10/12: Jon Heyman's Plan to Fix the Yankees
Posted by: Patrick
Jon Heyman of Newsday has come up with a plan to fix the Yankees. More of the plan can be found here. Here is the plan (taken from the articles):
Sign B.J. Ryan to be Mariano Rivera's main bullpen set-up man.
If he wants to be, sure. The problem is... he already said he doesn't want to be. Edit: Apparently, I was wrong.
If Hunter can't be acquired for Robinson Cano, try for Red Sox free agent Johnny Damon.
No. No no no no no. Please no. No Damon. Hunter would be interesting, but not for Cano. Damon, no. I'd rather have us trade for Juan Pierre or persue some sort of one year option (Preston Wilson?) and then after 2006, the FA class will potentially include Hunter, Pierre and Aaron Rowand. Damon will need a long term deal. 3 years at least, probably 4. Don't do it.
Cano could be a star in the making. He made a lot of great plays defensively and he also made a lot of errors, but we should give him time to get that side of his game in order. He had a good offensive year, he was good with the bat in the playoffs and he's a ROY candidate. We need to keep him, rather than trade him for an older outfielder who makes more money.
Make Jason Giambi the full-time DH, alleviating the need to hold their breath every time he has to throw. Sign John Olerud.
Giambi DHing works for me, but Olerud? Giambi doesn't seem to be a bad defender when it comes to actually getting the ball (his range may not be great), but the throwing is the problem. Still, there is no 1B in the market that strikes me as saying, OK - let's start this guy all year and leave Giambi as the DH. If we're going to sign Olerud, I'd be just as much for bringing Tino back if he wants to come back. I see Tino as being as good or better a defender than Olerud and if you look at the last 2 years offensively, it's hard to say Olerud was better.
Trade Chien-Ming Wang for A's starter Barry Zito.
It's interesting, but my gut says no. What we have in Wang is rare indeed. A rookie pitcher who pitched well in New York over a majority of the season. He even pitched well in his one ALDS start. When's the last time we had a rookie do all that? He's a keeper.
Carl Pavano, not the guy for New York, should be traded.
Fine with me, but for what? Heyman suggests Detroit as a team he could go to, but as I was telling Seamus the other night, the guy has 2 no trade clauses. The 1 in his contract and the 1 that is his contract. If we get him to waive the first, we're going to have to waive much of the second by paying for it. His value is very low right now, what are we gonna get for him?
Re-sign Hideki Matsui.
Oh yeah.
Bring back Bernie Williams.
Would love to see it.
Re-sign Cashman ... if he'll agree to return.
Sure thing.
Bring back Joe Torre.
Yep, yep. (My responses got real short all of a sudden).
Hire Leo Mazzone, Don Cooper, Jim Colborn or Dave Righetti to replace pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre.
If Mel wants to leave, sure, why not? (No Guidry?)
If/after you trade Cano, sign Furcal. Move him to second.
I wouldn't mind Furcal if we didn't already gave Cano, who I want to keep.
Trade Gary Sheffield for Manny Ramirez.
No way. I would not want Manny Ramirez on this team for anything. The constant drama that has been his time with the Red Sox has totally turned me off to him. I don't want any part of Manny Being Manny. I want him to Be Manny in Boston. And I love Sheff. Seamus said that "he's like somebody who will pummel someone into the ground for you" and I agree. If sports figures are ever called warriors, I'd slap the label on Sheff. He has a swagger, he's good for the team and he produces.
Sign B.J. Ryan to be Mariano Rivera's main bullpen set-up man.
If he wants to be, sure. The problem is... he already said he doesn't want to be. Edit: Apparently, I was wrong.
If Hunter can't be acquired for Robinson Cano, try for Red Sox free agent Johnny Damon.
No. No no no no no. Please no. No Damon. Hunter would be interesting, but not for Cano. Damon, no. I'd rather have us trade for Juan Pierre or persue some sort of one year option (Preston Wilson?) and then after 2006, the FA class will potentially include Hunter, Pierre and Aaron Rowand. Damon will need a long term deal. 3 years at least, probably 4. Don't do it.
Cano could be a star in the making. He made a lot of great plays defensively and he also made a lot of errors, but we should give him time to get that side of his game in order. He had a good offensive year, he was good with the bat in the playoffs and he's a ROY candidate. We need to keep him, rather than trade him for an older outfielder who makes more money.
Make Jason Giambi the full-time DH, alleviating the need to hold their breath every time he has to throw. Sign John Olerud.
Giambi DHing works for me, but Olerud? Giambi doesn't seem to be a bad defender when it comes to actually getting the ball (his range may not be great), but the throwing is the problem. Still, there is no 1B in the market that strikes me as saying, OK - let's start this guy all year and leave Giambi as the DH. If we're going to sign Olerud, I'd be just as much for bringing Tino back if he wants to come back. I see Tino as being as good or better a defender than Olerud and if you look at the last 2 years offensively, it's hard to say Olerud was better.
Trade Chien-Ming Wang for A's starter Barry Zito.
It's interesting, but my gut says no. What we have in Wang is rare indeed. A rookie pitcher who pitched well in New York over a majority of the season. He even pitched well in his one ALDS start. When's the last time we had a rookie do all that? He's a keeper.
Carl Pavano, not the guy for New York, should be traded.
Fine with me, but for what? Heyman suggests Detroit as a team he could go to, but as I was telling Seamus the other night, the guy has 2 no trade clauses. The 1 in his contract and the 1 that is his contract. If we get him to waive the first, we're going to have to waive much of the second by paying for it. His value is very low right now, what are we gonna get for him?
Re-sign Hideki Matsui.
Oh yeah.
Bring back Bernie Williams.
Would love to see it.
Re-sign Cashman ... if he'll agree to return.
Sure thing.
Bring back Joe Torre.
Yep, yep. (My responses got real short all of a sudden).
Hire Leo Mazzone, Don Cooper, Jim Colborn or Dave Righetti to replace pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre.
If Mel wants to leave, sure, why not? (No Guidry?)
If/after you trade Cano, sign Furcal. Move him to second.
I wouldn't mind Furcal if we didn't already gave Cano, who I want to keep.
Trade Gary Sheffield for Manny Ramirez.
No way. I would not want Manny Ramirez on this team for anything. The constant drama that has been his time with the Red Sox has totally turned me off to him. I don't want any part of Manny Being Manny. I want him to Be Manny in Boston. And I love Sheff. Seamus said that "he's like somebody who will pummel someone into the ground for you" and I agree. If sports figures are ever called warriors, I'd slap the label on Sheff. He has a swagger, he's good for the team and he produces.
Seamus wrote:
The only move there I really like player-wise besides resigning Bernie and Matsui is signing B.J. Ryan. Problem there is I thought about that a couple days ago and I said to myself "Would he want to do that?....Nah." He could get big money from a team like the Mets or the Braves who need relief pitching and be their closer.
Of course Manny-for-Sheff would never happen. I don't think it would ever even be a part of the Yankees' or Red Sox' thought process.