CHICAGO – The Yankees added a left fielder in time for last night’s game against the stumbling White Sox at Comiskey Park. But with many heads throughout baseball believing the team with the best record in the majors was on the verge of going outside for help at that position,the Bombers simply activated Shane Spencer from the disabled list.
And listening to the organization’s party line, what you see in left – Ricky Ledee, Chad Curtis and Spencer – is what you are going to get.
“We could do something,” a team source said. “But the price on everybody is way off the charts.”
For the Expos to trade Rondell White to the Yankees, they need to get Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson. The Royals are willing to deal Johnny Damon but they want a package headed by Soriano. Smartly, the Yankees refuse to trade Soriano and Johnson, two of the best minor-league players at any level in any organization.
So as Saturday’s waiver trade deadline approaches, the Yankees continue to put their line in the water, but …
As one club official pointed out yesterday, it’s not as if the trio of left fielders is a mess. Combined, the three were hitting a combined .244 with 14 homers and 48 RBIs. All-Star numbers? No. But when you figure in Ricky Ledee’s 10-for-32 (.313) hot streak that included two homers and six RBIs in 10 games, certainly adequate.
And while GM Brian Cashman continues to keep abreast of the market, the best news for the Yankees was that the price the Indians need to pay for Chuck Finley and Ed Guardado is astronomical.
If the Indians want Yankee-killer Finley, who is in the midst of a sub-par season, the AL Central leaders will have to fill the downtrodden Angels’ wishes for Jaret Wright, Paul Shuey and Enrique Wilson. That’s a lot to pay for any pitcher, never mind a 36-year-old, two-month rental.
As for Guardado, the Twins’ lefty reliever the Yankees would love to add, Minnesota wants Richie Sexson and Russell Branyan.
Talks between the Yankees and Twins ended the minute the Twins asked for Ramiro Mendoza.
Because of who he works for and the way deals often come together real quickly, Cashman isn’t convinced he won’t make a trade.
“We are in the market for anything that may help us,” Cashman said.
While monitoring the Finley Sweepstakes, Cashman and the Yankees are also keeping an eye on Seattle lefty Jeff Fassero, who pitched last night in Kansas City against Kevin Appier, another pitcher on the block, but one the Yankees don’t have an interest in.
Of course, the Indians also believe Fassero could help them. They planned on being one of 15 teams sending scouts to watch the veteran lefty last night.
Cashman, who was at Comiskey last night to inform rookie Ed Yarnall that he was being sent to Columbus (Triple-A) to make room for Spencer, will be back at his Yankee Stadium office today working the phones. And for the first time in quite a while, there are more incoming rings than outgoing.
“There are more clubs hitting me on stuff, there are a lot of phone calls coming in to me,” Cashman said. “It’s been a little bit different because I usually find myself making the phone calls.”
So, what’s the angle of the calls?
“They make offers because we have pitching,” said Cashman, who hasn’t heard one offer worth thinking about involving Andy Pettitte, tonight’s starter who is 7-7 but has won his last two outings. “It’s nice to know they evaluate our guys the same way we evaluate our guys.”