[abrahamrudy]

I don't think the Yankees will make a serious bid for Holliday. Look at his numbers. The guy hits .320 in the National League and then transitions to the American League and FLOPS. His average in half a year in the superior league was a full .40 points below his career average. And, not surprisingly, when he headed back to the NL and hit next to a guy like Pujols, his average jumped right back up. I don't see how that makes him attractive to an American League team, especially given his history in the field under pressure, and given the ask price a la Scott Boras.

Regarding Hughes, I think Cashman believes (and will always believe) that a pitcher is more valuable as a starter than as a reliever and will continue to try to get Hughes and Joba ironed out as starters. Furthermore, I watched every one of Hughes' appearances last year, and he was VERY much hittable towards the end of the season and in the playoffs. His strikeouts were way down towards the end of the year, and people were hitting the ball hard more and more often, because, as it turns out, you're not going to get by in the Major Leagues with just a plus fastball. You need off-speed stuff. And Hughes has off-speed stuff, and he has a starter's makeup. So there's no reason to use him as a set-up man when the team needs a starter.

David Robertson, on the other hand, is ideally suited to be a reliever. The guy has late life on his fastball that makes it seem like it's moving 5-7 mph faster. He has good location too. He has excellent potential and I think Eiland knows that (he spent a lot of time working with him one-on-one while Robertson was rehabbing from his injury at the end of the year. Expect to see more of him in 2010