July 1, 2005 -- <!--start bodytext-->DETROIT — If you don't like looking at what you see in pinstripes, turn off your television, because the prices to upgrade George Steinbrenner's underachieving Yankees have been deemed too high for the Boss' Inner Circle.
The most important development to ooze out of Tuesday's organizational meeting in Tampa was a clear understanding that help from the outside isn't coming unless other teams come down from their initial asking prices.
And those prices are high.
According to several industry sources, the Yankees would love to put A's outfielder Mark Kotsay in between Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, a move that would considerably tighten up the defense and theoretically improve a suspect pitching staff.
However, the A's asked for AL Rookie of the Year candidate Robinson Cano; 20-year-old Melky Cabrera, a center fielder recently moved from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Columbus who some believe could be in the big leagues by next month; and 19-year-old pitcher Philip Hughes, who is already drawing comparisons to Roger Clemens from inside and outside the organization in his first full minor league season at Class A Charleston.
Even players the Yankees aren't initiating calls on are expensive. The Rangers asked for starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang and Cano for Alfonso Soriano and were politely told "No." At that point the Rangers said there was nothing further to talk about. When the Yankees talked to the Giants about pitcher Jason Schmidt, the same names surfaced. That, and Schmidt's history of shoulder problems scared the Yankees off. Florida's A.J. Burnett is on the market, but so far the Yankees don't seem interested because of concerns with his elbow.
"I will remain careful about what specifically ails us and what areas I am trying to address because I have got guys [in the clubhouse] trying to do those jobs," Cashman said of Tony Womack, Bernie Williams and Carl Pavano without using their names. "Out of respect for them . . . I know what we need to do and we are working on trying to fix the areas that are broken. But in terms of being specific, I will not do."
Opposing teams are waiting to see if Steinbrenner will go into one of his impulse buying moods and give them what they want. Or if he'll take Ken Griffey Jr's contract off the Reds' hands.
With 30 days until the trading deadline, teams have time to wait. However, the Yankees' clock is ticking faster than most.
They are 39-38 going into tonight's game against the Tigers, trailing the first-place Red Sox by six games in the AL East. They have made over their bullpen with unknowns Scott Proctor, Jason Anderson and Wayne Franklin in place of Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton, who were axed yesterday.
If the prices don't shrink, Cabrera could be given a shot in August. While that may be too much to expect from such a young player, he is very good defensively and is expected to eventually hit in the big leagues.
Buoyed by the success of organizational graduates Cano and Wang, Steinbrenner wondered this week why Cabrera couldn't play three or four games in Triple-A, then arrive in The Bronx. He was talked into at least giving Cabrera a month at Columbus before thinking about asking a baseball toddler to handle New York.
But it's clear the Yankees can't get by with Womack, a displaced second baseman, in center. Not only is he out of position, he also is batting .240. Joe Torre was going to start Williams in center against the Orioles on Wednesday night, but the game was rained out.
George King New York Post
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The most important development to ooze out of Tuesday's organizational meeting in Tampa was a clear understanding that help from the outside isn't coming unless other teams come down from their initial asking prices.
And those prices are high.
According to several industry sources, the Yankees would love to put A's outfielder Mark Kotsay in between Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, a move that would considerably tighten up the defense and theoretically improve a suspect pitching staff.
However, the A's asked for AL Rookie of the Year candidate Robinson Cano; 20-year-old Melky Cabrera, a center fielder recently moved from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Columbus who some believe could be in the big leagues by next month; and 19-year-old pitcher Philip Hughes, who is already drawing comparisons to Roger Clemens from inside and outside the organization in his first full minor league season at Class A Charleston.
Even players the Yankees aren't initiating calls on are expensive. The Rangers asked for starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang and Cano for Alfonso Soriano and were politely told "No." At that point the Rangers said there was nothing further to talk about. When the Yankees talked to the Giants about pitcher Jason Schmidt, the same names surfaced. That, and Schmidt's history of shoulder problems scared the Yankees off. Florida's A.J. Burnett is on the market, but so far the Yankees don't seem interested because of concerns with his elbow.
"I will remain careful about what specifically ails us and what areas I am trying to address because I have got guys [in the clubhouse] trying to do those jobs," Cashman said of Tony Womack, Bernie Williams and Carl Pavano without using their names. "Out of respect for them . . . I know what we need to do and we are working on trying to fix the areas that are broken. But in terms of being specific, I will not do."
Opposing teams are waiting to see if Steinbrenner will go into one of his impulse buying moods and give them what they want. Or if he'll take Ken Griffey Jr's contract off the Reds' hands.
With 30 days until the trading deadline, teams have time to wait. However, the Yankees' clock is ticking faster than most.
They are 39-38 going into tonight's game against the Tigers, trailing the first-place Red Sox by six games in the AL East. They have made over their bullpen with unknowns Scott Proctor, Jason Anderson and Wayne Franklin in place of Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton, who were axed yesterday.
If the prices don't shrink, Cabrera could be given a shot in August. While that may be too much to expect from such a young player, he is very good defensively and is expected to eventually hit in the big leagues.
Buoyed by the success of organizational graduates Cano and Wang, Steinbrenner wondered this week why Cabrera couldn't play three or four games in Triple-A, then arrive in The Bronx. He was talked into at least giving Cabrera a month at Columbus before thinking about asking a baseball toddler to handle New York.
But it's clear the Yankees can't get by with Womack, a displaced second baseman, in center. Not only is he out of position, he also is batting .240. Joe Torre was going to start Williams in center against the Orioles on Wednesday night, but the game was rained out.
George King New York Post
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