no one expects anyone to be excited over trading for Washburn... i'd be more excited just to get rid of Kei Igawa.

Yankees are only 3 games out of first right now. Washburn has been a stud at Yankee stadium and if they can get him for Igawa and spare parts thats a trade they have to do.

Washburn or Igawa is what it comes down to... this is a pure salary dump for SEA because Igawa is only due to make $4 mil per for the next 3 years, while the Yanks would be taking on Vidro & Washburn's salaries this year & Washburn's salary next year, so it's more money upfront... these are the types of deals Cashman has used to fill holes the past few years... i don't see a problem w/Washburn waiving his NTC rights to come to a contender.

[Edited by - TMS on 07-24-2008 10:34 PM]

I like the chemistry on this team, i think they just need a few minor tweaks here & there... last year we had ARod carrying a big part of the load for this team offensively & CMW was the guy we relied on to win games every 5th day... right now it seems like this team is starting to click & everyone is starting to pull their share... there's more of an overall balance that we haven't seen for a while.

- Moose, Andy & Joba have stepped it up in the starting rotation in the absence of Wang.
- Cano & Abreu have started to heat up at the plate & are a huge reason for the recent streak of wins
- we got a role player like Jose Molina doing an excellent job behind the plate calling games & playing gold glove calibre defense to step up for the absence of Jorge, & Chad Moeller has done a very good job calling games in Rasner's starts as well
- Jason & the Big Sexy seems like a nice tandem at 1B & provide nice power from both sides of the plate (Sexson's defense is pretty good too)
- the bullpen has done a STELLAR job all year long & particularly after Joba was converted to a fulltime starter... Kyle Farnsworth has undergone a complete transformation from an automatic pour gasoline on the fire guy to a dominant setup man that we all hoped we would see from him some day... Veras, Edwar, Geise & Robertson have been excellent in situational roles & Joe G has done a tremendous job of managing the bullpen so that none of their arms have been blown out from overuse the way guys like Quantrill, Sturtze & Proctor's arms were over-used over the past few years
- we have some nice speed on the bench w/Gardner & Christian that we haven't had for a while
- Sidney Ponson & Darrell Rasner have both done a very good job as back of the rotation starters
- Jason Giambi & Johnny Damon have performed better than anyone could have hoped this season as well.

i think we just need to add a little more depth in the starting rotation & maybe a lefty arm for the bullpen & we can make a serious run at a championship this season... that's right, i said CHAMPIONSHIP... the AL East is ours for the taking if u ask me... w/plenty of games left to play vs. the Red Sox & Rays, this team's destiny is in its own hands.

LET'S GO YANKEES!

Posted by nyk4ever:

Washburn is a definite upgrade over Rasner. Although he has a 4.75 ERA so far this year, in his last 5 starts he has a 2.97ERA and let's not forget about his era in his 6 career starts at Yankee Stadium - 2.82. He's a lefty and we all know how well that works out in Yankee Stadium. I'd definitely do this trade.

I haven't made my mind up but I'll play devil's advocate: 6 career starts is a very small sample. And if his ERA is 2.97 over the last 5 and 4.75 overall, that just means he was really bad prior to the last 5. How much is the difference in total money owed to Igawa vs. Vidro and Washburn vs. Igawa?

Posted by Bonn1997:
I'd look for a *real* upgrade at starting pitching and/or an outfielder who can hit better than Melky.

the problem is that teams that have better players up for grabs in a trade are asking for the moon to trade them... you're not getting a Matt Holliday or Jason Bay for example unless u throw in a package of some top prospects... there's not really any bigname pitchers on the market right now either other than maybe Bedard, & i think the M's will want a lot back for him in a trade.

so u have to decide whether to try & compete now while building up the farm system like u've been saying u wanted this franchise to do, or to trade away the farm & go all in to try & win a WS right now.

[Edited by - TMS on 07-25-2008 04:36 AM]

This article mentions Bengie Molina.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3503613He'd be a huge offensive upgrade over Jose. If you can't upgrade offensively at the CF position, catcher is an obvious place to look with Jorge out (and aging anyway). Steinbrenner also confirms that they have been talking about Barry Bonds.

We have 3 catchers if and only if Jorge is a catcher next year. The problem is that this team has at least four players who really should be DHs (Jorge, Matsui, Damon, and Jason). And that's half of the fielders!

Yeah, I think that's correct. Bengie should be tradeable, though. They could get him for this year since Jorge is out and maybe even part of next year and trade him once (or if) it looks like Jorge is definitely back to normal. I don't think having two catchers who can hit well is such a bad scenario.