Now, that assumption seems outdated. One Yankees source said Sunday that they would not view Reed as a significant upgrade over Bubba Crosby.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm impressed by how committed the Yankees seem to be to this league-minimum center fielder, but if Bubba Crosby is the beginning and end of your search for free talent, then you're not looking hard enough. Seriously, it's pretty easy to find. Crosby's an okay defensive center fielder, but his glove is better suited for the corners, and he hasn't hit a lick in nearly 200 Major League plate appearances. And it's not like he's built up an impressive minor league resume, either - that .281/.346/.421 career batting line is considerably worse than Abraham Nunez's, and you didn't hear anyone in Tacoma calling for him to get a full-time gig in Safeco. This guy has nothing on Jeremy Reed.
It has to be posturing. It has to be posturing, because nobody with as much to lose as the Yankees could possibly entertain the thought of giving a guy like Bubba Crosby a few months (a full season?) in the starting lineup. Rewarding hustle and grit is great and all, but that's why God invented benches. They guy hasn't hit well in two years, and those were his age 27/28 seasons.
I don't believe this "Yankees source." If you're responsible for feeding Carl Pavano's albatross for the next three seasons, and somebody knocks on your door offering a guy like Jeremy Reed, you take that deal, because Reed's going to be good, Pavano probably won't, and it's not like you don't have enough starters hanging around the clubhouse anyway. Of course, I don't think this trade proposal was ever seriously discussed in the first place, but even in the realm of the hypothetical, I'd love to know what that source was thinking.
The Mariners may have talked about moving Reed back when they were involved in the Juan Pierre sweepstakes, but now that that's over with, we can rest easy knowing that he probably won't be involved in any stupid package deals for pitching.
What's that? You're not a Reed fan?
At least we don't have Bubba Crosby.