For the first time in a while the New York Yankees did next to nothing at the trade deadline. Despite the fact that I think Dustin Ackley is a nice, little, fun player that move does nothing to help the Yankees. The Yankees were not willing to part with some of their younger prospects. Could it be that the Yankees view these four prized minor leaguers as their next core four?

The initial core four of Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada won a total of 5 World Series championships. While Bernie Williams was in that mix too, he was not around for the 2009 World Series championship.

RHP Luis Severino might be a top of the rotation pitcher like Andy Pettitte was. Gary Sanchez might be a solid backstop for 15+ years with the Yankees like Jorge Posada was. First Baseman Greg Bird and Right Fielder Aaron Judge are seen as potential future stars as well. 

Severino is already here and was impressive in his debut. We've been hearing about Gary Sanchez for years. Greg Bird and Aaron Judge will likely been seen in 2016 or 2017 with Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran moving into the last year of their contracts and ultimately moving on.

Yankees brass have faith in these individuals leading the team in the future and we may get to see all of them come September callups!

Josh Towers – signed with Dodgers, no big loss for the Yankees who only ever used him when pitchers were overused the night before.

Hideki Matsui – signed with Angels, the Angels might give Matsui the opportunity to play the field, which is what he wanted. Obviously a loss for the Yankees but they signed Nick Johnson & traded for Curtis Granderson in order to replace his production.

Eric Hinske – signed with Braves, he is a good glue guy but the Yankees had to let him go. In 2007 & 2009 he won World Series, in 2008 he lost the World Series, so Yankees expect him to be on the losing team in 2010 as well.

Johnny Damon – All reports indicate he will sign with Tigers, which benefits both teams. Tigers always overpay players past their prime: Kenny Rogers, etc. to excessive contracts & feel the pain. This will allow the Yankees to look at options in the minors for left field, unfortunately it appears Shelley Duncan signed with the Indians.

Xavier Nady – If he is healthy the Yankees should re-sign him as a potential fourth outfielder who can hit a lot.

Jose Molina – Francisco Cervelli’s emergence & the signing of Nick Johnson to play DH means Jose Molina will not return. Due to his defense & game calling he will catch on with another team, possibly the Mets or Royals.

Jerry Hairston Jr. – signed with Padres to play with his brother this season. The Yankees lose a good utility man who obviously didn’t care about winning, but wants to play – only reason I can explain signing with the Padres.

Freddy Guzman – good speed guy, who the Yankees may re-sign & store away in Triple A, unless he is signed to a major league roster. No big loss for the Yankees if he leaves, guys with speed who can’t hit are all over.

Chien Ming Wang – 16 teams supposedly want him but he won’t pitch until at least June according to sources. The Yankees should re-sign him at some point in the season due to the certainty Andy Pettitte will struggle or be hurt. Him leaving only hurts Yankees if he reverts to old form & signs with rival team.

Chad Gaudin – resigned, no doubt he will spend all season in Triple A unless a starter gets injured for an extended period of time.

Sergio Mitre – resigned, no doubt he will spend all season in Triple A unless a starter gets injured for an extended period of time.

Reid Gorecki – who? Clearly just a “depth” move, as he’ll never see the field for the NY Yankees.

Royce Ring – if healthy, could be a reliable middle reliever at some point during the season.

Zack Segovia – who? Another “depth” move, entirely possible he starts out in Double A before ending the year in Triple A.

Mike Rivera – another “depth” move. Could easily be the starting catcher for the Triple A ballclub, assuming Cervelli breaks camp with the big club, if Cervelli fails to make the big club, could be Posada’s new backup.

Nick Johnson – honestly the only signing the Yankees have made of note, as all their moves were via trade. If healthy he’ll hit 320 with 20 homers and 90 rbis. I like this signing, as not only can he hit but he can field as well, which could keep Teixeira fresher as the season moves on. Being the primary DH could help him avoid injuries.

Get Curtis Granderson, Send Away Ian Kennedy, Phil Coke, Austin Jackson

The Yankees traded away their supposed crown jewel in Austin Jackson. Austin Jackson could’ve easily been the center fielder for the Yankees for the next 15 years, instead the Yankees preferred a centerfielder – who from having on my fantasy baseball team – is a power hitter who strikes out a ton.

Most people have given up on Ian Kennedy – so trading him away wasn’t a surprise to anyone.

Phil Coke is the wildcard here. He had a fairly decent year in 2009, if he can put together a few more good years the Tigers make out like bandits in this trade by gaining a center fielder for 15 years & a setup man for 15 years while trading away someone who could be a 275 hitter but not much more.

Essentially the trade favors the Tigers if Coke is a good setup man for them. The trade favors the Yankees if Jackson & Coke aren’t what they’re cracked up to be.

Get Javier Vazquez & Boone Logan, Send Away Melky Cabrera, Michael Dunn

This trade intrigues me. The Yankees traded away, who at the moment, was their starting left fielder for an average pitcher & an average reliever. In today’s day & age if pitchers stay healthy they usually win 15 games regardless of ability, so adding Vazquez isn’t too big of a deal – until health is concerned. Vazquez always makes his starts which coming off a season where the Yankees had to rely on Mitre & Gaudin to start games is a benefit.

The Yankees got the better of this deal because they traded an average outfielder for an average starter, who will be the #4 pitcher, and a reliever who could materialize into what the Yankees hope Damaso Marte will be. I don’t expect Dunn to have much impact in a loaded Braves bullpen.

Get Jamie Hoffman, Send Away Brian Bruney

This trade is lopsided in the favor of the Yankees. The Yankees obtained Hoffman who is supposed to be a good hitter for a relief who the Yankees had given up on. Bruney is often hurt & very unreliable. The same thing happened with Scott Proctor, he was here a few years – did terrible, was injured, was sent out the door & not done much since. I expect the same to happen with Bruney as he gets lost in the shuffle in a greatly improved Nationals bullpen.

So two terrible teams played on Saturday in NJ. That game was difficult to watch. The Nets made a run late simply because the Knicks missed every shot they took. Towards the end the Nets players kept jumping too early for rebounds resulting in easy points for the Knicks.

There is one thing that is bothering me from that game though. Is Nate Robinson really this stupid? Many sports analysts suggest in the NFL that Oakland Raiders QB Jamarcus Russell needs to "decide whether he seriously wants to play or not." They deem his lack of trying in practice and lack of working out as him not being serious about things. We need to start asking the same of Nate Robinson. What he did on Saturday was similar to what a 15 year old would do if he was trying to annoy someone else at the local rec center. Rightly he was benched for the rest of the game, I think the guy should just be released - he serves no real purpose as he does more idiotic stuff like this than perform on the court, aside from being able to jump over certain all-star centers.

So after every season we get into the "Hot Stove Season" and have to read about or view on YES network or ESPN about how the Yankees will pursue so and so.

Lately I have seen some rather odd journalism that goes on. Unfortunately Yahoo Sports is usually the culprit. Do they ever check their sources? They claimed the Yankees were attempting to trade Nick Swisher, then the next day everyone under the sun denied that. The only way trading Nick Swisher would make sense is if Xavier Nady was re-signed and could prove he can stay healthy. In other words, the Yankees wouldn't trade Swisher until June or the trade deadline if they do at all.

Reports are the Marlins refuse to sign Josh Johnson to a 4 year deal, that he has asked for. The Marlins will only offer a 3 year deal. This is the problem with Major League Baseball, teams develop talented players and then refuse to pay them what they're worth when they outperform their rookie contracts. The Marlins though, are among the only three teams in MLB who can develop players, let them leave and not miss a beat - obviously the others are the Twins and the Angels. When Josh Johnson goes on the market expect a team like the Dodgers, Red Sox or Cubs to buy him. When the Yankees spend money it's a big story, when these other big market teams spend the money it's deemed baseball economics.

ESPN decided to run a story stating Roy Halladay will not re-sign with the Blue Jays. Really? The Blue Jays tried to trade him last year and will do the same this year thinking the guy would want to stay there? I'm sure the reasons are simple for Halladay, he's done all he can in Toronto but wants to win a World Series. He may win 250 games or so and make the Hall of Fame. I'm sure it also annoys Doc that the Blue Jays reward 1 year of performance with huge contracts to Vernon Wells and Alex Rios. When they let his friend AJ Burnett go to the Yankees that may have been the last straw, as the Blue Jays let good players go and sign mediocre players (that includes you BJ Ryan) to excessive contracts.

Can the sports writers keep articles to things that are factual? I know some stories are put under a "rumor" section but most of the rumors posted note a source - recent ones just say things that could be true without any proof.