Post by Lorenzo Alcazar on Jul 19, 2017 12:37:17 GMT -5
The Yankees/Sox trade was interesting. Frazier is a rental who is having a down year. I know the Yankees have had a ton of struggles at first, but I like Choi and Cooper fighting for it and Headley and Frazier are interchangeable at third, with Fazier better in the field right now and Headley better at the plate, with neither being much more than a 2WAR on the season either way. So the trade doesn't do much for them in the field and I think the trade really had to be about the bullpen pieces.
They gave away a 20 year old prospect who is a hard 3 years away. He's a top 100 spec though. So I think they could have traded him for something better. I know they have a surplus of OFers but they needed to look to package as much as possible for starting pitching imo, specifically Sonny Gray. I guess conversely, fans should be thankful they didn't give up more to get Yonder Alonso, whose year at the plate makes no sense, but he still sucks at first. He would have easily cost them more and when you're more than one player away, you don't make that move.
I do agree with the sentiment that they showed up a year too early. They're the 2015 Cubs right now. They started putting it together before they were supposed to and I think they'll likely be a WC team. That being said, they don't have the pitching to go the distance. That's why they need to go after a young controllable pitcher as hard as possible before the end of the month. It helps them this year and makes their offseason so much easier.
Teams made it very clear that for a starting pitcher that is of the caliber that we would need, we need to talk Torres and Clint Frazier. No exceptions. Look at what the Cubs had to give up for Quintana, and he's not even an ace.
The Yankees are really just setting things up for next year, and in the offseason there will be pitchers you can sign for just money. Cashman has made it clear that we are not going to be held up and gunpoint in trades. Nobody is just going to give you a SP to help you out because we're swell guys.
Next year your rotation is going to be:
1. Masahiro Tanaka
2. Luis Severino
3. Jordan Montgomery
4. Chance Adams
5. ?
And don't forget, James Kaperlian is going to be back at some point during the 2nd half.
Depending on how the year plays out, that ? could end up being CC Sabathia. He's having his best year since like 2011. If he's figured it out and can stay healthy, he'll only be a 37 year old left-handed former Cy Young Award winner. Could probably get him back on a 1-year deal.
For the Yankees to go out and even think about getting a starter, that would mean going into next year you'd have to either not bring back CC Sabathia, or you're talking about either NOT promoting Chance Adams, who is ready to roll, OR trading either Severino or Montgomery which would be foolish.
I've said it for years that they should go with a 6-man rotation, but the Yankees have refused to even entertain the notion. So, unless we get lucky and Tanaka opts out, this is what we are going to go with. So only have ONE SP spot available going into 2018. Chance Adams WILL be in the rotation. And if you trade for a guy or trade for somebody long term, there's no room for Kaperlian to join the rotation full time in 2019. So you probably have to go short term with somebody like CC in 2018 on a 1-year deal.
For all the BS that people do about starters and the rotation, this season when the Yankees don't win and the entire issue during this slump has been the bullpen. We've gotten some real awful starts from guys, but even when those things happened, we almost always came back and the game was lost in the 7th, 8th, and 9th.
Clippard is gone, so that's addition by subtraction. Betances and Chapman seem to have figured themselves out, and with Robertson and Kahnle joining Green and Warren, this should be straightened out.
I think the Yankees still envision Greg Bird being the Opening Day 1B in 2018, and Headley will be in the last year of his deal and can play his way off the team at some point and be replaced by Gleyber Torres. Obviously Didi and Castro are not going anywhere, and your OF is set at Clint Frazier, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Aaron Judge.
So unless we Jedi Mind trick some team into taking Ellsbury, the team is pretty much set going into 2018, unless Cashman does something insane.
This is the Yankees 2018 Roster:
1. Masahiro Tanaka (SP)
2. Luis Severino (SP)
3. Jordan Montgomery (SP)
4. Chance Adams (SP)
5. David Robertson (RP)
6. Dellin Betances (RP)
7. Aroldis Chapman (RP)
8. Tommy Kahnle (RP)
9. Chad Greed (RP)
10. Adam Warren (RP)
11. Caleb Smith (RP)
12. Brett Gardner or Aaron Hicks (OF) *Can't keep both, unless you can move Ellsbury*
13. Jacoby Ellsbury (OF)
14. Clint Frazier (OF)
15. Aaron Judge (OF)
16. Greg Bird (1B)
17. Starlin Castro (2B)
18. Didi Gregorius (SS)
19. Chase Headley (3B)
20. Gary Sanchez (C)
21. Austin Romine or other backup catcher (C)
22. Tyler Austin/Garrett Cooper (Bench)
23. Ronald Torreyes or some other IF type utility guy (Bench)
24. Relief pitcher
25. 5th starter
The Yankees actually have a PROBLEM, because they had too many outfielders. They are going to have to trade either Gardner or Hicks, and even then, there is no room to bring back Matt Holliday, because whoever is not playing OF that day is likely going to DH. Unless you drop the last RP and use if for another OF, but even then you're going to have one guy on the bench a game between Frazier/Ellsbury/Gardner/Hicks/Judge even if one is DHing.
So really, baring crazy ass trades, you've got two open roster spots for 2018, and one will be the 5th starter, and the other will be the last man in the bullpen,...for all we know it could be one of Shreve/Holder/Mitchell/whatever.
There's not really a lot the Yankees can do. But again, I wouldn't expect the Yankees to trade for or sign some huge ace SP, because then it blocks James Kaperlian in 2019, unless you're telling me you plan on moving Adams, Severino, or Montgomery, or you think we can unload Tanaka somehow.