Yankees trade for Lance Berkman (and Austin Kearns) (and Kerry Wood)

[And That]

...according to this here tweeter from Joel Sherman of the NY Post. No word yet who the Astros will get back, though it can't be too inspiring, if the other deadline deals (sans the Capps trade) are any indication.

[crewcrazy]

Sounds like it's almost a pure salary dump. Berkman's not requiring his $15 million option for next year to be picked up, so the Yankees are getting him purely as a rental. He's still a pretty good bat when he's hitting left-handed, and I'm sure moving to Yankee Stadium will help him boost his power production in that regard.

[jjkoestler]

"6:04pm: The Astros are picking up a lot of the money owed to Berkman and won't obtain top prospects in return, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney." - Per MLB Trade Rumors.

http://www.mlbtraderumors...iring-lance-berkman.html

 

Why the hell are the 'Stros picking up the check for players traded to the Yankees and Phillies? I'd be livid if I was an Astros fan. As a Brewers fan, I'm pretty happy.

[hawing]

Where does Berkman fit in the Yankees' plans?

[logan82]

So the Astros trade 2 good players and pay them for a few crappy prospect. I like the last line on the Ed Wade Wiki page.

 

On July 29th, 2010 Wade traded the greatest starting pitcher in Houston

Astros history for a bag of magic beans reaffirming his nickname of

"Zippy the Chimp"

I wish all the NL Central teams had a GM like Ed Wade.

[Polish Falcons]

The Astros, who will send the Yankees $4 million in the deal (of $7.5 million owed to Berkman), will receive pitching prospect Mark Melancon and infield prospect Jimmy Paredes, the Post reports.

[And That]

Austin Kearns gets pinstripes too, according to Ken Rosenthal. No word on what Cleveland got back, though it is possibly a PTBNL.

 

As for the Berkman haul, the Astros got pitcher Mark Melancon and infielder Jimmy Paredes. Melancon was the Yanks' 15th rated prospect going in to the season. Paredes was not ranked by BA. For their trouble, the Astros are also paying the Yankees $4 mil of the $7.1 mil remaining owed to Berkman.

[logan82]

Gee, I wish our GM had traded a good player for a sucky player and paid the Yankees to take the better player. We could have had Melky Cabrera.

[LouisEly]

So can we quit complaining about Melvin not making any moves now?

[wibadgers23]

Just an awful trade for the Astros. This has been one of the more bizarre trade deadlines that I can remember.

[nate82]

So can we quit complaining about Melvin not making any moves now?

I think the best move was for Melvin not to trade either Fielder or Hart at this time. I don't even want to know any of the proposed deals that Melvin got for either Fielder or Hart.

[RockCoCougars]

Just an awful trade for the Astros. This has been one of the more bizarre trade deadlines that I can remember.

It's pretty apparent that nobody- even including the Yankees, are wanting to add a big chunk of payroll. This is likely a reflection of the economy we are facing right now. My guess is that not only have the mega-rich owners of these teams taken major hits in their personal assets the past few year- at the same time, I would bet that many of the big companies are cutting their expenditures on things such as luxury box purchases, sponsorships and advertising.

 

Maybe it would be prudent for Prince to reconsider the Brewer extension offer after all. I'd be more that a little nervous leaving $100 million on the table given recent developments.

[pitchleague]

you know, that's kind of a good point. You have to wonder a little bit about what Prince is thinking about. "Gee, even I can't be traded." Yeah, there's still 12 hours left til the deadline but . . . .

 

I kind of flabbergasted, on topic, that the Yankees traded for these guys.

[igor67]

More ammo to consider seeing what Casey would fetch as a cheap guy who can actually hit might bring.

[Funketown]

Where does Berkman fit in the Yankees' plans?

I'm guessing he'll slide into the lineup as a DH, although I'm sure he'll get a few starts at first with Tex DH'ing.

[TooLiveBrew]

Tweeteth Ken Tremendous:

"We want Berkman." "Okay." "But you pay him." "Okay." "In return, we'll give you a pile of cat vomit." "Okay." "Now gimme your car." "Okay."

[wibadgers23]

Classic. That about sums up this entire deadline so far.

[thablingster]

The Yankees may not be done, Buster Olney is reporting they are closing in on deal for RP Kerry Wood.

[TooLiveBrew]

Deal is official, per beat writer Chad Jennings

 

http://yankees.lhblogs.co...es-trade-for-kerry-wood/

PTBNL or cash to the Indians; Cleveland is paying part of Wood's salary