royalsandcelebs

I come back from my weeks “off,” writing about horrible line-ups, players, rotations, situations, and everything else the last 15 years, and secretly worried that, once I got back, I wouldn’t have anything to talk about.  The team was hovering around that 10-12 games under .500 mark, and there were no rumors at the trade deadline, at least nothing definate.  Talk was “This team called about Gil Meche, but he’s not interested; this team called about Zack Greinke, but the Royals asked for the Dodgers entire Triple-A club in return, which Ned Colletti said was ‘a done deal,’ which actually meant that he was going in another direction.”  I kid about Ned Colletti.  He helped us do the impossible.  He traded us an actual human being who plays organized baseball for Angel Berroa, an actual human being who used to play baseball.  Now, he plays something similar.  Maybe he’s actually the world’s greatest cricket player, and we haven’t noticed because we’ve been expecting, you know, baseball.

Wow, I went off target.  So, I wasn’t expecting any trade rumors, or, at least, I expected to hear more fleshed out details about a pursuit of Meche or Greinke, but The Kansas City Star provided me with a lot more than those tired deals that will never happen (this year…).  No, this was shocking–Brian Bannister for Melky Cabrera.  Straight up.  Maybe a throw in prospect; maybe not.  These are the two guys, though.  These are the keys.

“Rany on the Royals” talked about this rumor earlier today, but, thankfully, we had slightly different observations on the deal after hearing about it.  As I said earlier, mine was shock and, also, confusion.  I don’t really keep up on the comings and goings of the Yankees because, well, because I hate them, but wasn’t Melky Cabrera raking it a couple years ago?  I thought he was some young stud centerfielder who pushed Johnny Damon into left field, a la Carlos Beltran almost a decade ago (almost a decade ago)?  Why would the Yankees offer up that guy for Brian Bannister, a pitcher who, although the epitome of a student of the game, well-learned and such, doesn’t have the skills to ever be an top of the line, ace starter?  Sure, he’s had moments where his game has been on, but this season has certainly not been one of those seasons.  There were people that were talking about sending him to Omaha, and now the Yankees are riding an eight game winning streak, looking to bolster their damaged rotation for the playoff push, and they want the guy with a 5.40 ERA?  Doesn’t make sense–doesn’t make sense.

Then, I looked at Melky Cabrera’s numbers.  It still wasn’t that logical of a trade as far as I was concerned, but it wasn’t the no-brainer I once thought it was.  Turns out a young member of a New York sports team was, as it seems, overhyped (I know–I’m shocked, too).  That year he burst onto the scene?  His batting average was .280, he hit 7 home runs, 50 RBIs, stole something like 12 bases, and showed the ability to walk.  Good defense, too.  Not bad, but again, I was expecting a little more lightning out of the bottle.  His average has gone down the last two years (it’s something like .254 this year), but power numbers have gone up, and he’s shown the same ability to walk and play a great centerfield.

I’m not sure why the Yankees would want to give up on this kid, but hey, I say let them.  We can upgrade Bannister.  It sucks because everybody likes him.  He’s really smart, likeable, cerebral, and, if you’ve noticed, every journalist in this town has a man-crush on the guy because, you know, he can read (and does!).  The truth is, he’s not Greg Maddux.  He can’t be.  He’s going to be a middle-of-the-road pitcher, probably a Terry Mulholland type when it comes to spot starting and long relief (not to actual pitching–they’re entirely different).  Melky, on the other hand, looks like he could become a Brian McRae-type, and, while that’s not a superstar, it’s still a pretty darn good commodity to have on your team.

With all that said, I would pull the trigger on this trade that I honestly don’t think will happen.  For one reason, I think the Yankees will try to go after Jarrod Washburn despite the fact that he sucks.  If that fails, I truly cannot imagine a scenario in which their saving grace would ever be a 27-year-old man with a 5.40 ERA.  Can’t see it.  Can’t see it, can’t see it, can’t see it.  There has to be someone who fits better.  I can’t see Cashman doing it, even if it his final year (probably).  I can’t see Hank Steinbrenner opening that bull horn he calls a mouth and shouting “We need that pitcher in last place Kansas City whose had an ERA of 7 in the last two months, and we need him now!!!”  I just can’t see it.  But hey, if they want to make that trade, they should absolutely go for it.

Vote Melky in ‘08.  I believe in Melky Cabrera.

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