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New York Yankee Notes: Wrapping Up The Trade Deadline

By Ed Valentine

With all of the wheeling and dealing done -- until the August waiver-wire deals start, that is -- let's look around the Inter-Google and wrap up reaction to the New York Yankees' troika of trade deadline acquisitions.

Of course, everyone loves to put their stamp of approval or disapproval on trades immediately, quickly judging 'winners and losers.' It's a silly, meaningless exercise since nobody knows how any of this will turn out yet. Still, people do it and it gives us something to talk about.

Most writers judging 'winners and losers' put the Yankees in the 'winners' category. That would include Bob Klapisch of The Record, Joe Sheehan of SI.com and and ESPN's Jayson Stark.

Here is Stark's summary of the Yankee moves.

Obviously, Lance Berkman, Kerry Wood and Austin Kearns ain't what they used to be. But what exactly did the Yankees have to lose? They added less payroll ($4.8 million) than the Rangers -- and just gave up a bunch of second-tier prospects to fill potentially big holes. It's possible none of these guys will make an impact. But it's also possible the smell of October glory will revive them. And it was another display of the Yankees behemoth doing what the Yankees behemoth does best -- taking full advantage of its never-ending ability to absorb other people's dead money.

The Sporting News put the Yankees in the 'wait and see' category, wondering how much impact the three acquisitions will really have.

Then, of course, there are the naysayers like Mike Lupica of the Daily News saying the Yankees were 'twitchy' and acted insecure. Yeah, sure, Mike. Trying to improve your team is not trying to win, it's just being 'insecure.' Thanks for playing, now go find something else to whine about.

Speaking of whining, there was of course some of that since the Yankees essentially took on some short-term salary and didn't give up much in terms of prospects.

There was Tim Marchman of Sports Illustrated moaning about how easily the Yankees could take on Berkman, and more or less proclaiming he hoped Berkman would flop in the Bronx.

That the New York Yankees can casually (reportedly) trade for such a player in the midst of a pitched pennant race is cause for some real indignance. Fuzzy as details are at the moment for technical reasons involving Berkman's rights as a 10-year veteran who's played for the same team for the last five years, it seems the Yankees will pay Berkman's salary for the rest of the year and consequently send the Astros nondescript minor leaguers in exchange for his services through the end of the season. That's a heist. If this deal decides the aforementioned pitched pennant race, though, it will count as a minor miracle.


There was also Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune going on about how the best the Twins could do was acquire closer Matt Capps, and wishing the Twins could be the Yankees for a change.

There was also plenty of reaction from the three new Yankees, as well as some discussion of how they would be used.

At LoHud, Chad Jennings has a brief breakdown of why the Yankees acquired each player, how they might be used and their feelings about being with their new team.

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News has a chat with Berkman, who was very forthright about where he is in his career and how he hopes being in New York will help him.

On whether that move can be energizing: "I think it can be revolutionary. I’m not saying it will be, but that’s one of the reasons I decided (to accept the trade). I was like, ‘Here you are at this point in your career, something’s got to change.’ Either retire or get into a situation where you’re scared again - and this kind of borderlines on that. You’ve got a lot of expectations to do well, and everybody knows if you come up here and do great, people will love you. If you flop, they’ll be like, ‘This guy is a bum, get him out of here.’ Either way, it’s stimulating. It’s very different than the environment was in Houston. I’m glad to experience that. I want to put myself into that situation to see what I’ve got left."

The Wood acquisition was seen by some as a move to replace Joba Chamberlain in the eighth inning. GM Brian Cashman said the move wasn't about Joba, it was about upgrading the depth of the bullpen.

"Kerry still has terrific stuff; we analyzed his abilities with what we currently possessed and we felt we would be upgrading if we were able to acquire him," Cashman said. "As long as he stays healthy, he's going to be another legitimate choice for us as we try to match up late in games."

Cashman stressed that Wood's arrival has nothing to do with Chamberlain's recent struggles. Instead, it was simply a matter of an upgrade over Chan Ho Park, who had struggled for most of the season and was designated for assignment.

"Joba had nothing to do with this; I just wanted Joe (Girardi) to have as many options as he could possibly have," Cashman said. "Nice to see Robertson has gotten it going. Boone Logan has gotten it going for us, which is terrific. I think Joba is obviously going to play his part, and hopefully Kerry Wood can push himself into the mix."

Now, all we have to do is wait and see how all of this turns out. Another parade down the Canyon of Heroes sure would be nice.

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