http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives...yankee_tra.html
5. A three-way trade in which the Yanks get Nick Swisher, Matt Thornton and John Danks. The White Sox get Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, Ian Kennedy and Ray Durham. The Giants get Paul Konerko, Alberto Gonzalez and Shelley Duncan.
WHY WOULD THE YANKEES DO THIS? They are taking a flyer that Swisher's early troubles this year are a blip. He is a switch-hitter who has shown he can handle first base well. But this is mainly about getting their hands on lefty pitching: Thornton for the pen and Danks for the rotation. The cost is large, but the Yanks really MUST find a way to get lefty pitching.
WHY WOULD THE WHITE SOX DO THIS? They are a win-now team struggling on offense (yes, we heard Ozzie Guillen's tirade last week). They would have to believe that Jim Thome could play first to replace Konerko. They would add Matsui as the DH and Durham would return to his original team in the midst of a bounce-back year. Danks has been tremendous, but in Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez, Mark Buehrle and Gavin Floyd, they have four starters going well and they hope that pitching coach Don Cooper works wonders with Kennedy or with recent re-acquisition Esteban Loaiza. Melky Cabrera solves their defensive problems in center field.
Their lineup ends up looking like this: 1. Durham, 2b. 2. A.J. Pierzynski, c. 3. Carlos Quentin, lf. 4. Thome, 1b. 5. Jermaine Dye, rf. 6. Matsui, dh. 7. Joe Crede, 3b. 8. Orlando Cabrera, ss. 9. Melky Cabrera, cf.
That is one of the game's best offenses.
WHY WOULD THE GIANTS DO THIS? Konerko is owed $24 million beyond this year (and has a no-trade clause). He is having an off-year. The Giants can hope that he revives and they could trade him again either in July or in the offseason. But for simply absorbing that money and ridding themselves of Durham, they get to see if Gonzalez can be their shortstop of the future and to see if Duncan could be a low-cost power bat with full-time play.
I found this humorous...