There’s always a handful of Hot Stove surprises, and this year’s biggest yet has to be the New York Yankees’ dealing outfielder Melky Cabrera to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Javier Vazquez today.

It was a good deal for the Yankees, who acquire a top-notch, innings-eating No. 3 starter and trade away prospects and a good, but expendable, young player in Cabrera. Surely, general manager Brian Cashman has a plan in place to replace Cabrera’s production and restock his empty cupboard of outfielders.

In terms of Vazquez’s fantasy value, a move to the Bronx may not be such a favorable thing. Vazquez has been infinitely more successful in his eight seasons as a National League pitcher than in his four seasons as an American Leaguer. The 33-year-old has a 4.52 career ERA in the AL and a 4.02 ERA in the NL, including a 15-10 record and career-low 2.87 ERA with the Braves last season.

Still, Vazquez is a known commodity and a great bet to once again reach double-digit wins, 200 innings and 200 strikeouts. The higher profile gig does negate some of the changes for the worse in Vazquez’s fantasy value, if anything because his usual work will all but lock up a second straight 15-win season. Vazquez was an All-Star in his first stint with the Yankees and could make another push for the same honors this time around.

Cabrera is a nice player, but he’s already close to a statistical peak. He had a career year in ‘09, hitting .274 with 13 home runs, 68 RBIs and 10 stolen bases, and it would be unreasonable to expect a great leap forward. Cabrera doesn’t have great power or speed, and he isn’t going to be in a position to either score or drive in a ton of runs.

While the case can certainly be made that the Yankees were better off keeping Cabrera, a ‘glue guy’ and one of the team’s most clutch hitters, that’s of no consequence here. He moves on to a less crowded outfield and a bigger role than the “third and a half” outfielder role he played in New York. And with a presumed increase in playing time should come a solid, .280-15-80-80-10 type season; results that merit some attention, but only as a reserve outfielder in mixed leagues.