The latest seismic rumbling probably hit the baseball landscape early Thursday morning -- probably before all the champagne-soaked Yankees reached their homes -- with more rumors that Mark Teahen is about to be traded, and by the end of the day the hints became something more tangible than that.
Jeremy Hermida, a former No. 1 pick whose offensive talents have long been valued by scouts, was dumped by the Florida Marlins to the Boston Red Sox for a couple of second-line pitchers, for the simple reason that the Marlins couldn't afford to wait for the 25-year-old outfielder to blossom. Hermida is set to make $4 million and the Marlins, with a payroll of about $35 million, must have production for their pay; the Red Sox can afford to wait. Hermida told a friend Thursday evening he is really excited to go to Boston and to see the ways GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona want him to help the Red Sox. The Red Sox hope he can reach his potential, as Michael Silverman writes. This is a value trade, Epstein said, as Peter Abraham writes.
The Marlins had high hopes for Hermida, writes Clark Spencer.
There will be more deals like this: the small-market and mid-market teams either dumping young players for second-rate packages or simply cutting them altogether, with the big-market teams stepping in to collect the best of them, like peonies.
Yes, the White Sox and the Royals have discussed a Teahen trade, although the deal is not done; it's a simple matter of have and have-not. Kansas City, which was starved for lineup depth this past summer, is probably going to cut $10 million-$13 million from its payroll. The expectation of rival GMs is that the Royals will have to trade Teahen because they simply can't afford to keep him, even at the $5 million salary he is likely to earn next season.
For the White Sox, or for the Yankees or the Red Sox, he will be a really nice depth player, someone who could play different positions and contribute some power and solid at-bats; Teahen, hitting in a thin K.C. lineup, had 47 extra-base hits last season. For the Royals, a five-year player like Teahen must contribute big numbers, or he becomes a luxury item that must be pawned.
J.J. Hardy will make about $7 million next season, which is why the Brewers are well on their way to unloading him, sources say; the Twins, who appear to be prepared to push their payroll up to over $70 million in the first year that the team plays in its new park, are among the teams that must identify a regular shortstop.
The Yankees get No. 27
There are two truisms in play, as the Yankees prepare for their championship parade today.
No. 1: The Yankees have done a great job in recent seasons in becoming more efficient in spending their money. After often targeting the wrong veterans earlier this decade, at a time when George Steinbrenner was mostly making the personnel decisions, the Yankees -- now directed by Brian Cashman in their choices -- picked the right guys in CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. Both provided exactly what the Yankees needed as they entered 2009, and in the end Cashman looks extremely smart for waiting for Sabathia's free agency, rather than trading Phil Hughes and others for Johan Santana.
No. 2: Baseball's parity problem is worsening, and changes will be needed in the next labor agreement. The specter of hope that the small-market and mid-market teams must sell every winter is flickering unevenly.
Richard Justice writes that the Yankees bought a championship, and that everybody should get over it.
• Joe Girardi acted as good Samaritan, writes Hoa Nguyen, after the Game 6 victory.
Girardi will change his number to 28 next season.
George Steinbrenner said in a statement that this was a true team victory, as Marc Carig writes. It was a title shared by father and sons, writes Mike Vaccaro.
The Yankees got to this place through a process, writes Tyler Kepner. After the championship comes the real challenge.
The Yankees have a lot of money, writes Bill Rhoden.
The thrill is back in New York, writes Mike Lupica.
A-Rod is a champion forever, writes Ian O'Connor. For the rest of his career he can just go about the business of writing history, says Brian Cashman.
Bob Klapisch was there at 3 a.m., on the saturated carpet.
Damon Oppenheimer gives a scout's take on the Yankees' championship, through Bob Elliott.
About Mariano Rivera's diminished velocity: He had a rib-cage problem.
It's worth posting Rivera's postseason numbers again, for a gander at greatness:
Games: 88
Number of outings in which he allowed more than one earned run: 1.
Innings: 133.1
Hits: 82
Walks: 21
Strikeouts: 107
Home runs: 2
ERA: 0.74
I'm curious to get some thoughts from the readers about this: Is there a greater gap between Rivera and others in his sport at what he does -- a short reliever -- than between any other athlete and others in any other sport? In other words: Jerry Rice was the greatest wide receiver of all time, and he separated himself significantly; is the gap between Rice and the second-best receiver greater than the gap between Rivera and the second-best reliever of all time? What other athletes, in other sports, are in this conversation?
Rivera wants to play five more years, writes Jack Curry.
The Yankees are regarded as the front-runners to repeat as champions, in the odds set on bodog.com. They're at 11-4, the Red Sox are at 13-2 and the Phillies are at 9-1.
The Phillies lose a shot at back-to-back
The Phillies should start building for next year by trading for Roy Halladay, writes Rich Hofmann. Some of the aging Phillies need help with their workload, writes Jim Salisbury.
Here are 10 questions for the Phillies as they head into the offseason, courtesy of Andy Martino -- and No. 1 is related to Cliff Lee. There is gloom now for the Phillies, but their future is still bright, writes Phil Sheridan.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. Heard this: You are probably not going to see the Blue Jays openly shop Roy Halladay, as we did before the trade deadline in the summer. Rather, the conversations will grow organically, naturally, from the talks that occur between all teams this time of year -- and everybody knows the parameters: Halladay is going to be a free agent after the 2010 season, he wants to play for a winner, and any team interested in acquiring him must be prepared to part with good young players. Presumably, the asking price for Halladay would be less than it was before the deadline, when the Jays organization seemed to still be wrestling with the notion of whether it wanted to move Halladay at all. Now, with Halladay's free agency not far away, it appears fairly clear he will be with some other team a year from now, and probably before then. Halladay huddled with the Toronto brass recently, as Dave Perkins writes.
2. The Yankees will spend the weeks ahead identifying candidates for the back end of their rotation, and the consensus among some rival GMs Thursday was this: If the Yankees want John Lackey, the best free-agent pitcher available, then they will get him -- because they are the team in the best position to consider stepping out farther on the contract limb than anybody else. If you remember, the Yankees and the Braves were the only teams to offer a fifth year in a deal with A.J. Burnett -- and the same question could be in place for the Lackey contract talks: Will any team go to a fifth year in its offer for Lackey, who just turned 31?
3. The Diamondbacks had a busy day, dealing with situations around Chad Tracy and Jon Garland.
4. The Nationals picked up a pitcher on waivers.
5. Three Orioles opted for free agency.
6. Jason Bay was among the first players to file for free agency.
7. The Mets and J.J. Putz are going to part ways.
8. Matt Holliday filed for free agency, and the Cardinals have two weeks to negotiate with him exclusively, writes Derrick Goold. The last time that Scott Boras signed one of his clients in this period was probably -- well, never, I'm guessing. He believes in taking his players onto the open market.
9. The Twins have to decide whether to pick up the 2011 option for Michael Cuddyer, writes Joe Christensen.
10. All is quiet in the Joe Mauer negotiations, writes Charley Walters.
11. The Tigers are facing a trying offseason, writes Lynn Henning.
12. If the White Sox trade for Teahen, they have several alternatives regarding what to do with him, writes Mark Gonzales. The White Sox should move Gordon Beckham to shortstop, writes Rick Morrissey. The arrival of Teahen could signal the departure of Paul Konerko, writes Phil Rogers.
I'd normally have more links on this Teahen thing, but for some reason I couldn't get into the Sun-Times Web site.
13. The Marlins filled out their coaching staff, as Juan Rodriguez writes.
14. The Rangers hired an offensive coordinator, writes Gil LeBreton.
15. Some Mariners filed for free agency, as Larry Stone writes.
16. The Angels re-signed Bobby Abreu, writes Kevin Baxter.
'The McCourts'
Jamie McCourt was denied in her legal bid for immediate reinstatement, write Dylan Hernandez and Carla Hall.
Dings and dents
1. The Padres' catcher had surgery, writes Bill Center.
Other stuff
• Tim Lincecum was arrested for pot possession, as Henry Schulman writes.
• The Redskins owner could learn from George Steinbrenner, writes Thomas Boswell.
• The Twins are selling a bunch of stuff before they move out of the Metrodome.
• Here's what the Reds need to do to win next year.
• The Rays are looking for a silver lining from the Yankees' World Series victory.
• With Tim Hudson re-signing, Mark Bradley wonders if the Braves should make Tommy Hanson the closer. Hudson is excited about his new contract, writes David O'Brien.
• Some Rockies watched the postseason and learned, as Troy Renck writes.
• An Indians prospect was picked as the best player in the Eastern League, as Paul Hoynes writes.
• Mark Whicker hands out some award hardware.
• Josh Vitters is playing well in the Arizona Fall League, as Tom Carkeek writes.
• Tom Brookens has interest in the Tigers' coaching opening, writes John Lowe.
• The TV ratings for the World Series are something MLB can be happy about, as Richard Sandomir writes.
Buster Olney
