Thoughts on Trading with the Evil Empire

Often people complain about how the Yankees never stop getting better. Certainly, the $200 million payroll helps. And attracting players with the promise of winning, money, and tradition is no difficult task. The Yankees strive for excellence unlike any team in sports. They exist in a time where they can't just buy a bunch of players and expect them to fit together and win (remember the years of a rotation featuring Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Kevin Brown, as well as the oldest and slowest lineup in the majors?).

But they've gotten smarter, and better, and have a new commitment to winning. The Yankees capped off a World Series win by trying to get both younger and better. They've added Curtis Granderson and Javier Vasquez, replacing the departed Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui.

Now are these moves perfect? No. Curtis Granderson certainly has his drawbacks as a hitter, and Javier Vasquez is possibly one of the most maddeningly inconsistent pitchers maybe ever. But if they work perfectly, it can be expected that the Yankees might be ever better in 2010.

But when a pitcher with a sub 3 ERA and a high K rate is traded for a defense-first centerfielder who isn't even that talented of a defender, no one has any right to complain. Teams aren't even figuratively handing the Yankees wins when they do things like this, they are now literally doing it! Javier Vasquez had much more value than Melky Cabrera, no matter how one looks at it (the prospect dealt along with Melky Cabrera is supposedly nothing special either).

If teams want to stop the Yankees, block their moves, offer more money, be more aggressive. The offseason is a game of simple competitive economics, and it's time everyone started playing it.

Oh, and if anyone things the Yankees are starting next year with Brett Gardner as their starting leftfielder, they are sadly mistaken. The Yankees aren't done yet.

Thoughts on Winter Meetings Thusfar

Ok, so a bunch of stuff for me to talk about today.

First, in a less-serious thought, C.J. Wilson twittered that he was offended that the Dbacks would even offer Chris Snyder for him. C.J. Wilson obviously didn't realize that Chris Snyder has a lot of value because he hit well (for a catcher) two years ago, and most people are marking up last years problems to injuries. Wilson also must think a lot of himself, it's not as if he's even a tier 2 reliever.

Second, in what's the most tragic move of the day, the Yankees are set to acquire Curtis Granderson in a 3 way deal between the Yanks, the D-Backs and Tigers. This makes the Yankees even more of a likable team. I don't know what world other baseball fans grew up in, but I grew up in a baseball world where the Yankees played as if they were from a military squad: without emotion, without guts, and without character. They always seemed more a group of individuals rather than a team. But the addition of yet another character guy, this Yankees team gets even scarier. Make no mistake, Curtis Granderson is a good, not great player, but he bats leftie and can give them a Melky Cabrera like glove with a bat to replace Damon.

This trade makes sense for the Yankees, they are in a win now move, Austin Jackson isn't quite ready yet, and Ian Kennedy needs to figure a few things out. Neither player will be missed much. For the D-backs, this is slightly confusing. Yes, Edwin Jackson has proven to be a good pitcher, but right now, Scherzer isn't that much worse. And Scherzer has two or three more years of team control over him than Jackson. For the Tigers, this makes sense. They got a great young starter, a great outfield prospect, and a few other average players with plenty of team control, all while shedding payroll.

In other news, Latroy Hawkins is looking like the next closer for the Astros. Hawkins? Closer? Hasn't he proven 10894712 times over that he is incapable of being a full-time closer?

Brad Penny is going to sign a one year deal with Cardinals for too much money. If he pitches 204 innings, he gets $9 million, and $7.5 if they don't. Again, too much money for a guy who didn't pitch well last year.

Lot's of other stuff I could talk about, but I'm not going to waste time on every speculated rumor this year.

And twitter overload much baseball writers?