Yankee Trade Rumor

[Its Gravy]

The Yankees won't sending be Gary Sheffield to the Mets, but they're serious about getting CF Mark Kotsay from Oakland, according to the Bergen Record. Another report, from the the Palm Beach Post, says New York would send Sheffield to the Marlins in exchange for pitcher A.J. Burnett and OF Juan Encarnacion.

This better not happen!

 

[mjalam]

i don't want them to get Kotsay, damn good player

 

[Its Gravy]

Marlins may acquire Sheffield from Yanks
Burnett and Encarnacion would go to New York, one source says.

By JOE CAPOZZI

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 30, 2005

MIAMI GARDENS ? Slugging right fielder Gary Sheffield would return to the Marlins in a proposed deal that would send right-hander A.J. Burnett and right fielder Juan Encarnacion to the New York Yankees, according to a National League source.

An American League source confirmed that the Yankees are interested in Burnett and Encarnacion and have talked to the Marlins about them. But that source also said connecting Sheffield to the discussions "might be premature

 

[Its Gravy]

Rangers Trade SOriano? I hope not.

If slump continues, Rangers will soon face in-or-out decision

08:10 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

You go away for a week ... and look what happens.

While I'm tanning (actually baking) in the Caribbean and amazingly running into lots of North Texans along the way who love their Rangers, the club starts to break apart like a wooden sailing ship in a hurricane.

What exactly is going on around here?

All I know is this: when I left, the Rangers were in the thick of a two-team race for the AL West title. Now, the wild card may be their best hope for a playoff berth, and the wild-card race is much bigger than simply two teams.

So now, as June turns to July, it may be time for the Rangers to start asking themselves not what they need to do to overtake the Los Angeles Angels, but when must they make a decision on whether to stay in the wild-card race or start the 2006 building process.

The wild-card question gets tougher and tougher to answer. The Rangers were tied for fourth in the wild-card race Wednesday morning, four games behind Minnesota. They were tied with the New York Yankees. The Yankees will fight to the wire to make the playoffs.

It's a lot easier to decide what constitutes being in or out of the division race than the wild card. What's too far back at the end of July? How many teams are too many teams in front of them?

What does the schedule look like over the last two months?

The Rangers play Baltimore, Boston (leading the AL East), New York and Cleveland in a span of 13 consecutive games in early August, right after the trade deadline. Ten are on the road, where the Rangers haven't been good lately. The race could look a lot different by mid-August than it does at the end of July.

Consider that in August and September, the Yankees have 12 games against the dregs of the AL, Kansas City and Tampa Bay; Cleveland has 20. The Rangers have just 10. Those clubs could be feasting on the plankton of the league while the Rangers play the Angels and a rapidly improving Oakland team 12 times in the final three weeks of the season.

If the free-fall continues, the Rangers will have many interesting decisions to make. The first one, however, will be just how long they are willing to hold their cards before they fold or go all in.