Good. A-Rod doesn't deserve a new contract, which is the main point Cashman is trying to make. He can either prove his mettle on the field, and stay with the Yankees (which he claims is his true calling or whatever) or he can leave after the year, sign a monster deal somewhere else, and go back to playing shortstop (Cubs?).

Hell, if I were Cashman...I'd be on the horn with the Cubs right now. Let's trade our one year contract players - we'll give you A-Rod for Carlos Zambrano. Hooah. Piniella and the Cubs want A-Rod bad at shortstop, and they can't afford Zambrano AND A-Rod. So give them what they want. We get a young, awesome starting pitcher with an attitude and edge, and they get...chokey.

It's pretty clear we can do without A-Rod in the playoffs, since he makes zero contributions. On the other hand - having another young, experienced arm will give us great help down the stretch and into October. Just imagine this rotation:

Wang
Zambrano
Clemens (?)
Pettitte
Mussina

or, since the Zambrano trade would negate Clemens...

Wang
Zambrano
Pettitte
Mussina
Igawa/Karstens/Hughes

Nice! \:o

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Jon Lieber is on the trading block. Can't we just send them Pavano and get good old Mr. Reliable back? We should've never let him go a couple of years ago, and I hated the decision then, and still do now. He'd be a great end of the rotation guy for us, especially if we get rid of Pavano.