This seems weird to me. I thought Jesus Montero was one of the best few prospects in the entire world, a guy who projects to be worth millions upon millions for whatever club has him during his indentured service years. And he wasn't the issue, it was mediocre 24-year-olds who probably won't ever amount to more than AAA-shuttle or bench filler that kept Cashman from making the trade? I'm not saying Nunez or Nova is worthless, but the gap in projected value between those guys and Montero is huge. It's weird they'd be the deal-breaker.

So he viewed the trade as being merely three months of Cliff Lee.

From Cashman's perspective, the "first opportunity to sign a guy before he's a free agent" isn't really worth much -- and in fact, he considers a player demanding an extension before approving a trade to make the trade worth less -- and, he's pretty much right about that -- when it comes to the Yankees. So he viewed the trade as being merely three months of Cliff Lee.

I find convincing the argument that the Yankees should not have traded Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee. That isn't what Cashman says happened though - he says he offered to trade Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee. What I find weird is that having decided to trade Montero for Lee, Cashman decided that Nunez or Nova were too valuable to include in the deal.

I find convincing the argument that the Yankees should not have traded Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee. That isn't what Cashman says happened though - he says he offered to trade Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee. What I find weird is that having decided to trade Montero for Lee, Cashman decided that Nunez or Nova were too valuable to include in the deal.

I think the Mariners front office needs to make some changes and get someone competent, I mean seriously they are going to become the laughingstock of baseball soon, they need to sign Littlefield or someone like that which will improve their gms trade capability.

Which is why trading Montero, given that they have several aging (and possibly declining) position players, seems so ill-advised.

What I find weird is that having decided to trade Montero for Lee, Cashman decided that Nunez or Nova were too valuable to include in the deal.

Montero's most likely position seems to be "DH". I mean, he could end up being a David Ortiz-type DH, so very valuable. But still, he's not going to be replacing Jeter, and he's probably not even going to be replacing Posada.

From Cashman's perspective, the "first opportunity to sign a guy before he's a free agent" isn't really worth much

it was that Montero, Nunez and Nova were too valuable.

If you value a Cliff Lee at 100, and value Montero at 95, then it’s a good trade. If you value Nunez and Nova at 10 each, then it no longer is a good deal.

I suppose, but if you buy that Cliff Lee is going to be a very significant postseason factor, then this would be saying that you don't mind leaving the postseason earlier because it's more important that you retain Eduardo Nunez. (In other words, what is increased chance of doing well in the playoffs worth in your calculus?)

Wouldn't you rather have the D-Backs side of that one?

I have to admit that I do love the image of the M's continually calling and begging for David Adams, and Cashman demurring that he simply can't afford to part with that kind of prospect, while a voice in his head keeps saying "what the hell do they want this guy for, anyway."

No way dude, they've developed their own proprietary search engine!

EDIT: obviously, I also find it weird that Smoak + rapist would be considered a better offer by the Mariners front office.

It runs on the tears of Mariners fans.

I would have held onto him for his name alone.

I think it's also important to consider that the value of Cliff Lee to the Yankees is significantly less than his value to most other clubs.

Wasn't there egg on someone at Chevrolet's face when they finally discovered why the Nova model wasn't selling in Latin America?

From Cashman's perspective, the "first opportunity to sign a guy before he's a free agent" isn't really worth much -- and in fact, he considers a player demanding an extension before approving a trade to make the trade worth less -- and, he's pretty much right about that -- when it comes to the Yankees

But surprisingly to me, listed as "undetermined" is the one where "Pepsi is the choice of a new generation" was translated into Japanese as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead."

That’s the genius of Product Placement: The Movie—oh, I mean Mac And Me. Just about every major plot point revolves around McDonald’s or Coca-Cola. It pinballs from one product-placement setpiece to another, unencumbered by shame or self-consciousness. Mac’s Spidey senses lead him to a cave where he encounters his dead family. All is not lost, for Mac, Calegory, Ward, the woman in the McDonald’s uniform, and Stanley discover that they can bring the dead aliens back to life by pouring cold, delicious Coca-Cola into their mouths. Not only is Coca-Cola the perfect thirst-quencher, and far superior to Pepsi, it literally has the power to bring the dead back to life. Jesus has nothing on Coca-Cola.