We're living in troubled times, my friends. The Yankees have made a return trip to Loserville during this pathetic road trip, and as usual, the losses have incited another rash of the dreaded emergency trade talk. While we all hate to see our beloved team struggle like a turtle on its back (see fig. 1 above), sometimes there's nothing we can do but sit back and let the poor little thing try to right itself. Granted, if I saw an actual turtle on its back I can assure you that I would run like the wind to get the appropriate turtle-flipping apparatus (I'm referring to one of those 200-year-old, 400lb Darwin turtles; contrary to what my video blogs may lead you to believe, I do not have the muscles of a roided up slugger and therefore would most likely require some sort of turtle-flipping machine to put one of those huge suckers back on its belly), but the notion of making an 11th hour trade to try to salvage the season seems as futile as me demanding that the YES Network put me up in the booth with Ken and Paul.

The latest folks to be brought up as potential trade bait in the wide world of internet rumors (AKA “stuff people make up”) are various members of the White Sox (another team that has taken up residence in Loserville), namely Dye, Buerhle, Konerko, and Contreras. The White Sox have been playing poorly all season and have apparently wisely decided to give up entirely and trade off all their players to stockpile young prospects that will be more useful to the team’s future. I commend them for taking this approach and recognizing that they will not be making the 2007 post-season and instead using the opportunity to trade for prospects at a time when many teams will sell their farm to acquire a veteran. Any of the aforementioned White Sox could be a boon to the Yankees – another pitcher would do wonders for the team, and a first baseman would be quite a delight – but the White Sox know that they are in a seller’s market and will not surrender any player for anything short of the very best prospects. If the Yankees were to make an attempt to acquire any one of them, it is very unlikely that the Sox would accept any deal that did not involve Phillip Hughes and Ian Kennedy (the Yanks’ 2005 first round draft pick), in addition to other farmhands. I’ve mentioned my distaste for last-ditch-effort trades in the past, and a trade like this would most definitely fit right in on my hate list.

Selling off the farm would be the worst possible move the Yanks could make at this point. If the Yankees don't make the post-season this year, it will certainly not be because they didn’t get one of these White Sox; their failure can be blamed on a number of faults but one player cannot make or break the team. Losing the farm that Cashman has taken the last several years to painstakingly build up to something more than a barren wasteland, on the other hand, would have a major impact on the future of the club. The Yankees have made this mistake in the past (many, many, many times…) and I would not be surprised if Big Stein suddenly woke up from his coma (he has been quiet lately, so I assume he must be physically incapable of speech) and demanded that a trade be made immediately. The prospect of a Yankee-free post-season will not be tolerated by Steinbrenner regardless of the cost. I can only hope that Cashman can explain the science behind the "future" and "big picture" concepts to Stein before its too late.