Yankee blog asks: would you trade Swisher and Montero for Markakis?

[Sports Guy]

Nick has been worth about $31 mm the last 3 years, and he has $42 mm coming to him over the next 3. So, if he gave us three years like he just had, he'd be overpaid by $11 mm. That's unfortunate, but far from highway robbery. For comparison purposes, Mark Teixeira has been worth about $55 mm the last 3 years but has been paid $67.5 mm. So, Nick would be overpaid about to the extent that Tex has been for the last 3 years -- but without the 5 years on the back end.

Now, Nick could be worth less than $31 mm over the next three years, or he could be worth more. My personal opinion is that he will be worth at least the $31 mm he has been worth over the last 3 years, and quite possibly a lot more (he was worth $46 mm in 2007-08 alone). In other words, I think the chances that he remains steady or rebounds significantly are greater than the chances that he declines further. But I am not going to kid anyone -- I don't really know, and I am definitely biased on this particular point, since Nick is my favorite player.

Long and short, I think Nick's contract will be a mild overpay at worst, and quite possibly no overpay at all.

I agree with all of this.

I get on Nick about some things and he is far from a perfect player but his contract isn't some albatross...He isn't going to go Chone Figgins or Aaron Rowand on us.

He needs to get stronger though.

[Tony-OH]

I agree with all of this.

I get on Nick about some things and he is far from a perfect player but his contract isn't some albatross...He isn't going to go Chone Figgins or Aaron Rowand on us.

He needs to get stronger though.

I'd like to see hear that Nick spent the winter working out with Brady Anderson instead of growing his beard and hunting all winter. That would give us the indication that he wants to get better rather than settle on being good, which is what I think he's done.

[Frobby]

I agree with all of this.

I get on Nick about some things and he is far from a perfect player but his contract isn't some albatross...He isn't going to go Chone Figgins or Aaron Rowand on us.

He needs to get stronger though.

I know I have said this before, but Nick's general level of consistency, and his durability, are points in his favor. He is a guy a team can count on to be there, and that has a value not measured in the stats.

By "consistency," I obviously don't mean that Nick doesn't have slumps. But his level of effort is very consistent, and he usually finds ways to contribute even when he is slumping.

[Sports Guy]

I'd like to see hear that Nick spent the winter working out with Brady Anderson instead of growing his beard and hunting all winter. That would give us the indication that he wants to get better rather than settle on being good, which is what I think he's done.

Yep.

I don't think anyone can question Nick's work ethic in terms of making sure he stays on the field. I don't think anyone can question his desire to play.

But I do think its fair to question if Nick has desire to be better than he is..this offseason will help answer that question IMO.

[Sports Guy]

BTW, isn't it funny how Trea talks about how overpaid Nick is(which he's not and as Frobby points out, he isn't likely to be overpaid by too much even if he stays at the same level he is now) yet he says how great of a gamble it was to go get Vlad, even though we overpaid him by what, like 6-7 million?

[Frobby]

I'd like to see hear that Nick spent the winter working out with Brady Anderson instead of growing his beard and hunting all winter. That would give us the indication that he wants to get better rather than settle on being good, which is what I think he's done.

Yep.

I don't think anyone can question Nick's work ethic in terms of making sure he stays on the field. I don't think anyone can question his desire to play.

But I do think its fair to question if Nick has desire to be better than he is..this offseason will help answer that question IMO.

I agree with both of you, and I actually think Brady would be the perfect guy to work with Nick. He was a ~20 HR guy (put aside the one fluky year), good eye, left-handed. I've heard Brady on the radio commenting on Nick during games, and he holds Nick in extremely high regard. I think he could help Nick get back to that 2007-08 level. (And to head off the inevitable snarky responses, no, I don't think he'd need to do anything improper to help Nick.)

[wildcard]

Buck made it a point at the end the season to let everyone that would listen know that Nick plays hurt. Hurt enough that he probably should not be playing. That probably affects his production but it also makes him a player that Buck wants on his team.

So just looking at the stats doesn't tell the whole story.

[Frobby]

Buck made it a point at the end the season to let everyone that would listen know that Nick plays hurt. Hurt enough that he probably should not be playing. That probably affects his production but it also makes him a player that Buck wants on his team.

So just looking at the stats doesn't tell the whole story.

Well, it does raise the question -- is this a smart way to go about things, having a guy play 160 games when he's only at 85-90%? Or should they play Nick 145-150 games a year? I love Nick's attitude, but there are times a manager needs to step in and say, "you're sitting for a couple of days to heal up."

[Sports Guy]

Buck made it a point at the end the season to let everyone that would listen know that Nick plays hurt. Hurt enough that he probably should not be playing. That probably affects his production but it also makes him a player that Buck wants on his team.

So just looking at the stats doesn't tell the whole story.

Was Nick hurt the first 2 months of the season when he was awful? He played the end of the year hurt but his numbers weren't greatly effected at that point.

[El Gordo]

I would trade Markakis for Swishwer and Montero in a hearbeat, but the MFY's aren't that crazy. I think they trade Montero for a SP.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Nick has been worth about $31 mm the last 3 years, and he has $42 mm coming to him over the next 3. So, if he gave us three years like he just had, he'd be overpaid by $11 mm. That's unfortunate, but far from highway robbery. For comparison purposes, Mark Teixeira has been worth about $55 mm the last 3 years but has been paid $67.5 mm. So, Nick would be overpaid about to the extent that Tex has been for the last 3 years -- but without the 5 years on the back end.

Now, Nick could be worth less than $31 mm over the next three years, or he could be worth more. My personal opinion is that he will be worth at least the $31 mm he has been worth over the last 3 years, and quite possibly a lot more (he was worth $46 mm in 2007-08 alone). In other words, I think the chances that he remains steady or rebounds significantly are greater than the chances that he declines further. But I am not going to kid anyone -- I don't really know, and I am definitely biased on this particular point, since Nick is my favorite player.

Long and short, I think Nick's contract will be a mild overpay at worst, and quite possibly no overpay at all.

Perfectly sound logic. That being said, the Yankees can afford to be inefficient and we really can't. I know your point here doesn't relate to this particular trade proposal, but I think Nick for Montero type deal is the kind of thing we should be looking at.

[Frobby]

Perfectly sound logic. That being said, the Yankees can afford to be inefficient and we really can't. I know your point here doesn't relate to this particular trade proposal, but I think Nick for Montero type deal is the kind of thing we should be looking at.

I agree the Yankees can afford a lot more inefficiency than we can. I'd trade Nick if the return made sense. I'm not willing to just give him away, which JTea apparently would be willing to do because he doesn't like Nick's contract. Nick for Montero? I'd have to seriously consider it, even though Montero is unproven at the major league level. Based on my brief look at him in the last series we had with the Yankees, he's going to hit for power, for sure.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I agree the Yankees can afford a lot more inefficiency than we can. I'd trade Nick if the return made sense. I'm not willing to just give him away, which JTea apparently would be willing to do because he doesn't like Nick's contract. Nick for Montero? I'd have to seriously consider it, even though Montero is unproven at the major league level. Based on my brief look at him in the last series we had with the Yankees, he's going to hit for power, for sure.

Yeah, I don't agree with giving him away either. That's ridiculous. That being said, his market value is certainly debatable.

[jtschrei]

Umm, before you get too high on your highhorse, this thread is in response to a Yankees blog thread. Almost no one in here thinks the Yankees would ever offer that deal and of course we would jump on that in a heart beat.

I didn't mean to be on my high horse. It came off wrong. But I did feel the thread was little more than wishful, fanciful thinking.

Do I think Markakis is a good player? Yes. Is he overpaid based on his production? Yes, but not grossly. Would he be better on the Yankees or another team where he would not have as much pressure to produce? Of course. I've always thought he as an ideal number 2 hitter. Could he bring the O's a top 10 prospect in a trade? No way, IMO. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think you would hear click dial tone on the other end.

Montero's value is down? This is after he hit .328 with 4HRs, 12 RBIs and a .996 OPS in 61 major league at bats. Okay. If you say so. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/29448/jesus-montero

[Sports Guy]

I didn't mean to be on my high horse. It came off wrong. But I did feel the thread was little more than wishful, fanciful thinking.

Do I think Markakis is a good player? Yes. Is he overpaid based on his production? Yes, but not grossly. Would he be better on the Yankees or another team where he would not have as much pressure to produce? Of course. I've always thought he as an ideal number 2 hitter. Could he bring the O's a top 10 prospect in a trade? No way, IMO. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think you would hear click dial tone on the other end.

Montero's value is down? This is after he hit .328 with 4HRs, 12 RBIs and a .996 OPS in 61 major league at bats. Okay. If you say so. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/29448/jesus-montero

The problem is, where do you play Montero?