The Yankees are apparently close to finishing a three-way deal with the Braves and Pirates that would send Melky Cabrera to the Braves, Adam LaRoche to the Pirates, and Mike Gonzalez to the Yankees. The winner(s) here? The Pirates followed by the Yankees. The loser? The Atlanta Braves. Unbelievable. John Schuerholz follows up his acquisition of Rafael Soriano(one of the top trades of the offseason) with this head-scratcher.
I think Melky Cabrera is a talented player, will do well in Atlanta, and will probably succeed Andruw Jones with aplomb after he nets $20M+/yr. in FA next offseason. But there's no question that he is the least valuable player in the deal. Mike Gonzalez is a tough lefty reliever with closer potential. Adam LaRoche is a good first baseman (unless his ADD crops up) and an up and coming lefty slugger. Melky Cabrera is an above-average defensive OF who may hit well enough to stick as a starting CFer for a low-mid market team.
Don't worry, Cashman seems to be making a mistake here as well. If the Braves feel giving up Adam LaRoche is worth Melky Cabrera in the first place... Well, let's just say the Yankees have the solution to their first-base problem right under their noses.
In Red Sox transaction news (thanks to argo0 and jsnvaritek33 in the comments), JD Drew's deal may be in jeopardy. His physical came back with some shoulder questions. My thoughts on this? Fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I've been public in thinking that JD Drew makes the Red Sox stronger, particularly in OF defense and plate patience. However, if this A) Makes him come cheaper, B) For less years, C) Gives the Red Sox a chance to add a team-controlled injury-based out clause (i.e. Magglio Ordonez, then cheers. We're still going to get our injury-risk RF, and closer to what the Red Sox probably wanted to spend in the first place.
And now for something completely different, check out Jeff Sackmann's(of The Hardball Times and BrewCrewBall on SBNation) piece on an alternate solution to holes in a pitching staff. Surreal and entertaining.