Yankees Sign Sexson; D-Backs Bring Clark Back

There were two minor baseball moves made today.  The higher profile of these moves consisted of the Yankees signing Richie Sexson after he cleared waivers.  The acquisition of Sexson who was murdering left-handed pitching (.344 Avg./.623 Slg.) means that Jason Giambi (.229 Avg v LHP) will no longer be a full-time player and will sit against left handed pitchers.  Unless Sexson gets his act together at the plate I doubt we will see much of him against right-handed pitchers.  With Hideki Matsui possibly out for the year and Johnny Damon currently on the shelf the Yanks were looking for someone who could bolster the offense in some fashion for the time being.

Ultimately, this is just a drop in the bucket in getting the Yankees closer to the playoff race.  Yes, they needed some help at the plate but with Chien-Mien Wang still on the disabled list Andy Pettite is the only starting pitcher Joe Girardi can count on to consistently give him at least six innings every night he toes the rubber.  Joba Chamberlain is still finding his way and Mike Mussina rarely gets through six innings these days and with a bullpen that has basically been a mess this season outside of Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera the Yankees need some arms who can go deep into ballgames if they want to have any chance of competing with Tampa and Boston down the stretch.

The other move consisted of the Arizona Diamondbacks bringing Tony Clark back into the fold.  Tony Clark had always enjoyed a certain level of success in Arizona but given that current first baseman Conor Jackson is one of the few Arizona players having a good season at the plate Clark, who was not playing particularly well in San Diego to begin with, is going to do little more than be a pinch hitter.  But, it is not as thought the D-Backs gave up anything of significance to get him.

Mavs Want Artest; Camby Insulted by Trade

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Mavericks have offered Jerry Stackhouse and Brandon Bass to the Sacramento Kings for Ron Artest.  It goes on to say that the Kings will not seriously entertain Cuban’s overtures unless Josh Howard is thrown into the mix.  I guess one cannot blame Cuban for trying but I don’t really get the interest here.  Granted Stackhouse’s better days are behind him and Bass had his best season as a pro scoring 8.3 points and grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game coming off the bench in Dallas last year but did he seriously believe the Kings would bite at this?  Or, does he believe the Kings are that desperate to unload the increasingly unhappy Artest?  Surely Artest has more trade value than this.  Heck, the Lakers are reportedly willing to part with Lamar Odom who is a lot more productive than either Stackhouse or Bass are at this stage with likely more productive years ahead of him than Stakchouse does.

What is a bit puzzling about the Mavs reported interest is why the interest is there anyway.  Don’t the Mavs already have Josh Howard who is essentially a slimmer version of Artest?  Is the intent to move one of them to shooting guard?  If so that would definitely be an interesting offense to witness in Dallas.  Then again with Rick Carlisle as the new coach they may be looking for more defensive minded players who can excel in a halfcourt tempo offense.

Switching gears a bit, Marcus Camby tells the Rocky Mountain News that he felt blindsided and insulted about his unceremonious departure from Denver.  Essentially Camby is miffed about how the deal all went down and felt like the team should have given him a heads up about what was going on.  He says he knows this is strictly a business move and the team really does not owe him an explanation but he felt that after six years he would have been treated a little better.  He goes on to say he feels as though maybe the organization is using him as a scapegoat for the team’s failure to advance deep into the playoffs.

I get where Camby is coming from but it is not as though he is the first guy to be treated this way in pro sports.  He just needs to get over it and move on.

The Nets reportedly offered the Nuggets a package of young players and expiring contracts in exchange for Camby but they were not interested in taking any salaries back for Camby.  It is an interesting rumor to say the least.  Why not take back a Josh Boone or Sean Williams and Marcus Williams in addition to say Stromile Swift for Camby?  At least you get some good young talent on the roster in the event Kenyon Martin and/or Nene go down to injury again.  But, obviously, the Nuggets were interested in just dumping salary and saving money instead of competing for a championship next season.  Instead they are looking at Francisco Elson, David Harrison, and Chris Anderson to fill the void left by Camby.