The Truth Behind Trading Nady or Swisher

As I've perused the Yankee blogosphere the last few days, desperate for some news to discuss, I've been struck by the varying interpretations over the Nady/Swisher situation. In order to understand what the Yankees are trying to do in this situation, you have to look at what they've done:

1. The Yankees have made it readily apparent that they would like to be at, or below, last years payroll.

2. The Yankees acquired Nick Swisher to be their first baseman well before the signing of Mark Teixeira.  They may have considered his ability to play the outfield, but that didn't seem to be the main reason for his signing.

3. The Yankees warned Andy Pettitte that if they made another signing before he accepted their offer, the offer would come off the table.

4. The Yankees signed Mark Teixeira after they offered Andy Pettitte $10 million for one season.

5. The Yankees took Pettitte's offer off the table.

There is clearly a money issue at play here.  I'm not sure all of it makes sense, though.  Realistically, if Andy Pettitte had accepted the $10 million contract before Teixeira signed, would the Yankees have walked away from the Teixeira deal with the Red Sox waiting in the wings? I'm guessing no. The Yankees handling of Pettitte and their apparent willingness to seek Freddy Garcia type alternatives speaks volumes about what they expect from Pettitte next season.  It's no secret that the Yankees could be desperate for innings from their starting rotation (a point made here repeatedly) and last years rotation merry-go-round at the hands of the youth movement should push Brian Cashman to get some veteran help. But he's not willing to give Pettitte, the best option the Yankees have, the extra few million he wants.  On top of that, he's

removed

the $10 million contract that Pettitte didn't want, all in the name of money. That leaves Brian Cashman in the rare situation where he needs a salary dump.  In order to dump salary, you need to have something of value that people are willing to take on. In the Yankees case, the most attractive expendable pieces are Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.  It's not that the Yankees

want

to trade Nady or Swisher.  Both players have a reasonable chance to post equal to better numbers in 2009 than they did in 2008.  Swisher is signed through 2011 and will make $5.3 million this season.  Nady made $3.35 million in 2008 and is due for some kind of raise in 2009 through arbitration. If the Yankees had their druthers, Hideki Matsui would be out the door.  Matsui is due to make $13 million this season, which given the questionable nature of his knees and inability to play the outfield, is about $6 million more than he should be making.  Plus, he has a full no-trade clause, but that's inconsequential since Matsui's contract makes moving him almost impossible without accepting equal if not more money in return or including a ton of cash.  The Yankees would certainly take Nady or Swisher over Matsui at this point but that doesn't seem to be an option. The good news for Brian Cashman is that Nady and Swisher's salaries fit the current market despite a ton of veteran outfielders on the free agent market.  The bad news is, the Yankees would rather keep Swisher, but Nady is in his last year of arbitration eligibility and Scott Boras is his agent.  The Yankees would probably consider themselves lucky to get back something comparable to what they gave the Pirates for Nady and Damaso Marte (Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen, and Jose Tabat). With any luck, and the possible packaging together with a prospect or Ian Kennedy, the Yankees might be able to pull off a back of the rotation pitcher.  Cashman would also love to get his hands on a centerfielder that would essentially end Melky Cabrera's Yankee career and put Brett Gardner on the bench as a defensive replacement/pinch runner extraordinaire. It's not the ideal situation, though.  Having Nady and Swisher on the team would give the Yankees some flexibility between the occasional day off for Teixeira and a good outfield platoon of Nady and Swisher in right.  It would make the bench a little stronger and give Girardi some options. But, for once, Brian Cashman needs to unload some cash.  Too bad he can't unload Hideki Matsui.