Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted that the Giants were looking to possibly trade for Jacoby Ellsbury.
Yankees Twitter was ecstatic about this. Look at the replies to this tweet it is crazy how bad people want the oft-injured Ellsbury out of New York without even putting into consideration what the Yankees would get in return.
The name Olney reported as a possible return for Ellsbury was Johnny Cueto. Now, the reason people want to trade Ellsbury so bad is because of how bad his contract is and how frequently injured he is. Johnny Cueto is essentially the same thing. Jacoby Ellsbury is owed $48 million over 3 more years, Cueto is owed $68 million over 4 more years. Although, people might say that while the yanks had additions of pitching this offseason they can always use more. Here’s the issue, Cueto is out for the entire year from Tommy John surgery!
While at one time an all-star by the time Cueto would come back he would be a 34 year old coming off of Tommy John Surgery pitching in a hitters friendly ballpark with championship expectations, that is a recipe for disaster.
As I said earlier I want to trade Ellsbury but, I’m not in such a big rush where I will take anything. I also realize that no teams would give the Yankees anything of value without offloading a bad contract as well. For example, Zack Grienke from the Arizona Diamondbacks would be something I would jump on. The Diamondbacks seem to be blowing up their team after trading Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals and letting A.J. Pollock walk to the Dodgers so it would make sense for them to move Grienke. Although, the Diamondbacks would almost definitely want more than just Ellsbury.
I want the Yankees to trade Ellsbury but, I wouldn’t trade him for just about anything. Cueto is basically the same player that plays a different position. I would take a bad contract but it would have to be a player that makes sense for the Yankees to have.
Featured Image: Keith Allison/Flickr
