Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Yankees Should Trade One of Big Three, Yes or No?


The New York Yankees are a team full of expectations and talent but at least at the start of the 2016 campaign the team is not full of players meeting expectations or exceeding expectations. This is especially true in the Yankees starting rotation where outside of a great start from Masahiro Tanaka on Sunday the crew has struggled collectively. Now the Yankees are left with a few options, the first option being to wait it out and hope that the world of sample sizes and history even themselves out leading the Yankees to go on a roll. The second option is to call up a James Kaprielian or equivalent to try and spark the rotation and get some innings out of and the third option is to make a trade to bring in some talent. Not many teams are presumably open for business unless the deal is too sweet to pass up, could one such deal too sweet to pass up include one of the Yankees three-headed monster in the bullpen? 

Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances have both lived up to the hype thus far this season recording outs and strikeouts like the zombie apocalypse is coming and their lives depend on it while Aroldis Chapman is staying fresh and stretched out down in minor league camps. Chapman is serving a 30 game suspension currently leaving his trade value low until he comes back but you would have to think the Yankees could move one of these three, not skip a beat, and still improve on the team. Look at the offer the team received for Andrew Miller from the Houston Astros before the season began. In case you missed it the deal was headlined by former first overall draft pick Mark Appel and dominant young stud Vincent Velasquez, could the Yankees pull a similar deal out of their hat or maybe even a better deal as the season goes along? 

The Yankees bullpen could handle the loss of one of these men, especially if Chasen Shreve who also sports a 0.00 ERA at the time of this writing and especially if Johnny Barbato continues to be dominant, and the rotation as it stands today could use a punch in the arm. I’m truly on the fence about it though, sure the Yankees could survive a loss but I’m not sure that they should or not. The perfect recipe for a mediocre starting rotation is a strong bullpen that can take the ball after five or six innings and close things down with a lead. The 1996 Yankees did that and many teams before and since have as well and the 2016 version of the Yankees have done that. Sure they are going to burn out their arms at this torrid pace but one must remember that the warmer it gets and the longer we stretch into the season the longer these starters will go. One must also remember that Chapman will be back early next month taking some of the innings and some of the stress off of everyone else. 

With all that said I pose the question to you. Should the Yankees trade one of their big three out of the bullpen to improve the starting pitching and go for it in 2016? Or should they trade one or more of them and build towards the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons? Or should they simply stand pat and see the plan and the course to fruition? Leave it below in the comments section or drop us a line on twitter by following @GreedyStripes.


8 comments:

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  2. Ok, I'll bite...
    I would trade Chapman but, not until mid-season when the teams in the race are really in need of a top closer. Also, I would have the pitchers in AA/AAA on up that show talent (no matter who they are or their age) on a short string and those that show the skill to be a late inning BP pitcher bring them up on the shuttle and let them work a few inning. If they work out fine if not try another one.
    I think we can get by just fine without Chapman but would like to have him around all season.
    We will lose him for a draft pick next year, we could better utilize him as trade bate, which is what I would do...trade him at the right time!

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  3. Our different perspectives are because we have different expectations about what these guys can do. Not a single one of them will take the ball and not blow an important game. Wild card game, tanaka will blow it again... the only time this hasnt happened was the one game against toronto. every opening day he pitches, every playoff game he'll play. send him back to tokyo.

    so it doesn't matter how dominant the bullpen is. if the starter blows it in the first 5 innings, it doesn't matter. i might be thinking a dominant closer at the trade deadline more than what we would realistically get, but no matter what, it will be a better return than whatever idiot they draft at the 24th pick.

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    1. What gets me is when they have so many players to pick from, they end up with Kyle Holder a no-bat good glove SS. Hell, we have to damn many of those SS now. The 30th pick in the draft for him was a wasted pick...Just a stupid pick, very stupid and besides it pissed me off!

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  4. OMG Reed I agree with you on the Holder pick and stated that last year. Take an arm for gods sake. The earth just tipped over on its axis

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  5. I think if any of them would be traded it would be Chapman. New York could get more for Betances or Miller but neither are set to hit free agency, Chapman is.

    Have to wonder what his value would be at though. I guess it would be high since the whole domestic violence this is behind him now.

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    2. Doesn't matter. If Mets had another closer pitching to a 1.00 Era I think they would have won it. Their BP outside famiglia was complete shit.

      If you're starving, you'll eat anything.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)