It ain't 4:00 yet!

4:00 (eastern) is the end of the trade deadline. So it ain't over, well, to use a Yogiism, till it's over.

The more I thought about the trade, the more happy I am about it. It's a total win for the Yanks. We kept everyone I was afraid were going to get traded. I would have cried if Cano got traded! Melky going would have hurt bad too. Even Cairo, I'd hate to see him go. There are so many good YOUNG future players we can NOT afford to get rid of. Abreu? YES! GREAT! But he isn't going to help us win the 2009 World Series. Well, it's highly unlikely anyway. Cano is a "JETERESQUE" type player. HE MUST NOT BE TRADED! Out of everyone "on the block", he should be the #1 priority to keep, at least out of our players in the Majors currently.

From down on the farm, Phil Hughes has got to be retained. He really looks like the real deal. He might even be ready for the bigs now, but personally, I would not want to rush him. I wish I could beg and plead to Cashman directly, but surely he must know, right??? I recall some bad trades in the past, we all know them, right? Some guys you just gotta find a way to keep. I know, I know; "we gotta win NOW!!!"

Did the Jay Beuhner trade years ago help us win that year? Did it cost us wins in later years? It's like playing solitaire. You can think back and say "if I had moved the K off the 4th row instead of the 6th, I would have won because I would have uncovered that ace earlier. Well maybe if it was at the very end of the game you could see that, but to think that way about a move you made early on in the game, well the move you made changed so many things you don't know what it might have gained or lost you. Not uncovering that ace might have been what cost you the game, but it might have been some other card (or multiple cards) had you turned the other King. But one move in solitaire you never hesitate to make is moving an ACE UP. You don't have to think about it. You see an ace, you move it up. It will never hurt you. It's a no brainer. Cano is an ACE. It appears Hughes is as well, but nobody is proven in the majors until they play in the majors. But WE need to give him that chance, not some other team.

The point of this post is that we have not gotten the one thing we really need. A "KNOWN" starting, winning, pitcher. Someone we can bring in that you KNOW will be unhittable, like we did with Randy Johnson (muted snicker). or a "known" bullpen helper. We can't be sure what Lidle will bring. But who's on the block that we would WANT? Only two names pop out at me.

Barry Zito. WOW. That would be AWESOME. Getting a GOOD LEFTY starter? But NOT worth, say; Hughes, Melky, and Cano. And that's about the only way I see something like that happening is with 2/3 TOP players/prospects. I DON'T like it at that cost. if we can do it with MONEY alone, or a few "maybe" prospects along with the cash. If you can do it just for money, BUY AWAY GEORGE!

D-Train. How cool would it be to get Willis??? But I simply don't see the Marlins giving him up. the fans would probably perform a coup on the front office. Or would it be a mutiny? Either way, I don't see it happening at any cost.

That's it for this installment. I will wait by with my fingers crossed, for 4:00 to pass. Then wait with like a kid on Christams Eve, for tomorrows game seeing Bobby in (blue) pinstripes.

Spags