BALTIMORE – In about 10 days, the A’s ownership is going to decide what will happen to reigning AL MVP Jason Giambi. The team can make another effort to sign him, trade him or keep him for the remainder of the season and watch their best player walk out the door marked “Free Agency” with Johnny Damon.
If the A’s believe it’s in their best interest to deal the left-handed hitting slugger, the Yankees will be involved.
Even though their bats were responsible for the five-game winning streak they took into last night’s game against the Orioles, there are key voices in the Yankees’ universe who believe more muscle is needed. And Giambi certainly is that. He went into last night’s play fourth (.337) in hitting and seventh (60) in RBIs among AL hitters.
Tino Martinez’ sizzling streak is certainly appreciated. Nobody is hotter than Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada has been the Yankees’ MVP. Still, with Chuck Knoblauch and Paul O’Neill struggling and nobody knowing how long David Justice’s second trip to the DL with a groin problem will keep him out, there is a need for a bat to help in much the same way the move for Justice paid off last year.
Of course, Giambi would be costly on two fronts. First, the A’s will demand stud prospect Nick Johnson be the centerpiece of any deal. And they will want a pitcher, which could be Alex Graman, the Yankees’ top pitching prospect.
If the Yankees are going to give up those types of prospects, they will want assurances Giambi is willing to sign a multi-year deal. He turned down a six-year deal for $90 million from the A’s because they wouldn’t give him a blanket, no-trade clause. It stands to reason that the price will only go up.
Sure, the Yankees have helped themselves with the recent moves they made. Adding Mark Wohlers and Jay Witasick to the bullpen is expected to give Joe Torre right-handed arms to rest Mike Stanton. Getting Gerald Williams strengthens Torre’s bench.
Yet, while scouts and other talent evaluators are gushing about the addition of Wohlers and Williams, GM Brian Cashman is waiting to see how the moves unfold on the field.
“I hope so,” Cashman said yesterday when asked if he felt his club was better today than before the moves. “But we are still sitting behind a club. If we don’t get into first place, it’s all for naught.”
Despite the season-high, five-game winning streak and having won eight of 10, the Yankees trailed the plucky Red Sox by one-half game going into last night’s action because the Bosox refuse to fold.
Getting Andy Pettitte back from the DL is certainly a plus. However, the Yankees still have the inexperienced Randy Keisler, last night’s starter, and Ted Lilly at the back end of their rotation.
“Not as much,” Cashman says of his phone time. “But I always listen.”
If El Duque returns in August and pitches to his past performances and not this year when he is 0-5 with a 5.14 ERA, he will help. Of course, there are no guarantees, so another starter would look good and if the Rockies decide to move Pedro Astacio, the Yankees will be in the middle of it just like last season.