I know I promised an analysis of the Yankees at mid season, but I must momentarily diverge to comment on the Roy Halladay frenzy.  Ever since the Blue Jays announced that Halladay was on the trading block, the yahoos on talk radio have been demanding that the Yanks trade half their roster to bring him aboard.

Allow me to offer an opposing view.  Unless the deal is very very good, the Yankees should not deal for Halladay.

Roy Halladay is a fine pitcher, one of the best in the game, but he is 32 years old.  He has missed parts of at least three seasons with major injuries.  He is not a strike out pitcher.  Aside from 2008 when he had 206 Ks, he only averages around 140 strike outs per year.  In short, he is good but limited.  Like Randy Johnson, he is a short term fix, and we all remember how well the Randy Johnson fiasco worked out.

Not that Halladay wouldn’t be a nice addition.  But the Blue Jays are asking the moon and the stars for him, and the Yankees would be foolish to mortgage the future.  Nearly every scenario I have heard includes Joba Chamberlain and Jesus Montero, plus others.  Those players lie at the heart of the Yankee rebuilding effort.  Trade them and we return to the bad days of 2005 when the team was old and weak.

The Yankees are poised to turn over their roster.  The team of the future will be built around Teixeira, Cano, Montero, Austin Jackson, and Brett Gardner on the field, and Sabathia, Hughes, Joba, and (hopefully) Wang on the mound.  Matsui will be gone after this year, and Damon will probably go with him.  Andy is nearing the end of the line.  The Yankees are finally developing a young team.

But trading the heart of the youth movement for a 32 year old will gut the future.  Yes, Halladay could give us an edge this year, but at the expense of the next five years.

I would love to see Derek and Mo have one more moment of glory, but not at the expense of conceding the future to the Red Sox and Rays.  Trading for Halladay is the wrong move.

Pitching rotation: Thanks to two smart acquisitions in the off-season, injuries and inconsistent pitching from Daisuke Matsuzaka haven’t hurt the Red Sox heavily. Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox’ best statistical pitcher from the past few seasons, pitched well enough in the first half of the season to make his first All-Star appearance at age 42. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett shrugged off slow starts to return to their dominant forms, with Beckett joining Wakefield at the All-Star Game. Brad Penny is pitching well as the number 5 starter while John Smoltz is getting better since coming back from injury. GRADE: A-

Bullpen: With Coco Crisp expendable in an overcrowded outfield, Theo Epstien shipped him to the Kansas City Royals for Ramon Ramirez to bolster an already strong bullpen.  He also brought in Takashi Saito to serve as another 8thinning guy to compliment Hideki Okajima as the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon on the other hand hasn’t been as dominant as he was in years past, yet he still has converted 23 of 25 saves. Pap has been much like Matsuzaka was last year, getting in, then out of jams. GRADE: A

It’s been a while since I have been here and I’m absolutely positive you’ve missed me.

Where have been? Between migrating back to the midwest and hitting up a few Twins games, I have been on the hunt for the next best thing in life. Coincidentally, the Diamondbacks are doing the same. No, they aren’t selling the farm just yet. They are, however, looking at making a second half run. So far Josh Byrnes has been weighing his options, possibly shopping around Garland and Davis as well as dumping Tony Pena for a minor league first basemen from the Sox (Good riddance). The only thing I’m still skeptical about is why Arizona still has Juan Gutierrez and Blaine Boyer: They’re terrible. It’s time to say good by and bring up some newbs from the minors. Great options lie in Jarrod Parker and Bryan Augenstein who are destined to be starters but right now it can’t hurt to bring them up to get comfortable in the big show.

But seriously, Arizona will make a run in this last half of the season. No, they will not make the playoffs but I can guarantee they’ll turn some heads (as long as Gutierrez is cut). Stop laughing and don’t try to act like you’re not. The hitting is coming around and the pitching is definitely improved. All things considered, I think in the end their record will be around or just under .500 and you will probably be in disbelief. Care to weigh in?

On a final note: 1 of my 2 preseason predictions are holding true: San Francisco is for real and they are a strong contender for the wild card (since they’re leading it). There was some doubt on my original post and now has come to be semi-hilarious now that the Giants are contenders, while Arizona sits in the dust. Will the Giants overtake the Dodgers? I sure hope so because I cannot stand seeing Manny Ramirez happy. Go Giants.

At the all star break, the traditional half way point of the season, the Yankees find themselves in acceptable position.  They are in second place in the American League East, 3 games behind Boston, and in the lead in the Wild Card race, 2.5 games ahead of Texas and 3.5 games ahead of Tampa.  While this team is not going to make anyone forget the 1998 club, things could be a lot worse.

At this point it is possible to draw a few conclusions about the team.  Today we will look at the starting pitching.  So far we can say the following.

SABATHIA – Reasonable minds can debate whether CC has been worth $160 million dollars, but all in all, he has provided the Yankees with a viable number one starter.  He has not shown the overpowering stuff that made him the best pitcher in baseball over the last two years, but he has won 8 games, including 2 complete games and one shutout, and has kept his ERA under 4.00.  More important, he has imbued the team with confidence when he pitches.  Without him, the Yankees would likely be in 4th place.  GRADE – B+.

BURNETT – I was a major naysayer when the Yankees signed AJ.  As some of you may recall, I referred to him as AJ Pavano.  It remains to be seen if he can stay healthy, but at this point I have to admit he has not been bad.  His stats are actually slightly better than CC’s.  He also has 8 wins, more strikeouts than CC (101-95) and a slightly better ERA (3.77-3.86).  The trouble with AJ is, he is like the little girl with the curl in the nursery rhyme:  when he is good, he is very very good (one hitter against the Mets), but when he is bad, he is horrid (blowing the 6 run lead in Fenway).  He also trails CC in one significant category:  innings pitched (107.2-128.1), which means the bullpen suffers greater strain when he pitches.  We shall see if he can keep up the good work.  GRADE – B.

JOBA – Joba has been a great disappointment.  He is 4-2 with a 4.25 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 89 innings.  He seems incapable of getting out of the 5th inning.  Worst of all, his velocity is down.  A couple of weeks ago Brian Cashman noted that Joba has not been the same since he was injured in Texas last August.  Maybe, like Phil Hughes in 2008, he needs more time to regain his strength.  But his repeated failures, coupled with his refusal to take advice from anyone, have become a major problem for the Yankees.  If he cannot straigten out, the Yankees will be in trouble.  GRADE – D.

WANG – Wang has never recovered from the injury he suffered running the bases during moronic interleague play last year.  In the process of attempting to rehab his leg, he has now hurt his arm.  It appears doubtful he can contribut meaningfully this year.  If he can’t, the Yankees will be without a fifth starter unless they bring Phil Hughes out of the bullpen.  GRADE – F.

ANDY – The gritty veteran hasn’t got a lot left, but he has guts, and, as the drill sergeant said, guts is enough.  Andy has won 8 games, and is presently the key to keeping the Yankees in the race.  The question is, how much longer can he keep winning on nothing but guts?  If he falls apart, somebody had better be ready to step up.  GRADE – B-.

OUTLOOK:  Pitching wins pennants.  Despite everything, the Yankee starters have gotten it done so far.  But their margin of error is thin.  If anyone falters, the season could die fast and hard.

I went to the Georgia Aquarium today. It was really fun, but on the way home I heard the news on Jeff Francoeur. My first thought, “Wren is an idiot!” I still stand by that. Frenchy… gosh, I never thought they’d trade him.

I get that he was struggling, but I’m the one that’ll cheer for my favorites forever. He goes in that category. I’m excited to see what Ryan Church has to offer, but… it’s my Frenchy. I remind you, I’m a girl. So I have some emotions for Frenchy that won’t go away and I feel more attached to him than say, my best friend Chris, who was able to drop him in a second.

So, before I continue, what’s your favorite memory of Jeff Francoeur? Personal or on the field! Mine would probably when I met him in January and he was just fabulous to my little nephew!

Good luck, Frenchy. We’ll miss you!

In other news:

• Tommy Hanson is better than advertised in my opinion. Congrats to him on all his accomplishments
• I’ve pulled for Brooks Conrad since Spring Training, and its good to see it was all in good reason. Go Brooksie .
• I still love Kelly Johnson. I’m hoping he gets better and doesn’t have the same fate as Frenchy!
• Peter Moylan is still my favorite. No one can convince me otherwise. I believe I heard last night that he leads the National League in apparences, only thirteen or so months removed from Tommy John Surgery. So I blame Bobby for all his problems.
• Despite what I said above, I would still like to congratulate Bobby on the whole 2000th win situation.

and finally,

• Congratulations to Brian McCann for his fourth All-Star selection. Next year he’ll be starting. 

Thanks, guys. I’m back. I swear this time. I’ll be sure to tell you of all the fun I haven’t been able to tell as soon as possible

Wowzer. 3-4 years ago, I thought the Braves and Mets would never trade with each other again in the history of baseball. I thought only the Red Sox and Yankees were less likely to make a deal – a now it’s Phillies and Mets of course. Interesting deal! The potential out of Jeff Francoeur I like a lot more than the injury potential of Ryan Church. Jeff Francoeur is a great right-fielder, fairly healthy, and young enough where he can improve – ten-fold from how he’s performing now. He’s only 25 and went back to back years with 100+ rbis in 2006 and 2007. He hit for average in 2007, but I don’t know if he’ll ever really do that again, and if its his mind making him perform bad in Atlanta…well, I don’t think that will get much better in New York, but again, I still like the deal. It’s a small shakeup. The Mets need to do a lot more, but they won’t with the market and asking prices. So lets hope this and JJ Putz, Billy Wanger (I mean Wagner, but I figured i’d leave the mispelling), and Carlos Delgado can help the team enough in August and the same for Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes when they get healthy (as well as John Maine & Oliver Perez who already had the epitomic Oliver Perez-like start). And most importantly, the Mets need the help of the Phillies, that they have somewhat received early season until now, but may not any longer.

In my prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/trade-david-wright-to-the-red-sox/), I referenced a potential trade from Joseph Delgrippo of Bleacher Report where David Wright and Fernando Martinez would go to the Red Sox for Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Lars Anderson, and 2 of Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard, or Justin Masterson. This is a lot, and I’d be surprised to see that much going the Mets way. The Mets obviously and blatantly need to be shaken up from the core-on-down – and then some. If this bullpen went with the team last year, maybe we’d have won the penant. Maybe we’d be 10 games up this year, but neither is the case, and although eventually the Mets will have John Maine, Oliver Perez, Billy Wagner, JJ Putz, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran coming off the DL at random, unknown times, and although my David Wright Passion Bucket has always been full, that trade scenario from Delgrippo of Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/213365-new-york-mets-need-to-make-a-trade-for-the-future) sounds very intriguing. To assure such a trade and a top-down shake-up why not send both Wright & Reyes to the Sawx?

So, here – naturally, are more crazy trade scenarios. Let’s play Mets GM:

1) David Wright/3b; Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp (& his salary) for Jacoby Ellsbury/of; Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Daniel Bard/sp; and Lars Anderson/1b. The Mets could send a 3rd tier pitching prospect  (Scott Shaw/Mike Antonini/Scott Moviel) or young cf prospect their way in addition. This provides the Red Sox with their future ss & 3b and one dominant lineup.

2) After the Mets acquire 3 top-notch pitching prospects, their others (Jon Niese/Brad Holt/Jenrry Mejia) become a little more expendable. Jenrry Mejia is catching eyes finally. So the Mets could then trade Jon Niese/sp; Brad Holt/sp; Wilmer Flores/Robinson Tejada/or Reese Havens/ss for Roy Halladay. If not Flores/Tejada/Havens then Maybe Ryan Church/of + John Maine/sp, but it seems the Blue Jays will want a ss prospect along with sp prospects for Doc Halladay. The Mets could potentially offer Church + Maine in addition to the deal for Alex Rios/of, if the Jays would like not to pay his contract.

3) Finally, contingent on the above deal, the Mets could offer Fernando Martinez and Ryan Church/of or Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans/of-1b in addition to Mike Pelfrey or John Maine for Victor Martinez/c from the Cleveland Indians.

So for an easy view:

1-Wright, Reyes, Oliver & Salary for Ellsbury, Lars, Buchholz, Bowden, Bard

2-Niese, Holt, Tejada/Flores/Havens or Maine & Church for Halladay

3-F.Martinez & Church or Dan Murphy & Evans + Pelfrey or Maine for V.Martinez

There are some potential 2010 Free Agents the Mets could look at for their infield as rentals before the other 2 ss that don’t get traded (Tejada/Flores/Havens) and Jefry Marte/3b are ready for the infield (Adrian Beltre and Orlando Hudson included). So the 2010-2012 Mets Lineup could look as follows: Jacoby Ellsbury/cf-Robinson Tejada/2b-Victor Martinez/c-Carlos Beltran/rf-Lars Anderson/1b-Fernando Martinez or Daniel Murphy/lf-Jefry Marte/3b-Reese Havens/2b

Even better, the 2010-2012 Mets Rotation could look as follows: Roy Halladay-Johan Santana-Mike Pelfrey/John Maine-Clay Buchholz-Michael Bowden/Daniel Bard/Jenrry Mejia/Fernando Nieve(why not).

Not only is this team quite talented but very young – it does create a nice payroll with only 5 players with expensive contracts (Beltran,VMartinez,Santana,Halladay,Krod).

Guys like Halladay and Vmart can more than keep the team in contention right now with such a rotation, while the young Sawx pitching prospects can dominate with Santana and a resigned Halladay there-after.

Scold away.

It’s hard to believe it was five years ago that the trade that sent Nomar Garciaparra to Chicago and a World Series to Boston. It’s also hard to believe that over the span of those five years he hasn’t played a single game in Boston. In his return Nomar displayed his affection for the fans before his first at-bat in the 2nd inning, and voiced it after the game to the media.

In his prime, Nomar was one of, if not the best player in the game. Most people believed he would be in the Hall of Fame one day, before multiple injuries took their toll on the star. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1997, won two batting titles, and was a five time All-Star during his stint with the Red Sox. After his trade to the Cubs in ‘04, Nomar never produced the All-Star numbers he put up in Boston. After the Cubs, Nomar moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three years in which he was also plagued by injuries, and he has also lost time this year, his first with the Oakland Athletics, to injury.

The Fenway Faithful gave Nomar a lengthy ovation as he stepped to the plate and cheered him as he ran back to the dugout after grounding out to third base. On his way back to the visitor’s dugout, Nomar also pointed to and thanked the Red Sox in their dugout. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI in his return.

I’ve been scolded lately for saying the Mets should potentially at least look into trading Jose Reyes to the Red Sox for 2 of their top young pitching prospect and Jed Lowrie as well. In a post from Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/213365-new-york-mets-need-to-make-a-trade-for-the-future), Joseph Delgrippo says the Mets should potentially look to trade David Wright/3b + Fernando Martinez/of to the Red Sox for Clay Buchholz/sp, Lars Anderson/1b, Jacoby Elsbury/of, and 2 from Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden, and Daniel Bard/p. He goes on to say the Mets could sign a 1 or 2 year free agent 3rd baseman until Wilmer Flores/ss is ready to play 3b in the Majors.

Honestly, it’s very, very intriguing. As a Mets fan i’d have to say it’s…fair – maybe better than fair. The Mets rotation would look amazing for years to come. The one thing I will say is… I already like the Red Sox, and this deal will allow me to stop watching the Mets for at least this year and become a full-time Red Sox fan. Sorry, but honestly, it’s been rough. I’ve been watching Wright since his short days in Binghamton, and he’s about the only bright spot this year (and not (w)right now).

I’ll root for both teams deep down.

If they make this deal, why not trade Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran as well? Stack the team for years to come. Fellow Mets fans…It’s been hard. It’s been devestating. The Phillies are better. The Marlins probably will be next year. The Braves could be as well. Let’s just enjoy baseball and hope.

I’ve been quiet for a while now.  Things have been so good lately as a Giants fan that frankly there’s less to complain about (and therefore less to write about).

For starters, I was WAY off base about how awful the bullpen was going to be.  Despite rocky patches, Wilson and Howry have been pretty damned good so far this season.  I still feel like the bullpen is meltdown-prone – but there are few MLB bullpens not susceptible to meltdowns.

Gordon Edes on Yahoo! Sports wrote about the Giants’ quest for a left-handed bat over the weekend.  The three players (all first basemen) that Sabean is particularly focused on – Nick Johnson, Aubrey Huff and Adam LaRoche – don’t really excite me too much.  True – Ishikawa has been pretty disappointing overall this season.  But he does have five homeruns over the last month, and has definitely been trending upward as the season has progressed.  These other three players involved in trade discussions only seem like incremental upgrades, and nothing to get particularly excited about.

Also in Edes’ write-up:  “They’ve also spoken to San Diego about a deal that would send starter Jonathan Sanchez(notes) to the Padres for outfielder Scott Hairston(notes).”

WTF?  Sabean has the worst timing.  Going into the season, everyone was talking about using Sanchez for trade bait.  Instead, Sabean starts shopping him around at the nadir of his trade value, and we’re talking about Scott Hairston?

Bochy and the Giants are one of the most overachieving teams I can remember.  To see a really mediocre team at the start of the season gather this momentum has been really awesome.  And needless to say, Pablo, Cain and Lincecum are fun to watch every time.

Even if it means Sabean getting undue credit, it sure would be nice to see this team catch the Dodgers or win the wildcard to sniff their way into the playoffs.  With Lincecum and Cain going twice in any 7 game series, there’s not a team in the NL that wouldn’t fear that pitching in the playoffs.