A couple of days, the Seattle Post mentioned that the Mariner’s talks with the Yankees regarding Carl Pavano had moved away from including Jeremy Reed. Apparently, the Yankees didn’t view him as an upgrade over Bubba Crosby. Honestly, I (and apparently Steve Lombardi as well) was so surprised that I almost spit up my coffee.

Let’s talk a little about Reed, shall we? Jeremy Reed is:
-a kid (24 years old),
-who plays an good-to-very good CF (depending on who you ask),
-is cheap (he’ll be under the Yankees control for at least the next 3 years),
-has a decent eye at the plate (OBP was almost 70 points higher than his AVG),
-and is pretty speedy on the basepaths (though he certainly needs work on when to go).

He was also considered the #2 prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization, coming in right after King Felix Hernandez. His main problem was an inability to hit lefties, putting up a line of just .200/.276/.267 while hitting .269/.335/.376 against righties. He also showed a little more power on the road, which is to be expected since he played his home games at the pitching paradise that is SafeCo.

Still, John Sickels, who I consider to be one of the foremost authorities on prospects, remains upbeat about Reed and offers up a possible reason for the struggles.

One factor to consider is injury. Although Reed got into 141 games, he was bothered by injuries through most of the season, including a sore foot, a concussion, and chronic pain in his left wrist. The wrist apparently bothered him all season, and was eventually diagnosed with a torn ligament, ending his season early. Wrist problems can be a serious handicap for a hitter. Many hitters who try to play through wrist injuries end up making the problem worse, and obviously it can have a detrimental impact on performance. It's impossible to know how much the wrist was responsible for Reed's numbers this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a major factor.
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Anyhow, I have not given up on Reed, and I expect he will rebound next year. That is more opinion than anything else, but I don't think what he did in the minors was a complete fluke, and I still expect him to emerge as a .280-.300 style hitter, with sound overall on-base skills and a bit of power. Mark Kotsay is a comparison I'd use. Let's see what Reed can do without a bum wrist before giving up on him.

Combine that with Reed’s pedigree in the minors (.327/.401/.478) and his potential for improvement and that vaults him quite a bit higher than Bubba Crosby in my view. In comparison, Crosby has put up a line of .281/.342/.421 in the minors and people don’t seem to realize that he will be in his age 29 season next year.

Here’s my issue. It’s not that I necessarily want to trade Pavano for Reed (and someone for the bullpen). With the current pitching that we have and the inherent potential for injury, I am happier with more starters available to pitch. In addition, if the Yankees are able get another bat (Nomar, for instance), they can carry a weak bat in the number 9 hole in the lineup. It’s equating Reed to Crosby that rubs me the wrong way. They are no where near each other in terms of value to the team and Cashman better pray that Pavano reverts back to his 2004 form because he might have passed up an opportunity to fill the CF for at least 3 years. Of course, by then, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackon, Tim Battle, etc. should be more than ready if the need arises.