I e-mailed Tim Dierkes asking for a few moments of his time to answer a couple questions some Yankee fans may have about the team, including myself. He agreed to answer a few. Tim is the owner of mlbtraderumors.com, a website that keeps fans updated with all the recent baseball rumors. If you are a baseball fan I highly recommend you check out his website.
Here are the questions and responses:
Me: Are the Yankees serious about Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez, or is it just a myth to drive up the prices?
Tim: I don't think they're willing to pay the full Scott Boras sticker price for either player. With so few Manny suitors I could see them landing him if he'll take a two-year deal.
Me: Wouldn't Adam Dunn make sense for the Yankees? He would require a shorter and cheaper contract than Teixeira and is younger than Manny. He's not your typical first basemen, but imagine all the homers he'd hit with that short porch.
Tim: I'm not sure that they need another DH type. Adding Dunn to the equation would kind of clog things up (Manny too). Unload Matsui and then it makes more sense.
Me: What are some reasonable expectations for Sabathia and Burnett next year?
Tim: I expect both to post ERAs under 4.00. For Burnett I would look for 180-190 innings, Sabathia maybe 220.
Me: If you had to pick now, where do you see Lowe, Teixeira, Manny, Dunn and Sheets landing?
Tim: Lowe - Mets. Tex - Nationals. Manny - Angels. Dunn - Dodgers. Sheets - Yankees.
Me: If the Yankees miss out on Andy Pettitte, would a Jarrod Washburn for Hideki Matsui trade be possible? The Mariners will miss Raul Ibanez and Washburn will only make $750,000 more than what is being offered to Pettitte and a trade would open the door for a Teix/Manny signing.
Tim: Seems unlikely...Matsui makes more money and has less trade value right now.
Me: Even though its far away, the Yankees have Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady all coming off the books next offseason. Who do you see them pursuing to plug those holes, assuming Austin Jackson fills the hole in center. Would Crawford make sense to fill the left field/leadoff hole?
Tim: Crawford would make sense, but the Rays have an option on him they might exercise. I could see them going after Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Rick Ankiel, Brian Giles, or Vladimir Guerrero if available.
Me: On a scale of 1-30, 1 being the best in baseball, 30 being the worst, where does the Yankees rotation rate as opposed to the other teams?
Tim: Without analyzing any numbers, I'll just say it looks to be among the top three in the game.
I want to thank Tim Dierkes one more time for taking the time to answer my questions. Enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Nice discussion. Suprised he thinks Tex is going to the Nationals.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see you got him to talk with you on your relatively new blog. Although I am not a fan of black background and white text. Good luck to your blog.
Thanks for being my first comment.
ReplyDeleteDecided to change the template to this one. Hope readers like this one better. I was deciding between this and a blue background one.
Hope to see you around here often.