Expert: Gina McDonough - 7/20/2000

Question
Justice to the Yankees for Lege?  Come on - give me a break.  Please, please explain.  

Answer
Hello Raymond,

Well, as you know, since we aren't on the inside of the Indians Organization, we can only speculate on the reasons behind the David Justice trade.

My best guess is that they wanted to free up some payroll money, perhaps to help sign Manny Ramirez.  If they can't get Ramirez to sign, then I think they will use the money to help get more pitching or another power bat in the lineup.  Of course, we all know Justice's numbers and leadership were much better than Ricky Ledee's, but you have to remember that Justice is injury-prone.  How many times had he been sidelined this season because of one injury or another?  I, personally, think that his clubhouse leadership and clutch hitting outweighed the injury issue, but then again, there might have been some things behind the scenes that we'll never know about.

Also, after freeing up that payroll, they can use Ledee as trade bait -- he is young, and still has plenty of developing to do, and having the chance to play almost every day will help him become a better player.  I don't look for Ledee to be around in Cleveland for too long.  

Somehow, I always seem to come back to the idea that the trade was mainly to free up the money to help sign Manny.  Let's face it -- we really can't afford to lose Manny... if we do, he'll be sure to destroy us with his hitting when we play his new team.  (How many HR's has he had since returning from the DL?!?!?!?)

Anyway, that's my take on the trade.  Hope I've given you some (accurate?) insight on this confusing trade.

Regards,
Gina McDonough
ginamari@core.com