Shoppin’ Robbie

A few days ago, I wrote about a Ken Rosenthal article that discussed Orlando Hudson’s value. According to Rosenthal, the Yankees could sign Orlando Hudson and then opt to trade Robinson Cano. However, that idea seemed somewhat far fetched or at least entirely speculative, even with Cano’s down year.

Jon Heyman is reporting something similar now, sans the Hudson bit.

There’s more talk lately that the Yankees may consider trading Robinson Cano. The main reason apparently isn’t that he recently earned a benching for failing to hustle, but more because he has tremendous trade value despite his off-year and the Yankees have multiple needs. The Dodgers, managed by Cano’s first manager, Joe Torre, are said to be interested. The New York Post mentioned that possibility last offseason, well before Cano’s terrible year.

So, no mention of Hudson here. Now the concept is slightly different. Now it’s trade Robbie in order to fill a few of their various holes, not trade Robbie because Orlando Hudson is available (although Hudson’s availability is an obvious factor if Cano is traded). In terms of needs, the Yankees need starters, relievers and a first baseman. The Dodgers do have options that would entice the Yanks.

If the Yankees were to trade Cano to the Dodgers, I’d expect them to drive a hard bargain because Cano’s value, as Heyman notes, is still pretty good (teams know what they could possibly get from his high ceiling). The Dodgers have some very talented youngsters, including Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Jonathon Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo (a favorite of mine), and the list goes on. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops, if at all.