Rumors courtesy of MLBTR courtesy of SI.Com courtesy of Jon Heyman plus rumors courtesy of ESPN.com courtesy of Jayson Stark.

Apparently, the Yanks love Joakim Soria…they even quote on quote “dangled” Jesus Montero in an offer for the young closer. That seems a little much to me…I’d hope they would be getting Soria plus if they were to deal Montero…he’s worth more than a setup guy, no matter how good that setup man might be. KC didn’t bite though (Really? Even  with Montero being mentioned?).

I’m not a fan of Dayton Moore, since he mostly doesn’t know what sabermetrics are, overpays for guys like Kyle Farnsworth, and generally has done very little right at the big league level in Kansas. It might be overboard to say he’s ruining a grand old franchise, which is why I won’t say that…I’ll just imply it. Basically, moral of the story, it has to be hard to negotiate with a guy who values batting average, but not OBP…and finally he has the best “hitting” team in baseball (ie. batting average), but his squad is 42-56…weird. Maybe he should check out fangraphs, or a Bill James book, or hell, even Moneyball at some point.

In other news, the old Ty Wigginton, Jhonny Peralta, and Cody Ross names have been tossed about…I’m okay with the latter two, not a fan of Wigginton…not with his month-by-month decline. The Yanks have chatted about Mr. Adam Dunn who is, in theory, a perfect fit at DH for the Yanks. His lefty-power would be absolutely perfect in Yankee Stadium, he gets on base like its no big thing, and, well, I’m just a big fan I guess. I mean, c’mon, Jeter-Swisher-Tex-Rodriguez-Cano-Dunn-Posada-Granderson-Gardner doesn’t intrigue anyone else? He’ll likely cost a bit too much though, and word has it that he’s the subject of chit-chat on a “Dunn to the N. Side of Chicago, E. Jackson to Washington, young arms to Arizona” rumor. [Sidenote: the Granderson trade doesn't look too hot for AZ right now. Maz Scherzer has been dirty for the Tigers (and my fantasy team) as of late while Edwin Jackson has been...to say the least...bleh. Ian Kennedy has impressed, but I'd still rather have Scherzer.] I don’t think that highly of E. Jackson, so I’d bet the Yanks could put together a better offer than just E-Jax, which is what it seems AZ is offering. Then again, the Nats are known to really like Jackson, and I’m no talent scout, so I might very well be wrong.

The Yanks aren’t going after Roy Oswalt….they were only in on Dan Haren because they thought they could get him cheap. They weren’t going to offer any Montero-ish prospects for the struggling guy who I thought was going to win the Cy Young way back when I made pre-season picks. Jon Heyman tweeted that the Yanks like Ted Lilly…but I’ve read otherwise, and I just don’t buy it. Pettitte is acting like he’ll return quicker than expected, so if his absence is down to 5 starts more (or maybe just four) it really isn’t worth it to deal for Lilly, who doesn’t demonstrate an upgrade over anyone in the rotation not named Sergio.

I stand by my stance (redundant…sorry) that Jon Albaladejo should be on the big league squad, and that the Yanks should try to deal for Scott Downs if the price doesn’t sky-rocket too high. Chad Gaudin needs to go already, really, what are they waiting for. Hasta Luego Chad. Chan Ho Park isn’t super promising either. And, even though I think Joba will straighten things out soon, for now he’s a seventh inning guy and David Robertson should be working the eighth to get ready for Mo. Those are my mid-season moves that make sense….those and maybe a trade for a bat.