Gotta be more than just Marquez. Kenny Williams gave up three good prospects to get Swisher; hard to believe he'd dump him for one mediocre prospect after one bad year.

But wow. Motormouth Nick Swisher in New York City. That's a match that just seems like it was meant to be, destined to happen.

we still might get a texeria
http://tinyurl.com/5ntvvs

if it's just marquez (or marquez and spare parts) it's obviously a good deal.
but i would still texeria for 1b and i don't think swisher is really a cf.
if he rotates around that could work.

From LoHud: The New York Yankees announced today that they have acquired switch-hitting first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher and right-handed pitcher Kanekoa Texeira from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Wilson Betemit and right-handed pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez.

And so it begins! Athough Swisher is the epitome of a "dude" I like his versatility.

Hmmm .... I would have liked to hold onto Betemit. But I still like the deal.

[1] re motormouth:
So is Swisher the NY baseball equivalent of former Giant Jeremy Shockey?

[3]

This is gonna get a bit confusing if they also sign "Mark" Texeira .... :-)

I don't know Shockey very well, but from a distance, my sense is that Shockey's a bit of a jerk. Swisher is not a jerk--he's quite a nice guy, but he is literally unable to keep his mouth shut. He probably talks nonstop in his sleep.

This can be good news if last year was an aberration. And it can be great news if we've seen the end of Wilson Betemit.

Cody Ransom has to be doing cartwheels over this.

Trade updated above.

NO MORE BETEMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm whelmed by this news.

I'm just so thrilled that I'll never again have to watch Wilson Betemit come in as a "defensive replacement" that I'm not going to consider the negatives right now.

5 yrs-162 Game Avg: 561 AB / 28 HR / .244 .354 .451 / 112 OPS+
These are solid numbers for a role player. Actually better then the X-Man,

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's probably closer to the 06-07 end of that average going forward.

Kanekoas MiLB numbers are: 144.1 IP / 2.25 ERA / 1.16 WHIP
Swisher has an average OPS+ of 126 in 06/07.

Jeff Marquez seemed like a player with potential, but this seems like a very good deal for us. Why would the Sox do this? Betemin is going to be their backup at 3B?

I don't recall, was Wilson awful or just merely bad at third base? There was one position in the infield where he was just run of the mill bad, and I can't recall if it was 3rd or 2nd.

I don't get it. Someone please explain!
Kanekoa Texeira has FAR better numbers then both Marquez and Jhonny Nuñez. Is 'LittleTex' injured? A leper? What gives here? This deal seems EXTREMELY one-sided.

Lohud Audio: "Here’s Brian Cashman commenting on the Swisher trade"

This is awesome news! If they don't sign Tex, and I still think they should, Swisher can play 1B. If they do sign Tex, Swisher can play CF with Nady in RF vs LHP, and Swisher can shift over to RF with Melky or Gardner in CF vs RHP.

He's young (turns 28 at the end of Nov), talented with the glove (can play any OF slot plus 1B well), and is signed for reasonable money until 2011 ($10.25M option for 2012).

And, best as I can tell, they don't need to add K-Tex to the 40-man roster, so this opens up a spot on the 40-man, too.

I'm confused as to why Chicago wanted to do this, but Konerko and Thome had 1B and DH covered, Dye in RF, Quentin in LF - not sure who will play CF for them, but maybe they just gave up on him?

I googled his name and got the "Kanekoa Texeira Sucks Forum"

That's probably not good.

http://www.futuresox.com/frontpage/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=388

I'm sure there is an 'A-Rod Sucks forum' too.
Kanekoas MiLB numbers are: 144.1 IP / 2.25 ERA / 1.16 WHIP
Small sample size, but hell.... it looks decent.

OYF, Pete says the Cash audio says Swish is to play 1B, meaning Mark Tex "just lost a lot of leverage" - but that's not quite how I heard it. Nor do I believe that. They need to get younger on offense, and Tex is the best way to do that.

Shaun, PA is probably right that it is sort of a salary dump.
Plus probably a sign that he can't play CF.
Cashman is sure trying to sell Swisher as the 1bman.

A-Rod isn't some minor leaguer no one's ever heard of.. I have no idea what some no name could have done to inspire his own 'sucks' site.

I'll kind of miss the strong coastal winds generated by Betemit's regular pinch-hit whiffs...

but seriously, I don't get this deal for Chicago at all..K.Williams seems to know what he is doing but...

So did Cashman get confused about Texeira/Texeria?

OK deal I guess.

Has anyone else noticed that one by one, all my least favorite players seem to be going away? Maybe we won't be signing Burnett after all.

[29]..hmmm...i always suspected that Mattpat11 was really brian cashman letting off some steam...how do we get definitive proof though??

>> A-Rod isn’t some minor leaguer no one’s ever heard of.. I have no idea what some no name could have done to inspire his own ’sucks’ site. >>

Did you click on that site? It's not *really* a site or a forum for that matter. I bet if you googled a lot of names, they'd all have their own "(this guy) sucks" forum.

Seriously, though, 2nd in the organization in saves? I'm intrigued.

I'm psyched. Swish is a grinder AND isn't the object to always buy low and sell high? In fact most folks have wanted to hold onto Cano for the very reason that trading him now would be selling low. Clearly the Chisox sold Swish low.

AND, he'll be an adequate first basemen for several years while we back the money truck up to CC's door.

I always wanted Betemit to do well--as if there are Yankee players I want to fail--but he just never seemed to excel in his position. I'm told he can really hit if given the at bats. And he did have some power--I'll remember him driving the bat into the left center field gap when he hit it well.

Swisher is interesting. First thing that comes to mind is how cocky he seems. I trust Ken's scouting report on him though, that he's not necessarily a jerk. I think his cockiness will be good for the Yanks, I think he's confident, will get on with Jeter, A Rod. At least from a personality point of view, I like the idea of him. The Yanks could use some guys who are full of themselves in that way that Pedrioa is. At least one or two. And considering that he had a down year he still had some pop.

The thing with Betemit is he was just no good in the field. People rip on Jeter all the time, but at least I can be relatively sure that he's going to catch balls thrown to him. It was a coin flip with Wilson. And he moves absolutely glacially after the ball, which left him as a DH who doesn''t hit righties at all and only sort of hits lefties, or a pinch hitter who can't hit a lick coming off the bench. There was no point.

Jeter and A-Rod won the silver sluggers BTW

ms october, yeah, salary dump at least in part. IIRC, Ozzie seemed to sour on Swisher down the stretch; in fact I'm pretty sure (without looking it up) that Swisher barely played in their Sept series vs the Yanks, with Griffey Jr (and Dewayne Wise) in CF more often than not.

That Cashman seems to be trying to sell Swisher as the 1B tells me that he's working very hard to get Tex signed. Shades of "Bubba Crosby will be our CF" from so long ago.

I am going to miss Betemit though. Yeah he wasn't all that great in the field, and he did have his issues with the bat, but there was something there. Its funny though, because if Swisher's low AVG/high SLG ways irked Ozzie (as I've read elsewhere), I'm sure he and Wilson will be great friends. ;)

It should be noted that Swisher is a downgrade defensively in CF (.904 RZR in 2008 vs .938 for Melky) and a downgrade at 1B from Betemit, believe it or not (Swisher: .759, Betemit .821).

Assuming a) 2008 was a fluke, and b) he's not the only 1B acquired this offseason, this is a good trade.

I'm not a big fan of defensive metrics as a whole. There are so many and they often contradict each other.

Just for the heck of it, BP says Swisher was 101 Rate2 at 1B in '08, (101 for his career), and 94 in CF in '08 (94 for his career). Betemit was 98 in '08, 99 for his career at 1B; Melky 99 in '08, 107 for his career in CF.

But is it really a surprise that Melky is (likely) the better glove in CF? I am a bit skeptical about 1B, though, just because of sample size. Betemit played but 36 games there (207 innings) in 2008; Swisher played 71 games (462 innings). So double the games, but more than double the innings. A big difference in putouts, too: 191 for Betemit, 447 for Swisher. Might Betemit's RZR be skewed by having more flyball-oriented pitchers on the mound than Swisher? I'm just guessing here . . .

Do note that Swisher was at 103 Rate2 in RF in '08, 104 for his career - and he's played more games in RF (201) than in CF (131), but not as many at 1B (229). In contrast, Abreu was 93 Rate in RF in '08 (98 career), and Nady was 84 (in only 7 games in NY) and 96 for his career.

Count me not thrilled. Swisher is a fun player, but he is a downgrade at 1B from Giambi. If this is insurance in case the team does not sign Tex, color me unimpressed. Yes he is versatile. but I prefer Betemit's ability to play the IF positions, albeit not all that well. He plays corner OF, but so does Matsui and Nady and Damon. So in the end, we get a not-so-great hitting corner OF/1B. And, he may have already peaked at age 28.

Yawn.