Most Popular Article of the Week: What To Do w/ Ivan Nova This Offseason

The New York Yankees potentially face a good problem to have this offseason, possibly the best problem to have in Major League Baseball, where the team may have way too much pitching and not enough spots to give them all innings. The Yankees surprisingly could have a relatively young staff in 2016 with Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda leading the way, Luis Severino pitching in his first full MLB season and Nathan Eovaldi looking to build on his 14-win season in his age 26 season. All that youth is impressive and that's before you mention Adam Warren and Bryan Mitchell who will also be fighting for a spot with the grizzly veteran CC Sabathia. Oh yeah, there is also Ivan Nova who will be in the second year removed from Tommy John surgery... what should the Yankees do with him?

The Curious Case of Ivan Nova, another year and another sequel for the New York Yankees. At times Nova looks like the pitcher that once won 16 games for the team and at times looks to be a #2 or #2 starter if he ever figures out his control issues. At other times, and sometimes from inning to inning, Nova looks like he's a fifth starter in the Major Leagues and the obvious choice to be traded or non-tendered before the December non-tender deadline this winter.

Nova faces arbitration for the final time in 2016 before becoming a free agent before the 2017 season and for that reason he could be the loser of the numbers game in the Bronx. Nova, despite all his struggles with his consistency and his control, is too good to merely let go for nothing so the only option in my opinion is a trade. Yankees GM Brian Cashman has shown a willingness to trade away from his stock of Major League talent, which was evident when Martin Prado and David Phelps were sent to Miami while Shane Greene was sent to Detroit for Didi Gregorius in a three-year deal, and he may do that again this winter with Nova. Obviously Nova isn't going to fetch much by himself but including him in a similar deal that brought Eovaldi and Garrett Jones to New York wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities.

In my opinion Tanaka, Pineda, Severino and Eovaldi are virtual locks for the starting rotation leaving Nova, Sabathia, Warren and Mitchell fighting for the fifth spot in a perfect world that see's all these pitchers still on the roster and healthy on the final day of Spring Training 2016. If the team can package someone with Nova for a long-term second baseman then I think the team should at least explore that avenue. If not Nova would make a great asset to the team in his final year of team control in the Bronx. It's really a win-win situation for the New York Yankees here.