New poll: Who should Yankees trade for?

Our last poll resulted in a split decision: home run-happy teams may or may not be successful in the playoffs. Just as the statistics proved, we'll have to wait and see.

More importantly, the next 30 hours or so are the busiest time of the season for MLB general managers. The non-waiver trade deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday. They've already made one big splash, nabbing Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners for practically nothing. As a Yankee, he hasn't gone a game without a hit.

Reviewing today's notable deals

One of the least talented and slowest moving free agent markets in a long while saw a few deals get done today. Most should interest Yankees fans.

• Melky Cabrera avoided arbitration with the Braves and agreed to a one-year, $3.1 million deal - more than double what he made with the Yankees last year. The Braves could be starting an all '09 Yankees outfield this season. That's Eric Hinske in right, Cabrera in center and Johnny Damon in left.
  
• Jose Valverde finally signed with the Tigers. He'll make $14MM over two years with a $9MM option. Some Yankees fans speculated he could be Mariano Rivera's setup man this year. He certainly would have helped the Yankees' bullpen, but the Yankees seem to have Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes chalked up for that role.
• Josh Johnson of the Marlins got a big payday. Four years, $39 million, to be exact. And that's after Major League Baseball and the players' union encouraged them to spend more revenue-sharing money. Johnson was discussed in a lot of Yankees forums/comment sections as possibly the next big move for the Yanks. He's one of baseball's premier pitchers and he's about to turn 26.
• Hideki Okajima avoided arbitration with the Red Sox and will earn $2.75 million plus bonuses in 2010. The Yankees have hit him pretty hard in the past (14 ER in 22-1/3 IP).
• Adam LaRoche agreed to a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks worth $4.5 million. He briefly saw some time with the Red Sox last season and then was traded back to the Braves to finish out the year. LaRoche is a very durable player who averages 26 homers and 91 RBIs in 162 games.