The Atlanta Braves have made no secret of wanting to trade one of their stockpile of pitchers for an outfielder. Preferrably they said, an outfielder that has some power. That being said, they made a trade today with the New York Yankees, trading Javier Vazquez...arguably their best pitcher last season for outfielder Melky Cabrera. Oh...there were a couple of other players thrown in as well.
The story from AJC.com RIGHT HERE
The New York version from NY Daily News.com RIGHT HERE
Other than the Braves freeing up some salary space, we don't really understand this trade. They now have a large preponderance of pseudo-centerfielders. Between Nate McLouth, Cabrera and supposed rookie phenom Jordan Schaffer, they have a lot of guys who all are basically the same player...hit .260-.280 with 10 or so home runs and decent speed, plus good defensive skills.
As for the Yankees. They get an "Innings Eater", a guy who will pitch 200 or so innings and pitch pretty well almost every time out. It rounds out an already deep staff and gives them perhaps a bit of a leg up on the Red Sox. It also leaves a large gap in the outfield, though they did pick up Curtis Granderson this off-season. Plus they are negotiating with more than a few guys to come play in their outfield.
We will see where this goes. It's pretty obvious what the Yankees wanted and they got it. The Braves...on one hand it makes some sense...since apparently they couldn't trade Derek Lowe, but on the other hand you have to think that they aren't done making some moves this season...especially since they aren't the Yankees and don't have an unlimited salary structure.
Yankees beat writer Marc Feinsand of the NY Daily News discusses with Josh Elliott of the four-letter...
((HT: ESPN))
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