What the Yankees and Mets Didn't Get on the Trade Deadline

Both New York teams hit the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline with multiple areas in need of improvement. The Yankees did something about their problem at catcher, left field and even bolstered a bullpen that had already been effective. Only the largest of the Yankee problems, starting pitching, was left unaddressed.

The Mets, meanwhile, in need of another outfielder as well as an additional bullpen arm, elected to go with what they have.

Both New York teams will be forced to cross their fingers and hope that some critical roles can be filled in-house—for the Yankees, a pair of starting rotation slots, and for the Mets, both starting corner outfield positions.

Make no mistake about it—the Yankees are a better team on August 1 then they were on July 24, the day before they traded four prospects to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Xavier Nady and left-handed reliever Damaso Marte.

With Johnny Damon fighting through a shoulder injury, and Hideki Matsui questionable for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, the Yankees found in Nady a left fielder who can provide decent offensive production. Nady also punishes lefties at a .320/.397/.486 clip, an important skill for a team that has struggled against lefties all year.

Marte also provides an arm that not only can help the Yankees against lefties—they have no lefty specialist besides Marte—but can also get late-inning outs. Marte even comes with postseason experience, having pitched for the 2005 champion White Sox.

But the biggest Yankee upgrade took place at catcher with the acquisition of Ivan Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth. Not only is the departure of Farnsworth itself a net plus—clearly, the move demonstrates that even the Yankees did not believe in the pitcher’s 2008 revival—but the addition of Rodriguez replaces Jose Molina in the New York lineup—an upgrade to a season line of .295/.338/.417 from one of .226/.278/.303 without losing much in the way of defense.

Still, what would have made the upgrades complete would have been another competent starting pitcher to replace Sidney Ponson or Darrell Rasner in the rotation. The rumored acquisition of Jarrod Washburn from the Seattle Mariners hit a roadblock over Seattle’s demands—namely, that the Yankees take on all of the approximately $14 million owed to Washburn through 2009, and provide a Brett Gardner-type prospect as well.

But while the Yankees did improve their team for the stretch run, the Mets failed to add anyone. And just as the Yankees had needs, so, too, did the Mets. A failure to procure an outfield alternative to the current options means a lot of uncertain things need to go right for New York in both left and right field.

Fernando Tatis has been an offensive standout for the Mets, hitting .319/.368/.519 in 160 at-bats. But Tatis, who is, and plays the outfield like, a converted third baseman, needs to be nearly that good offensively to justify his glove. And while he has displayed no signs of slowing down—July has been his best month yet—it has been nine years since he has hit at a comparable level to this over a full season.

Right field, the Mets hope, will soon be the province of Ryan Church. But Church has suffered a pair of concussions this year, and has twice returned from the second one, only to see his symptoms recur. Should his third try to come back end the same way, it is hard to imagine Church will be able to provide New York with any production this season.

New York’s backup plans for these two are Endy Chavez, who is talented defensively but fails to hit nearly well enough to be a regular corner outfielder, and Marlon Anderson, whose futility defensively is matched by a season-long slump at the plate.

The Mets face a similar wait-and-hope scenario in the bullpen. Duaner Sanchez has struggled recently with his velocity and command, as has Joe Smith, leaving Aaron Heilman as the only reliable righty out of the bullpen. Given that Sanchez is returning from a surgery no other major league pitcher has ever come back from, and Smith lost the ability to get hitters out in the second half of 2007 as well, a bullpen reinforcement would have provided New York with some needed insurance. Instead, the inconsistent Carlos Muniz is all that stands between the Mets and good right-handed hitters should Smith and Sanchez fail to recover their early-season form.

Ultimately, the Yankees’ ability to fill holes, and the Mets’ failure to do so, stems more from the stark difference in minor league talent—the Yankees have it, the Mets don’t—than a failure of will. Now they’ll both have to pray for no more injuries.