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Don't trade Wang

	AP

The Yankees are never lacking for trade rumors this time of year, although the talk usually involves fine-tuning the Bombers for the playoffs and not trying to salvage an aging club gone supernova. The hot rumor today, courtesy of New York Post (shocking, I know), involves a proposed subway transfer of Gary Sheffield for Mike Cameron. It's a great deal for the Yanks, who need to find a capable center fielder to patrol Death Valley. For the Mets, not so much. Cameron is having such a strong season at the plate (.298-.399-.536) that he's worth keeping even in right field, and you know it will take some kind of contract extension/renegotiation to keep Sheffield happy. Whatever the Yankees end up doing, I've seen enough to know one thing they should not do under any circumstances: trade Chien-Ming Wang.

Judging from this article (registration required) in the New York Times, GM Brian Cashman is in favor of keeping Wang in pinstripes, but this franchise's labyrinthian power structure precludes their GM from having final say on these matters. Wang is the type of player -- young, productive and cheap -- the Yankees have to stop getting rid of. If they had more useful, minimum-wage youngsters on their roster and fewer Jason Giambis, they would have been able to afford Carlos Beltran and not had this gaping hole in center field to fix.

The Yankees' loss to the Orioles last night overshadowed another outstanding effort by the rookie right-hander, who issued zero walks in seven innings and held the powerful Orioles to three runs at Camden Yards. For the season, Wang has walked 18 batters in 69 2/3 innings while allowing only six home runs. What's most impressive about him is his groundball-to-flyball ratio of 2.52, which would rank third behind Jake Westbrook (3.33) and Roy Halladay (2.63) if Wang had enough innings to qualify. That's a huge stat for the Yankees, who field such a porous outfield. During Wang's minor-league career, he struck out 125 batters in 149 innings, which means he probably will become more of a power pitcher as he progresses. Will that be for the Yankees? Their fans can only hope so.

-- Jacob Luft (3:30 p.m.)

Gary Sheffield is a much more feared hitter then Mike Cameron. Find someone else to trade. It's not like the Yanks are knocking the socks off the ball. Last year Sheff was the runner-up MVP. How quickly we forget. He played hurt all year, too.
-- Peter Conboy, Rockville Centre, N.Y. (3:51 p.m.)

I agree that the Yankees cannot trade Wang simply to try to salvage this season but it is equally important that they hold onto Robinson Cano. He has shown the ability to hit the ball to all fields with power, and his batting average will be over .300 before the season is over. He does have eight errors already, but he will be a solid defensive player eventually. His upside is even more promising than Wang's.
-- John, Yonkers, N.Y. (3:51 p.m.)

There is no way the Mets would trade for Gary Sheffield. This is a move that the old Mets would have made, trading for an aging slugger. This move makes no sense for a team that is a year away. If they are going to trade Cameron for anyone it would be someone who is younger and is going to help them in the years to come.
-- Devin, New York City (4:11 p.m.)

It's even more important to keep Wang when you look at the starting pitchers who were set to become free agents soon; Johan Santana and Ben Sheets each got extensions with their current teams. Trying to use free agency to pick up pitchers will be harder and harder over the next half-decade or so will probably be difficult, so teams need to grow their own pitchers.
-- Steven, Fairfax, Va. (4:16 p.m.)

When I first saw this mornings headlines I was thunderstruck; I like Gary Sheffield a lot. But on further reflection, Mike Cameron would be perfect in center and who else is available? The only way the Yanks can make a deal is strength for strength. They've got no prospects other than rookies Cano and Wang, who should be untouchable as they are future stars who aren't costing George a bundle. However, one thing that bothers me about Sheff for Cammy is that Sheffield comes to play and plays hurt. It seems Cameron has to baby every injury. How about trading weakness for weakness: Tony Womack for Preston Wilson?
-- Tom Bruce, Brooklyn, N.Y. (4:21 p.m.)

I've been watching this guy pitch all year, and he is great. Comfortable, confident, goes about his work quietly and effectively. Such a nice change of pace from the Kevin Browns of this world. PLEASE GEORGE DO NOT TRADE HIM. And the same for Robinson Cano. The Yanks need to get younger. Remember the days of a young Yankee team with kids named Williams, Posada, Pettite, Rivera, and Jeter. Hmmm, what did they accomplish?
-- Mike, New York (4:25 p.m.)

I think you could take one of your sentences and make it into a MadLibs game: "'Insert Name Here' is the type of player -- young, productive and cheap -- the Yankees have to stop getting rid of." I'm already putting in Nick Johnson, Wily Mo Pena, Alfonso Soriano, Yhancey Brazoban, Brad Halsey ... and that's only in the past two years. (Un)fortunately, no trade is going to make this ballclub that much better. They've got too much money tied into too many players that no other team is going to want. And it seems as if the players they are looking at, like Mike Cameron and Mark Kotsay, will not be able to contribute more than any trade bait. I'm a lifelong Yankees fan, but I have to say that this team represents the self-destructive nature of a late-capitalist philosophy/economy, only on a much smaller scale. If any of the Boss' brass were smart, they'd let this team play it out, see if they produce the way they were expected and then look forward to an offseason where a lot of money is freed up and a quicker, more efficient rebuilding can begin. Trading Wang and/or Cano will hurt this team badly.
-- Dvorak, Indiana, Pa. (4:33 p.m.)

I know Jeter is an icon, but the better shortstop is playing third. You could move Cano in a trade and move Jeter to second, or bite the bullet till next year and move Jeter to center field. What do you think?
-- Dave Rosenbluth, West Hartford, Conn. (4:56 p.m.)

If the Yankees are stupid enough to trade a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate for a career .250 hitter who's (temporarily) playing over his head for once, they deserve a fourth-place finish.
-- Chris Wright, Portland, Ore. (5:06 p.m.)

Next to trading Wang, Sheffield for Cameron would be one of the worst moves the Yankees could ever make. Sheff is the team's most clutch hitter with men on base, hits for power, has a gun for a right arm and doesn't strike out often. Cameron constantly strikes out, is a career 250 hitter, not very young and is often hurt. He's been a total bust for the Mets. Think about it; they disliked him so much they signed Beltran. On top of this, if you lose Sheff, who plays right field? Womack? What an awful idea. I pray it doesn't happen.
-- John Hyams, New York (5:11 p.m.)

Not sure if Wang is as good as you advertise, Jacob. You say "powerful" Orioles lineup, but it's not that powerful with Melvin Mora and Javy Lopez nursing injuries. I was at the game last night, and Wang is lucky he wasn't seriously injured by Brian Roberts in the first inning when he lined a shot off what looked like Wang's wrist. If that ball was a little higher, it may have hit Wang in the head like Mora did to Carl Pavano earlier this year. Pavano still looks like he is having aftershocks from that day.
-- Chad Byers, Ellicott City, Md. (5:11 p.m.)

I agree that we should be holding on to Cano (fielding problems aside) and Wang, however let's also not forget that a number of the deals pulled off by the Yankees over the last decade have brought in some major talent. If we had refused to trade our young talent we would be without Paul O'Neill (Roberto Kelly), Scott Brosius, Graeme Lloyd (Gerald Williams, Bob Wickman), Jeff Nelson and Tino Martinez (Sterling Hitchcock). People forget too quickly. It is easy to pick on the Yanks but let's not forget that Yankees were terrible in 2000 until they picked up Glenallen Hill and David Justice in mid-July. Relax!
-- Jeff, Woodmere, N.Y. (5:36 p.m.)

This Yankees fan couldn't agree more about holding on to both Wang and Cano. Sadly, though, I have to stand by what I've been saying ever since this promising pair of players came up: They'll look great in the Astros uniforms they'll be wearing on July 31. It pains me to say it, but it seems to be the way the Boss runs his team these days.
-- Carla, Brooklyn, N.Y. (6:01 p.m.)

Cameron is younger, faster, a better fielder, has some power (he was a 30/30 guy last year) and much cheaper than Sheffield. Sheffield's contract will prevent the Mets from making other deals. It's a bad trade for the Mets. Which is why they'll do it.
-- Allen, Monsey, N.Y. (6:31 p.m.)

Gary Sheffield for Mike Cameron would be "great" for the Yankees? Sheffield is one of the most feared hitters in baseball, while Cameron is basically an "easy out" who hits the occasional home run. He's having the best year of his career, but even at that he's not match for Sheffield offensively. Defensively, the Yankees' so-called "gaping hole" in center field could be quite adequately filled by Hideki Matsui as soon as his ankle is sufficiently healed. The Yankees' apparent inability to see this is, to this observer, one of the most frustrating aspects of this so-far disappointing season (and undoubtedly will lead to a boneheaded panic move such as the Sheffield-Cameron deal you mention).
-- Tommy Root, New York (7:31 p.m.)

What puzzles me the most of all this talk is how skeptics said that the Yankees had no farm talent left. Meanwhile two keys to their team are straight from the minors in their own system. And now all this talk of Eric Duncan moving up, along with Melky Cabrera. There's no possibility these two get moved instead of Cano or Wang?
-- Jesse Kyriazis, Whitestone, N.Y. (9:01 p.m.)

All the trade discussions are fine, some need to be made. I would like to address the root cause, fix that and then move forward first. It is time for Joe Torre to go. Yes, he's a classy guy and all that. The mark of a good leader is getting the troops to perform when things are not so good. Torre inherited one of the best lineups in 1996 and rode the wave for many years. This year, it appears there has been much indecision on his part. You can look at his lineup at any day and it always changes. It is his job to figure out how to motivate this team and that clearly isn't happening. I love the Yankees and have for nearly 40 years. Joe is just a nice guy and needs to go period. Then lets make some of the small changes. After all, the Yankees still have one of the best lineups in the game.
-- A.P. Hughes, Tampa (8:26 a.m., Thursday)

The Yanks should keep Wang and Cano, but trade Sheffield. Sure Sheffield has always been a very good player, but he's on the downside of his career. The Yankees are where they are now because they don't plan for the future. You can't buy a championship every year. Cameron may not be the answer, but he's probably worth the risk. A lot of .250 hitters have turned out to be solid players as they mature. Sure he's probably not the next Mark Mcguire, but it would open up some payroll and some young legs in the outfield. Personally I hope they keep Sheff and trade Wang and Cano for a couple of 40-year-old perennial All-Stars who demand $10 million a season.
-- Patric Farrell, Tulsa, Okla. (11:11 a.m., Thursday)