Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Blog Archive » Could Cano be a Viable Tradeoff?

Could Cano be a Viable Tradeoff?


By Mike Silva ~ December 4th, 2009. Filed under: Offseason Speculation.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious the Yankees will stay involved in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but as the pursuers. They are taking the same exact strategy as 2007 with Johan Santana. It appears a large majority of Yankees fans are uneasy with the thought of parting with Jesus Montero, Joba Chamberlain, or Phil Hughes in the deal. I suspect Brian Cashman shares those same feelings. Paul Catalano brought up an interesting thought yesterday about making Robinson Cano the centerpiece of a possible Halladay deal.

Let me say that this is not a rumor, just speculation on our part. If the Yankees were to send an established hitter like Cano to Toronto it would be fair to scale back on the prospect portion of the deal. Instead of Chamberlain, Hughes, or Montero perhaps you can offer Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos something along the line of Ramiro Pena or Zach McAllister. Toronto’s own second baseman, Aaron Hill, did play 63 games at shortstop in 2006 and the Jays will have an opening there thanks to the soon to be departed Marco Scutaro.

Obviously this deal would be more favorable from a Yankees point of view. Anthopoulos should try to pry away the Montero and Hughes/Chamberlain deal if possible. Personally I think Brian Cashman only thinks about that scenario if the Red Sox become heavy favorites to land Halladay. If not, I have a feeling he may be happy to just see Halladay leave the AL East.

This is an unlikely scenario I have painted, but interesting one to think about. I believe Halladay deserves the stage of New York before his career ends. What better way to spend the last third of it teamed up with CC Sabathia and playing for championships? As for losing Cano, the Yankees do have Kevin Russo waiting in the wings or could sign someone like Orlando Hudson to take his place. This proposal may be the only way to land Halladay and keep Montero, Chamberlain, and Hughes. One final note: the longer Anthopoulos holds out the more likely this type of deal could become reality.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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8 Responses to Could Cano be a Viable Tradeoff?

  1. GreggB
    December 4th, 2009 at 6:48 am

    The Blue Jays are signing Alex Gonzalez, so there in no opening in the Jay’s infield.

  2. Rican
    December 4th, 2009 at 6:51 am

    I would be very sad to lose Cano. I think he has great things in store.

  3. Mike Silva
    December 4th, 2009 at 7:15 am

    I agree Gregg, it’s an unlikely scenario, but if it’s the best deal why not pull the trigger? Alex Gonzalez is by no means a great offensive player. Might be more of a defensive backup at this point of his career.

  4. Vince
    December 4th, 2009 at 8:36 am

    Dont bring this up on the RAB site, they’ll rip your head off for thinking it.

  5. John
    December 4th, 2009 at 10:59 am

    I understand how everyone feels on loosing Cano, but are we kidding ourselves to pass up a deal on Halladay, championships are won by great pitching which the Yankees didn’t have in the World Series, we were fortunate enough to pull it out, so having Halladay would definitely solidify our rotation and could definitely spell out more CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!! LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

  6. Steve G
    December 4th, 2009 at 11:15 am

    Cano for Kemp…. lets do it. How about even- Cano and prospect or two for Kemp and Billingsley.

    Torre loves Cano, and Hudson is a FA. Th Dodgers need a 2b. Slide Kevin Russo in at 2nd, and put Kemp in center.

    It honestly makes perfect sense. Kemp would be a perfect 2 hitter in that lineup. He steals bases and is an economical, young, vast improvement both offensively and defensively over Damon. And I’m sick of hearing about the invisible/invincible Austin Jackson for about 3 years now.

    We all know Jackson won’t be ready this year anyway, we can easily platoon left til’ he’s ready. Kemp is the aggressive player, who plays on a daily basis with heart and effort, that the nonchalant Cano does not.

    In addition to that, Billingsley is a K type pitcher, and would slide perfectly into the 3 spot in the rotation.

  7. Viper
    December 4th, 2009 at 11:45 am

    The Yanks will not pay twice for Halladay. Period.

    Brian Cashman just won the WS using that strategy the last few years and he’s not about to change that now, especially when it is no secret that the Yanks became a better team by keeping their youngsters.

  8. Mike Silva
    December 4th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

    Vince

    RAB is a nice site, I enjoy it a great deal, but we don’t usually worry about what they think about us. This is a site where we express independent opinion and interviews, not root for the Yankees. That in itself lies the difference between us and RAB.

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