Yankees end of year mailbag: Questions and comments from readers

I’m Just an Advocate

Later, I advocated further trades in a piece called, Yankees need to trade Jorge Mateo and Domingo Acevedo for Sonny Gray. No quotes are needed for you to understand the main thrust of the article.

As expected, there were mixed opinions.

"NYBamBam • 5 months ago No, trading Mateo is a bad idea. He’s just recovering his value and he’s an impact player who can play CF, 2B, SS and probably the other outfield positions. Even if he is blocked out a starting job, he can latch on as a supersub, until his performance pushes someone out. Better to move someone who is rule 5 eligible and won’t make the 40 man roster in the winter,for a rental pitcher and or 1B."

"Calvin M • 5 months ago It was called a “slide rule” not a “slide ruler”, and I pretty certain that the only ones still around are crammed in the back of some old engineer’s desk or framed and hanging on somebody’s wall as an ironic reference to the passing of the old in the computer age. The writer got the reference right in the later paragraphs and I am inclined to agree with his analysis of Mateo. Acevedo, on the other hand, is more of a question, as young pitchers always are until they are given a chance to pitch in the big leagues. Sonny Gray has a mixed record of success and mediocrity and might be what the Yankees need or he might be like several other pitchers with a record of success who were acquired by the Yankees and were dismal flops. Kevin Brown and Carl Pavano, anyone? So I guess the trade would be a reasonable gamble for both sides, and if successful, might serve both teams well."

"Ray Rardin • 5 months ago Jorge Mateo isn’t very good – he isn’t even listed in Baseball America’s updated top 100 prospects. Billy Beane is not going to trade Gray to the Yankees unless he gets either Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier. Having seen Frazier in the 2015 Arizona Fall League, he wouldn’t be my first choice. Has power but there are massive holes in his swing: therefore, a ton of strikeouts in his future. I wouldn’t make the trade unless Gleyber Torres and a few pitching prospects were involved."

As a reminder, the Yankees traded Mateo, P James Karelian and OF Dustin Fowler for Gray. Both Kap and Fowler were injured and out for the season at the time. That’s a trade I know I am happy about, as I continued to push for it in subsequent articles.

But I wonder what Billy, Ray, et al., think of the trade, now that it has been completed?