<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><u>Big heist for the Yankees</u>posted: Sunday, July 30, 2006 | Print EntryThe Yankees get a big OBP boost and the best fifth starter they've had all year, and they did it by using money (of which they have a lot) instead of prospects (of which they have few once you exclude Philip Hughes and Jose Tabata). The Phillies, meanwhile, get some salary relief for 2007, but not much else.Bobby Abreu may or may not have lost his power -- I think it's overblown, as he's still on pace for 40-plus doubles and doesn't look like he's lost bat speed or raw strength -- but he's still one of the best offensive players in the game. He's about to post his eighth straight 100-walk season and has the fifth-best OBP in the game. The Yankees have been running a Bernie Williams/Aaron Guiel platoon out in left, and while Guiel has hit a few homers since he came to the Bronx, he's still a four-A player who has no place on a contending club's roster. Even if Abreu's home run total remains low, he's worth two extra wins to the Yankees if he takes at-bats away from Bernie and Guiel, and more if his home-run power comes back.Cory Lidle is a finesse right-hander with excellent control who will probably struggle to be a league-average starter in the American League at this point, but he is an enormous improvement over Sidney Ponson, Kris Wilson and Aaron Small -- whom the Yanks have employed as fifth starters this year. Lidle's best pitch is a splitter, but his fastball is a tick below average so he has to have good command to be effective and keep the ball out of the seats. Since the guys he's replacing have been so bad, he's still a one-to-two-win upgrade for the balance of the season, making this one of the biggest impact deals any club will make this month.The Phillies finally came off their demands for top prospects and instead chose to dump the two contracts, saving $15 million in 2007 by moving Abreu. The only player they acquired with any sort of major-league value right now is lefty specialist Matt Smith, a 27-year-old veteran of the Yankee farm system.The Phils did acquire some interesting prospects. Shortstop C.J. Henry is best known as the guy the Yankees took in the 2005 draft even though right-handed pitcher Craig Hansen was still available. Henry is a raw five-tool talent and still just 20 years old. His swing is long, but he generates plus power and is a good baserunner with well-above-average speed. He has struggled in the South Atlantic League this year across the board. Though he has the physical tools to stay at short, it remains to be seen how his body develops and whether he outgrows the position. The Phillies also acquired two players from the Yankees' Gulf Coast League affiliate, athletic catcher Jesus Sanchez and hard-throwing right-hander Carlos Monasterios, both of whom are so far away that they're more pre-prospects than prospects.So the three minor-league players the Phils acquired aren't going to help the big-league club until at least 2009 or 2010, and none is good enough to be the centerpiece for a subsequent deal. As a result, the Phillies haven't done anything to improve their club for 2007 except add financial flexibility, but with a thin free-agent market this winter, it's not clear that they'll have superior outlets for spending that money.</div>
