Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees are in full on win-now mode. I’m starting to grow impatient with Cashman taking his sweet time making more moves.
The New York Yankees entered this offseason with one main goal; find somebody stupid enough to take Sonny Gray off our hands. Second to that goal, the Yankees are looking to acquire top-notch starting pitchers.
While some, myself included, might say we need to address the team’s inability to score with runners in scoring position, we can all agree that the starting rotation needs a huge upgrade.
Cashman made a splash early by trading for the Seattle Mariners’ James Paxton but hasn’t really made waves since.
In the time between the Paxton trade and now, highly desired lefty Patrick Corbin got overpaid by the Washington Nationals and set the market for free agent pitchers extremely high.
If you need proof that the market value on pitchers is too high just look at the contract Nathan Eovaldi got from the Red Sox. I liked Nasty Nate as much as the next guy but nearly 70 million dollars over four years is a lot of faith in a flamethrower with two Tommy John surgeries under his belt.
With the winter meetings coming up I’m hoping to see Cashman work on acquiring an ace via trade rather than overpay a Dallas Kuechel or give J.A. Happ a contract that covers his age-39 season.
The free agent market is demanding contracts that will bite the Yankees in the ass down the line so it’s time to start looking deeply into possible trade scenarios, like this one from Eric:
Taking on Kipnis is a no brainer if it gets you Bauer (or Kluber) for a lesser prospect haul.. lefty bat you can put at 2B & slide Gleyber to SS while Didi is out, then use in a similar role as Walker last yr.. owed 14.5M (9M AAV) in ‘19 w/option for 16.5M in ‘20 or 2.5M buyout..
— Eric (@Eric_M888) December 7, 2018
This is a good trade.
The Cleveland Indians are looking to dump salary without becoming too non-competitive and the Yankees are looking to spend on a starter. Taking on Kipnis’ contract could allow the Yankees to hold onto both Miguel Andujar and top prospect Estevan Florial. This is exactly the type of deal that serious groundwork can be built around.
The point I’m really trying to make is that the Yankees need to add another frontline starter. If Cashman is really committed to getting a free agent on the Yankee’s terms or not at all, we aren’t going to sign a free agent. Pitchers are going to be overpaid and they are going to get too many years.
If that’s truly Cashman’s holdup on acquiring another starter, he needs to start dipping into the farm system as soon as possible. The more days that pass, the more likely big name free agent pitchers are going to be signed. The more big-name pitchers become unavailable, the higher the asking price in potential trades becomes. It’s simple supply and demand.
If Cashman doesn’t start making moves soon, the Yankees are going to enter the 2019 season having only added Paxton to the rotation while also losing Happ to the market. That isn’t enough to overtake the defending World Series Champions who I will be refusing to name at this time.
