One of the biggest debates regarding Cliff Lee is teams giving up “top talent” to acquire a rental player. This holds true more for the Mets than the Yankees, who most believe are the favorites to land Lee as a free agent. It begs the question regarding prospects and how valuable they really are.

Both local teams have benefited from their homegrown talent this year as 22 of the current 50 active players came up through the system. With that said, holding on to prospects when the odds are against their success would be equally foolish. For every David Wright there is a Lastings Milledge. Despite the success of Phil Hughes there are no guarantees with pitchers as the Yanks have seen their share of arm injuries to top pitching prospects.

What does this mean with respect to Cliff Lee? When you have a chance to acquire an impact pitcher like him you do it. You don’t overpay, but to hold on to prospects too tightly is obviously foolish. Look at the story by Joel Sherman in yesterdays NY Post. Back in 1995 the Yankees minor league heads didn’t want Gene Michael to trade Marty Janzen (who?) to Toronto for David Cone. What if the Yanks decided to pass on Cone? The Yanks would make the playoffs on the last day of 95′ by just a single game. Cone went 9-2 down the stretch so you do the math. What happened to Janzen? He made 11 big league starts and posted a career 6.39 ERA for Toronto. He last pitched in 2005 for the now defunct Atlantic City Surf, then playing in the independent Atlantic League.

That is why trading Wilmer Flores, Jesus Montero, Jenrry Mejia, or Austin Romine shouldn’t be completely out of the question. Also remember that it’s easy for all of us to play armchair GM when in reality we only know a little about these players. The internet has opened up the information floodgate, but you can’t just use profiles, stats, or the grapevine to make every determination about a player. You have to trust that each organization has the ability to weigh the risk assessment of renting a pitcher like Cliff Lee.

The point is don’t fall in love with prospects who are “maybe’s.” The example of David Cone and Marty Janzen in 1995 reminds us of that fact.

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

Mike Silva

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Tags: Austin Romine, Cliff Lee, David Cone, Jenrry Mejia, Jesus Montero, Marty Janzen, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Wilmer Flores