A Nady trade proposal

Not from me, though. Ken Rosenthal mentioned Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher in connection with the San Francisco Giants, so Grant at McCovey Chronicles checks to see if the clubs match up. He doesn’t like the $22 million gamble on Nick Swisher rebounding, but does find Xavier Nady interesting. Giants GM Brian Sabean has said he will trade for only players who are under control beyond 2009, but Grant points out a possible loophole. What about Randy Winn?

I admit, when I first heard this I thought about it for a second. Winn is coming off two seasons of 105 OPS+ and has generally been above average for his career. He gets on at a decent clip and can hit for average. He could always have a down year, which is a risk, but the same could be said of Nady. He’s got just one year left on his deal, so there would be no long-tem risk. His salary, $8.25 million, will be a couple million north of Nady’s arbitration figure, so a one-for-one swap is feasible.

That’s all secondary, though. The idea behind Grant’s proposal is that Winn can play center, which fills a need (or want, however you think about it) for the Yankees. That’s why I started to think about all those other things related to the proposal. Yet it is flawed at its very core. Randy Winn doesn’t play a good center field, or at least so says his UZR. He hasn’t posted a positive UZR since 2005, and has played a steadily decreasing number of games there since 2004. He’s good in right field, but all things equal I’d rather have Xavier Nady.

So, while it makes a “ton of sense” to Grant, it makes little to me. There’s no reason for the Yankees to trade Nady or Swisher at this point unless they’re blown away with an offer. Every team could use the depth. It could come in handy just a few months from now. Then, with most of the free agents off the board, that depth could be even more valuable.