Quick Bits: Young, Levine, Loophole

Here are a few bits on the evening:

1. Jon Heyman wonders if the Yankees could be a possible suitor for Michael Young (the Yankees are 6th on a list of long shots). Heyman obviously thinks it’s unlikely, yet he throws the idea out there anyway (he suggests a Cano trade to make room for Young). Honestly, I like Michael Young a lot, actually, but there is no way the Yankees would ever be interested in his services. He’s bad defensively, he’s got a bad contract, he’s getting older, so I doubt he’s going anywhere. Dave Cameron at FanGraphs (who also writes for the awesome U.S.S. Mariner) provides further detail as to why Young will likely stay in Texas.

2. NYY President Randy Levine was subpoenaed and will be questioned by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and a NY Assembly committee, as the committee investigates the public funding of Yankee Stadium. Sadly, it seems as though subpoenas and baseball have birthed a wonderful relationship over the past few years.

3. RAB has an interesting read out on a possible FA “loophole”.

The inevitable blog contest…

I’ve been trying to put together some sort of contest on here for a while now (about a year, actually) and one that has an actual prize. However, I have not come up with a good enough idea until recently (I think it’s good, anyway). I’ll post about it in a few days, but I figured I’d give a heads up in case any of you hate me and were thinking about removing this blog from your daily readings. Actually, who am I kidding? You know you love me.

The prize will be a Dark Knight DVD. Yes, not baseball-related but who cares? It’s free, right? Now, to end this post (I feel wierd not posting anything substantive), here’s a look at the 2009 season patches for both the Yankees and the Mets:

Guess which one is better? Yuck and yay.

Epic Virtual Tour

MLB 09 (The Show), the best baseball game ever, has produced an excellent virtual tour of the new Yankee Stadium. Look at Tex hit those homers, wow.

(Props to PA).

The other JC joins the Orioles

Justin Christian has signed a minor-league deal with the Orioles. To be honest, I liked Christian although his time with the club was limited. He seemed like a chill guy and I wish him luck (he’s got enough speed to help off the bench).

Braves in on Nady/Swish, but is it practical?

Here’s Ken Rosenthal (FOXSports) on the Braves:

The team’s next step will be to add a bat, and the club has spoken with the Yankees about their available hitters, Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher, sources said.

Looking at the Braves’ roster, I have no idea who the Yankees would actually want in return for Nady or Swisher. The Braves will feature a rotation of Lowe, (a healthy) Hudson, Vazquez, Jurrjens and Kawakami (newly signed). Unless they’re willing to trade Jurrjen or Vazquez (I’d do it again…), which I doubt they will, who are they going to give us in return?

I don’t think the Yankees will get any valuable prospects from Atlanta since Nady isn’t considered an elite player and is only a 1-year rental. Swisher could probably get us at least one solid prospect, then again, he’s more valuable than a prospect or two, right? If Brian Cashman decides to improve on the bullpen, Nady could bring us a Mike Gonzalez. Is that worth it though? Hmm, the way I see it, the Braves may want Nady or Swisher but if you are going to move either, shouldn’t it be to bolster the team’s starting rotation?

Argh…

Doesn’t this look strangely normal?

It’s sort of scary, actually…

That’s all folks

Derek Lowe has agreed to a $60 million deal with the Braves. That’s a solid deal for both sides. That’s it for top-tier FA pitching. There is, of course, one elite FA left and that’s Manny Ramirez. I doubt he’ll land anywhere other than LA.