazquez and Garland both have 5+

Thats hardly dominating stuff

Originally Posted by The Miz:
Damn that Jenks, killing another win for one of the White Sox 5 potential 20 game winners

Funny, funny guy.

I like this deal for us. Matt Smith is the only one I know about and he's ok. He'd never be anything more for us than a mediocre middle reliever. We didn't part with anybody of any value really and we're getting a great outfielder.

I doubt Lidle will be good but with the lack of decent starting pitching on the market right now he's worth a gamble. If anything he'll be another arm to eat innings. He's better than Ponson. We didn't give much up either. Why pay one of the mediocre free agents out there top dollar who might not even pitch well in NY when we can take a gamble on a mediocre pitcher for a couple of low level nothing prospects. Who knows we might be looking at another Chacon or Aaron Small. Looking at Lidle's career split stats, he's actually a pretty good pitcher after the break. I'm not counting on him or anything but yeah.

Well before this trade I know the Yankees had something like 120 millon dollars set already on the 2009 payroll, while the Red Sox (2nd highest payroll) only had about 25 mill set. Eventually this big spending HAS to catch up with the Yanks you'd think, I mean I know they got the most money but their payroll was already 75 or so mil more than that of the Red Sox, eventually their payroll is gonna be double that

They could still have those dudes and not make it though, I don't think the WC is coming out of the AL East this year so whoever wins the division will be the only one going.

Well, next year Sheffield will be off the books and Mussina will be back at a reduced rate so they payroll will stay about the same.

Then again we could pick up Sheffield's option next year and have him DH. I wouldn't be too surprised if we did that.

What is Abrue's contract situation like?

I am just hopeful Lidle doesn't pull out some bullshit and pitch really good, I don't think he will since I am pretty sure he was ERA was in the high 4's (Think it 4.7something) in the NL so that shouldn't translate well. I am hopeful this hurts the Yankees more than anything, just another over priced player (Well depending on Abrue's contract, I'd assume hes got a pretty big deal)

I think Abreu makes about 14 million a year.

Lidle's ERA in August and September are 3.56 and 3.40 for his career. He pitched in the AL for a number of years as well and Philly is a terrible park to pitch in so there's a chance that he'll pitch decently.

Have you seen the season Mussina is having? He could very easily win 17 or 18 games, and with the state of pitching in baseball, if he doesn't come back for similar money, he'll probably get big money elsewhere, pitching is a premium in this age of baseball

While that might be true, his age will probably be a factor in the decision. He wants to stay a Yankee so I don't know if they'll be quick to pick up his option. Then again with the crop of free agent pitchers available this offseason they will probably end up picking it up anyway.

It kinda has, they're a very old team. I could see a senario one year where the injuries are even worse than this year, say Giambi, Posada, Johnson or even Rivera. And if some of the guys get old and hurt, you're limited in what you can do. In a couple of years, you can't move a 37 year old Giambi, for example, with 18 mil coming to him without paying for most of it. And you can't give another younger guy that kinda of money without clearing money unless you absolutely have no regard for your money spent and intend to possibly lose money

You basically get to a point where if the older players you have a lot invested in don't perform and are injured, you're eventually going to get screwed having so much locked up in only a few people

That's what I mean. I don't know exactly who has contracts running until 2009, but I'd assume it is some of the older guys but than again it could be guys like Jeter, A-Rod, Cano will all still be probably playing "up to snuff" 3 years down the road.

What I'm saying is Joey Slugs is acting like it's some fact a current playoff team won't make the playoffs once they get 3 of their best hitters and a new pitcher back

Signed through 09

Jeter
Rodriguez
Damon
Matsui

All will be 35 (ARod 32), obviously they will tail off but I don't see any of these guys being Sammy Sosa 2005 by that time

I'm not entirely sure, but the following I know for sure/would suspect are under contract in 2009:

Jeter
Rodriguez
Cano (?)
Damon (last year)
Matsui (I'm not sure about)
I'm trying to find what Giambi has left on his deal, but I'm struggling to do so, any ideas anyone?

And Giambi has had like a .440 OBP at least every year of his career basically. You don't just lose that ability like you do power. And with the way he pumps the HGH he's a safe bet to be productive at 37

If Lidle pitches decently I think we have a really good shot at winning it all. The bullpen is coming around and we most definitely have the offense (especially with Cano, Matsui and Sheff coming back). Mussina and Wang have been awesome. Johnson has his good days and his terrible days. Wright hasn't been that bad, he's had a couple of bad starts that make his numbers look worse than they are (though opponents are batting .301 off of him).

If Lidle pitches like Chacon did last season we have a solid 3 with Johnson (who is capable of brilliance) and Wright holding down the back end serviceably. We'll have fresh arms in the pen in Chacon and Ponson (though I feel like Ponson might get DFA) who would probably pitch better facing batters once. Villone has been good, Proctor and Farnsworth have been lights out lately, Myers has done his job and Rivera is Rivera. Our pitching really isn't as bad as people lead on, what are we, like 4th in the AL in ERA?

The more I think about it the more I really like this deal.

Kevin Mench 3-4, HR, 4 RBI

lol Yeah National League WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Had a feeling Mench would be a good pickup in the H2H.