For a sense of the scarcity at the position, the Mets needed to deal Lastings Milledge just to go pick up Brian Schneider—career OPS+ 82, or 18 percent below league average.

1. They got back Church too.

2. Howard, I know you think the Mets overpaid there.

In re: the Yankees, the irony is that Molina and Moeller have NOT been the ones who've let down the Yankee offense this youngish season (it's been Damon, Cano and Giambi, in that inverse order).

The Jays reportedly rejected a Joba for Barajas package, which gives you an idea of the market for middle-of-the-road catchers.

In re: the Yankees, the irony is that Molina and Moeller have NOT been the ones who've let down the Yankee offense this youngish season (it's been Damon, Cano and Giambi, in that inverse order).

Oddly enough, these two have been good on the offensive side.

For a sense of the scarcity at the position, the Mets needed to deal Lastings Milledge just to go pick up Brian Schneider

Did they really need to?

Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi, Shelley Duncan and Johnny Damon all would best be served in that role as well.

Not to pick on Howard but I don't know how many times this is going to be said before people realize that Damon is a plus defensive left fielder, even with his arm. He is not a DH.

Piazza is just a season removed from a 122 OPS+ in 99 games of catching for San Diego.

I'd rather the Yanks give 400 AB to Molina than try Piazza out. Molina can catch and throw and right now, shutting down the running game is important. They're just giving away outs defensively and the Yanks need a catcher who is able to take some pressure of the pitchers when they let runners on. I'm way more concerned about the running game than the offense right now.

But the main point holds, the Yanks are in a lot of trouble if Posada can't get behind the plate. Before the season, a couple Yankee primates (and Howard too IIRC) suggested he was the most irreplaceable Yankee. That's pretty apparent. Nothing short of either Giambi or Ensberg hitting like its 2005 will help them cover up that hole.

Edit: Re: #2, Damon has a 103 OPS+ with a .215 average. He's going to be fine at the plate.

1. They got back Church too.

Not to hijack the thread but Church was the prize in that trade for the Mets.

BTW - As long as Cleveland and Detroit are sucking worse than the Yanks, I'm not too concerned about the Yanks record....

Yea, you've got to watch out for the class of 2008, Boston, Chicago, LAnaheim and Oakland...

Not to hijack the thread but Church was the prize in that trade for the Mets

I've been pleasantly surprised by Church. He's not just a good RFer - he's excellent. He gets good jumps, takes good routes, and has a great arm.
He's also handled lefties pretty well. The only thing I'd like to see is for him to draw more walks.

Looking over the numbers, Robinson Cano leads Yankee qualifiers with a 20.3% LD rate. His BABIP is .179. Holy cow! Some of those balls are going to fall in soon.

if Posada can’t catch, the only player who might potentially replicate his offense is the still-unsigned Mike Piazza.

Interesting idea. Just curious, though: In Yankee Stadium, how far is it from home plate to second base?

Posada has missed 7 games. The Yankees are 5-2 without him and 5-8 with him.

Yankees need a miracle?

Jeez, the Pope was there yesterday. How much more help do they need?

Not to pick on Howard but I don't know how many times this is going to be said before people realize that Damon is a plus defensive left fielder, even with his arm. He is not a DH.

CP, what are the numbers on this? I have seen this claim made- he looks just terrible out there to me. Is there a lot of data that says otherwise? I'd certainly rethink my position if so...

FWIW, the Mets, to my mind, traded a present Milledge for present Church- about even. This means they traded Milledge's upside for Brian Schneider- perhaps this is a more accurate way to describe it.

Looking over the numbers, Robinson Cano leads Yankee qualifiers with a 20.3% LD rate. His BABIP is .179. Holy cow! Some of those balls are going to fall in soon.

I'd have to think a lot of them will. Is anyone seriously worried about Cano?

Jeez, the Pope was there yesterday. How much more help do they need?

According to Winn Shares, that would actually have a negative effect.

According to Winn Shares, that would actually have a negative effect.

What does Randy have to do with this? Or Frank Tanana?

what are the numbers on this? I have seen this claim made- he looks just terrible out there to me. Is there a lot of data that says otherwise? I'd certainly rethink my position if so...

Howard, SG and AROM both have the numbers, IIRC he falls between + 5-10, with his arm costing him somewhere in the neighborhood of 5. As for data, this year he's third (last I checked) in AL ZR in LF. In the past, like when he played for the Royals, he was fairly good (his career ZR in LF, .906 is nasty, Crawford's career rating is .905). Last year was a bit skewed by a couple of bad games when his calves made him immobile. I think it's very likely that Damon will continue to be a good fielder out there, and I don't think he's looked bad out there this year, although I don't have any great catches to point to, just generally solid play with good range and this years small sample of ZR.

Is anyone seriously worried about Cano?

Nah, I was just surprised to see how many line drives he's hitting and still failing to get hits.

BTW, why don't we have dugouts anymore? I want somewhere to go taunt the Red Sox fans about Beckett being scratched tonight.

Cowboy, it took me a little while to figure out you were talking about Damon in LF and not the Pope.