Bruney To The Braves? Nats

[UPDATE 1:50 PM: According to Joel Sherman, Bruney has been dealt to the Nationals for a PTBNL. Makes more sense than the Braves; Yanks realize the same benefit. h/t: TYU]

According to George A. King III, the Yankees are close to sending Brian Bruney to the Braves for prospect(s).

Putting aside for a second that this rumor is coming from The Post, it still makes no sense. The Braves have already signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito for more than $10M guaranteed in 2010. They're about to get blindsided by Rafael Soriano accepting arbitration for around $8M next year. Why in the world would they acquire another reliever - with a spotty track record at that - when he's arbitration eligible and due to make anywhere from $1.5M to $2M next year? The Braves desperately need and want an OF bat and need to free payroll from their starting rotation to acquire one. Why then would they accumulate $20M worth of relief pitching before the Winter Meetings even wrap?

From the Yankees standpoint, I think this would be a good deal. Bruney was initially thought to be a non-tender candidate, but all recent indications have been that he will be offered a contract. By moving him now, the Yankees free an incremental amount of payroll - not a major issue for them - but also give themselves some 40 man roster flexibility. Furthermore, it gives them some latitude with next year's bullpen as it takes an optionless pitcher out of the mix. Bruney would likely have been a candidate to be the "7th inning guy" or even "the 8th inning guy", but we've seen that movie before. The club has enough options with David Robertson, Mark Melancon, Damaso Marte, and potentially either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain to cover the late innings.

I'm not buying this one yet, but it'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Joba to De-Virginize New Yankee Stadium?

Based on the rotation that Joe Girardi has set forth...

1. Sabathia
2. Burnett
3. Wang
4. Pettitte
5. Chamberlain

...and the Yankees schedule, New York Post genius George King has penciled Joba in as the starter for the Opener of the New Yankee Stadium (by the way, how long will this Yankee Stadium be called "New"?).

Says King:

Since Chamberlain would work on April 11, he would be in line to start April 16 against the Indians at the Stadium.

"I don't want to give that to you yet because there is a lot of things that can change in spring training," Girardi said of which pitcher will draw the prestigious Stadium opener.

I'm not sure that I buy King's hypothesis. Given the many off-days in the beginning of the season (both scheduled and as a result of Mother Nature being a bitch in the Northeast at this time of the year), a few guys will be skipped, as is ordinarily the case. The prime skip candidate is Joba himself, whose 2009 innings need to be limited to around 150-160 given his total of 100 1/3 IP last year.

Given that Joba will probably be skipped, Andy Pettitte, Sabathia or Burnett are the prime candidates for the Opener.

Thanks for the blog content, George!