Jeter
Photographing the Yankees captain from below to make him look more regal seemed beside the point. Jeter already has an image that is larger than life.

Jeter was back at Yankee Stadium a couple of weeks after winning his fifth World Series title, capping a stellar season with a photo shoot for his latest achievement: Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year.

The magazine made the announcement Monday.

Rich, joba and Hughes haven’t really proven anything at the major league level other than,like other young players, they have shown flashes they they could be good one day. The chances that they develop into a Halladay are fairly remote.

I would try and hang onto montero and Hughes but anybody else is fair game if it increases my chances at repeating next year
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At the very least, 90% of MLB teams would make Joba and Hughes their closer tomorrow.

As for whether or not they could be Halladay, they aren’t being traded even up, but even if they were, they will have longer careers from this point forward, so their value is each a lot closer to Halladay’s than it might appear.

i kinda feel like one of joba/phil is going to bust out next season and become a stud. which one? i dont know but if u trade the wrong one, you lose big-time. and if they both bust-out, the yankees are the pitching studs of the league for years to come.

i say stay the course, all these young arms we’ve been nuturing for a few years now are ready to reap big rewards and although i understand those rewards can come in a trade, i think the better rewards will be a flowering farm system supplying great talent to the yankees, not the bj’s or anyone else.

boston will HAVE to give Halladay a $20+ million/year 3 or 4 year extension just to get him. They’re not renting him for a year while giving away a member of their starting rotation, never mind who else is included in the package. Theo is not that stupid.

Can boston afford both at the top of their rotation? Probably. But signing Halladay at least gives them insurance in case Beckett walks, AND gives them a chance to have dominant pitching for at least 1 year (Halladay + Beckett + Lester).

That rotation would compare favorably against CC + AJ + Pettitte. The Yankees would probably have the edge if Joba and Hughes rounded out the #4 and #5 slots vs. Wakefield + another reclamation FA or minor leaguer.

If that’s the case, I think the Yankees pass on this one. The 2011 potential Free Agent pitching class includes Cliff Lee, Josh Beckett, Joe Blanton, Ted Lilly, and Brandon Webb.

Pass I say, pass.

Take into account that Boston will have to use Buchholz and Kelly or no deal. Their already thin farm system takes a hit.
Halladay’s salary will bump Beckett as the No. 1 starter and a very unhappy one if he’s relegated to a No. 3 starter which he would be if Francona is the percentage manager he’s always been by slotting lefthanded Jon Lester between Halladay and Beckett.
Then there’s the salary problem. Beckett will make $5.75M less than Halladay in 2010 and will certainly walk after 2010 when he’s a free agent knowing that he’ll always be less than Halladay in Boston’s salary structure.

Clearly I’d prefer to have two great whites.

First, they are insurance to each other in case one gets injured – you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.

Second, they are more maneuverable due to their smaller size.

Third, since they can only pitch every five days, I’d rather go with two really strong competitors than one really dominant one who might only give you 5 innings due to conditioning (weight) issues.