Wellllll......that didn't go very well.
Kyle Farnsworth is still a Yankee. Scott Proctor is not. The bullpen is thinner than ever. Eric Gagne is in Boston (although I'm not particularly scared of him, or Papelbon). Mark Teixeira is in Atlanta, and the Yankees have no hope at first base for the foreseeable future. The bench is improved, but that's it.
Now just three measly games out of the Wild Card, the right move or moves could have levelled the field between the Yankees and Cleveland. And as we all learned last year, even the crappiest teams that make the playoffs can win it all.
I'm glad that Brian Cashman didn't sell off any top prospects, but he also didn't improve the team's chances in 2007 OR 2008, with another weak free agent market coming. Even the Wickman-for-Farnsie deal would have been an upgrade, getting the psycho out the door and back to his prior redneck home, where he'd fit in much better.
How did others view the Yankees' action, or lack thereof, at the deadline?
Scott Proctor's Arm is understandably upset.
Bronx Banter likes Betemit, and the deal.
Joining the growing chorus that thinks Joe Torre misuses and abuses his players, River Ave. Blues looks at the Proctor trade in a new light.
Over at Almost Perfect, the bench upgrade makes the trade worthwhile.
LoHud examines the Yankees' end of the Gagne negotiations. It seems like Texas asked for a lot more from the Yankees than they did from Boston. That's not the first time that's happened, either. Arizona did the same thing with Curt Schilling, asking for Soriano and Nick Johnson from the Yankees, then eventually shipping him to Boston for John Henry's bedpan.
Most writers viewed the deadline developments a little more positively than I did. I still think Proctor was too valuable a piece in the bullpen to give up so easily. If I had magical powers, I would undo the Proctor deal and send Farnsie to Hotlanta for Wickman.
