This trade makes absolutely no sense to me.
The Yankees' biggest weakness right now is their bullpen, not counting Mariano Rivera. So they trade one of the few, semi-reliable options they have in the bullpen for....what, exactly?
26-year-old corner infielder Wilson Betemit has mild pop in his bat, but seems unlikely to amount to anything more than a platoon player. I would have rather taken my chances with Andy Phillips and Not-Eric Duncan at first base for the rest of the year, and kept Proctor.
I know that Joe Torre has abused Scott Proctor's poor, damaged, paralyzed right arm beyond imagination the past 18 months, but he's still a useful piece if used appropriately. Kyle Farnsworth, on the other hand, is a waste of space and an asshole to boot.
Joba Chamberlain might have been able to replace, or likely better, Farnsworth's production. But can he replace Farnsworth and Proctor? I don't know. I also worry that the Yankees will now give up too much to get the brittle Eric Gagne from Texas to replace Proctor. I would much rather have seen Cashman DFA Farnsworth, and bring up Joba to help Proctor and Vizcaino shoulder the heavy workload. Now, the bullpen is even more short-handed than before.
If the Yankees really, as the ESPN article suggests, view Betemit as a potential replacement/insurance policy for ARod, this team could be really dreadful next year if Rodriguez bails. PECOTA forecasts ARod to be worth about five more wins than Betemit, and that's before his monster 2007 enters the projection system.
Let's hope Cashman has something more up his sleeve.
And my sympathies to Scott Proctor's Arm, which now faces a dilemna.
