Yankees to get infielder Betemit from L.A. for reliever Proctor

[rik]

The Dodgers and Yankees have agreed in principle on a trade that would send reliever Scott Proctor to the Dodgers for infielder Wilson Betemit, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

The Dodgers, who have a 5.61 bullpen ERA since the All-Star break, have been in on a number of trade discussions involving relievers but zeroed in on Proctor over the last 24 hours.

The Yankees view Betemit as another first-base/DH/bench option for this year, and a potential third-base replacement for Alex Rodriguez next year.

Betemit hit .231 with 10 homers and 26 RBIs with Los Angeles, which acquired him from the Atlanta Braves in a deadline deal last season. He played mostly third base with the Dodgers but is unlikely to see much time there with Alex Rodriguez in the midst of an MVP-type season for New York.

Yankees manager Joe Torre has complained about the significant dropoff offensively from his starters to reserves, and Betemit could be the answer. The 25-year-old switch-hitter also can play shortstop and second base and is batting .320 (8-for-25) as a pinch hitter this season. He had pinch-hit homers in consecutive games at Atlanta in May.

Proctor developed into one of Torre's favorite relievers last season, going 6-4 with a 3.52 ERA in an AL-high 83 games. It was the second-most appearances by a pitcher in club history.

The excitable right-hander is 2-5 with a 3.81 ERA and four blown saves in 52 games this year. He finished off a rough June by burning some of his equipment on the field at Yankee Stadium after a loss to Oakland, and has a 2.84 ERA in July.

He gives Dodgers manager Grady Little another option to get the ball to Takashi Saito, who has converted 26 of 29 save opportunities. Los Angeles was in a virtual tie with Arizona for the NL West lead entering play Tuesday.

The Yankees were eight back of Boston in the AL East and four behind Cleveland in the wild-card race before Tuesday's games. They haven't missed the playoffs since 1994 -- when the postseason was wiped out by a strike.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Bay Area Jat]

u should kick urself for not trading for big joe blanton

[rik]

u should kick urself for not trading for big joe blanton

They were asking for too much.

[Bay Area Jat]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

[rik]

The Dodgers and A's are talking about Blanton again. Lets see if it gets done.

[Javier]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

We're already contenders.  The only way you can acquire Blanton is by trading away a good number of top level prospects, something the Dodgers shouldn't do. 

[I Am The Anton]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

Doesn't matter what the dodgers do. The braves have this shit wrapped up.

[Don Jacob]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

Doesn't matter what the dodgers do. The braves have this shit wrapped up.

ooops i'm sorry i just threw up a little in my mouth.

[Bay Area Jat]

^^ lol +1

[I Am The Anton]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

Doesn't matter what the dodgers do. The braves have this shit wrapped up.

ooops i'm sorry i just threw up a little in my mouth.

If you even think about saying the dodgers lineup or bullpen is better than the braves, you are banned from all baseball discussion.

[Don Jacob]

lol too bad the dodgers will make the playoffs and the braves won't.

[Bay Area Jat]

braves made a couple nice deals today texiera and dotel not bad all depends on if they get the shitty dotel or the decent one

[eS El Duque]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

We're already contenders.  The only way you can acquire Blanton is by trading away a good number of top level prospects, something the Dodgers shouldn't do. 

Yes you guys are...but at least 4 teams in the AL have a better shot.

[rik]

braves made a couple nice deals today texiera and dotel not bad all depends on if they get the shitty dotel or the decent one

Yeah, but they have no starting pitching.

[Javier]

u guys got one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. this is ur year so u better make something major happen before 4 pm if u wanna be a contender

We're already contenders.  The only way you can acquire Blanton is by trading away a good number of top level prospects, something the Dodgers shouldn't do. 

Yes you guys are...but at least 4 teams in the AL have a better shot.

The good thing is that the Dodgers don't have to worry about those AL Teams, only if they make it to the World Series.  And in one series, anything can happen.