Sunday, January 11, 2009

Yankees going to trade with the Nats?


MLB.com is reporting that the Nationals are in trade discussions with the Yankees in hopes of acquiring outfielder Xavier Nady and first baseman Nick Swisher.  Who would the Yanks get in return?  


Let's take a look at the Yankee's needs:
Well, obviously, if they ship both of their right fielders to the Nats, they need to fill that slot.
They have Damon and Matsui for left field, and Melky for Center (plus newbie Brett Gardner, who could be a star).
ARod and Tex at the corners, with Jeter and Cano up the middle.  
Posada and Molina at Catcher. (Here is an obvious need -- look towards the future or upgrade this backup)
Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Joba and Hughes/Kennedy for the starting rotation.
Rivera, Marte, Bruney and Albaladejo in the bullpen.  
I would assume they would be looking to shore up the bullpen in response to Saito going to the Red Sox, or looking for depth at catcher, right field or Starting pitcher.

And now a look at the Nationals' roster:
In right field they have Dukes and Kearns.  Either would be decent, but I don't know I'd give up Swisher for either.
As their backstop, they have Flores, Nieves and Montz.  Flores is a 2008 rookie who shows promise, hitting .256 with 8 home runs in 90 games.  I'm still looking bigger.  Josh Willingham is playing left field for the Nats -- I wonder if he would consider going back behind the plate?
Tyler Clippard is in the Nationals bullpen -- could they be trying to get the Yankee Clippard back?  And the Nats have some interesting possibilities in their rotation, including Bergmann, Lannan and Olsen.  
I have a feeling that this might be a package deal, but I don't see what the Nats want with more outfielders.  Adding Swisher and Nady just doesn't seem to be a great move for the Nats.  

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