Jake :
Nick Swisher is a good pick up no doubt. But hitting .242 with 20 home runs (in an obviously home run healthy park) doesn’t make him any better. He also is seeing more time due to Nady being out, so I dont think he is better than a bench player.

Yes Swisher does play in a homerun healthy ball park, but Look at his stats. Yesterday against the Red Sox he hit his 21st home run, making his total homeruns on the road at 18, and only three at yankee stadium. You do the math.

From the Sox’s perspective, I believe they gave up Ryan Sweeny, Gio Gonzalez, and de Los Santos to the A’s. I would guess they still have more value/potential than what the Sox got from the Yankees, but who knows for sure.

I especially love the part of the article where you say “Jhonny Nunez has pitched PRETTY WELL this year. He has pitched in AA and AAA this season for the White Sox. In total, he has pitched 36 games to the tune of a 2.40 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.” Then you go on to say, “Kanekoa Texeira has pitched VERY WELL for AA Trenton. He has appeared 34 times so far. His ERA is a pretty 2.52 and WHIP is a respectable 1.22.” So when did a lower ERA and lower WHIP equal lesser performance if that is what you are using to compare the two players? pretty well = ok; very well = great, you have just defined the term homer, this may be a Yankee site, but exagerating performances to toot your own horn is pretty pathetic. Nunez is also 23 and he did it at AA and AAA, with his ERA going up to 2.95 in AAA but his WHIP dropped to 0.71, also he had 18 IP, 2 BB:17 SO. Hardly a regression. His biggest flaw was homeruns where he gave up 3, but pitching down in the zone a little more and crisper breaking pitches solves that and could make him even better. It was also abnormal for him as he gave up 3 HR in 46.1 IP this year in AA, so his higher ERA in AAA is more fluke than anything. For his career he’s given up .8 HR per 9 IP, which is stellar. Texeira by comparison is all of 3 months younger, still 23 this season and has never pitched above AA. He gives up more walks, strikes out less batter, and looks more prone to homeruns the higher he goes in the system as his numers rise with each promotion. When a player has control issues and doesn’t dominate AA at 23 years old with a strikeout ratio of 1 per IP or more, than he’s most likely nothing more than a future long reliever, middle reliever, or back of the rotation starter. Basically a 12th arm on any team and good for mop up duty. From looking at the parks his HR numbers have been suppressed by where he pitched with the White Sox. All in all, you gave a very slanted view of the pitchers in this deal and as a whole, your assessment is way off. It looks very clear that Nunez is an impact arm and Texeira is a throw in with far less ceiling. By the way Texeira’s K/9 IP in previous seasons were aided by being a reliever. Even this year he’s been only doing mop-up duty in AA. IN reality, after looking at scouting reports, they have similar “stuff” except for the control, which is the difference between a major league or AAA career. Nice slant though.

Swisher is an average player. The White Sox did not need him, and shed his salary. Cashman got what he needed. Looks win-win, but playing very very well? Hardly.