Silly Trade Ideas

I felt left out after every other team’s blog lit up with odd offers for Zack Greinke.  I want in on the fun.

While watching Derek Jeter hustle his way into an 0-4 game tonight in the final game of the ALCS, I got a goofy idea.

What if the Yankees let Jeter walk this winter?  They’ll need a shortstop.

Hmm…

Like I said, these are some silly trade ideas, so bear with me. But I say we offer them Yuniesky Betancourt every day from right now until Opening Day 2011. And then keep at it. Every day.

I’m only partially kidding.

Jeter’s a surefire Hall of Fame shortstop, despite the fact that he’s been rolling on reputation for a few years now. He’s been good, it’s true, but he hasn’t been great (as we’ve been forcefed to believe). I highly doubt the Yankees let the face of their franchise walk, but stranger things have happened.

If they do, how about they send over a mid-level prospect and a lottery ticket player for Yuni?

Bear with me. First of all, Betancourt is 28 years old. Jeter’s 36. Jeter would probably command about 12 million a year for two or three years, after which he’d likely retire. Yuni’s owed $4 million next season and has an option for 2012 valued at $6 million. The Yankees aren’t really strapped for cash, but they could surely use the $8 million in 2011 and $6 million in 2012 for another free agent, or to beat another team’s offer.

Betancourt’s OPS+ in 2010 was 88. Jeter’s was 90. Both rated at 13 Runs Above Average (according to Baseball-Reference) in 2010. Betancourt’s OPS was 18 points lower than Jeter’s, but he drove in 11 more runs and hit six more homers than Jeter – and he didn’t have the benefit of a Yankee lineup around him, either.

Hey, this isn’t so silly any more, is it?

Maybe it’s wishful thinking and I just want to unload Betancourt. Double A prospect David Adams, a second baseman with a third baseman’s arm, wouldn’t be a bad return at all. Adams was the #22 prospect in the Yankees system according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook before the season. He was rumored to be included in the phantom Cliff Lee deal back in July, but the Mariners may have been scared off by a sprained ankle that had kept Adams out of action since mid-May (and kept him out for the rest of the year, as it happens). In his time in Double A, Adams hit .309/.393/.507/.900 in 173 plate appearances. After such a blown season, the Yankees might be fine selling him to replace a whole at shortstop.

(And arguably create an even bigger one in the process, but hey, I can dream.)

Or…maybe, with Juan Uribe becoming a free agent, we can ship Yuni over to the Giants for, oh, let’s say Barry Zito. All they’d have to do is eat $10 million of his deal. That’s all.

Any other Yuni trade ideas out there? I mean, heck, the guy was fifth among shortstops in homers in 2010! Who needs walks!?

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