Let’s say the New York Yankees continue to lose more than
they win. Let’s say that for the first time since 1989 when the Yankees sent
Rickey Henderson to the Oakland Athletics that New York would be sellers at the
trading deadline. Let’s say Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman finally commit
to a full blown rebuild and get real with the fans on their expectations for
not only the rest of the 2016 season but the 2017 season as well. Let’s say
that the Yankees get real and have a fire sale, what would the roster look like
when they got done?
This is all hypothetical obviously as I don’t expect most of
these players to be traded, if any at all, but let’s have some fun with it.
Let’s assume that Brett Gardner, Carlos Beltran, Michael Pineda, Nathan
Eovaldi, Aroldis Chapman, Ivan Nova and Andrew Miller are all traded away this
summer. What would the Yankees have left to build around not only this season
but next season as well?
You have to think the outfield would be some combination of
Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury and top outfield prospect Aaron Judge with a Ben
Gamel or equivalent (Jake Cave with the new found 40 man roster spot?) on the
bench barring a return of an outfielder in any trade this summer.
The infield would stay the same for the most part with
Robert Refsnyder taking a lot of reps at first base with Starlin Castro, Didi
Gregorius and Chase Headley filling out the rest. If the Yankees could move
Headley I think that they would but I can’t see a team that desperate for third
base help that they would come to the Yankees before going elsewhere. Headley
is still useful defensively but that back and bat just seem shot to me, I could
be wrong. Ronald Torreyes would stay on the bench along with Austin Romine and
Chris Parmelee while Brian McCann stays behind the dish. Trading McCann may be
beneficial in the short term but you want a veteran presence who knows how to
handle a staff catching during a rebuild or not.
Speaking of the pitching I can see the Yankees bringing
James Kaprielian up to get his feet wet assuming he’s healthy and back from
elbow inflammation. If not you would have to think trading that cast of
characters above would net at least a starting pitcher or two that is MLB ready
to plug in behind Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino. Unfortunately on the
starters side the Yankees are still severely lacking in quality depth which may
lead to Chad Green and Luis Cessa getting starts until Domingo Acevedo and
others are ready.
In the bullpen, a bullpen that would be absolutely gutted by
the way, you would have to think that Johnny Barbato comes back up to pitch
some middle relief as well as Jacob Lindgren if he can ever get healthy again.
The bullpen I don’t worry as much about though as the Yankees have this crazy
tendency to produce solid bullpen arms year in and year on a consistent basis.
Add to the fact that New York won’t have anything to play for and you have a
wide open shot for any and all arms to prove themselves in the next coming
years.
So there you have it. Out with the old and in with the new,
and a lot of new it would be. This was nearly impossible to do accurately
because no one knows what Cashman could bring back in any of these presumed
trades but you would have to think the questions in depth at the starting
pitching and first base positions would be solved with these trades. You would
also have to think the Yankees would bring back a catcher in the deal as well
to serve as insurance just in case Austin Romine or Gary Sanchez’s injuries are
worse than we were led to believe. It would be a scary transition for many
Yankees fans, especially myself, to see a fire sale but it would make the 2018
and 2019 Yankees so much more entertaining to watch. I’m torn whether to bite
the bullet or not because I tend to hang onto hope for too long but I’m almost
there this season.
I don't think a true fire sale is going to happen. I do think some pieces have to be moved though. In my opinion, Chapman, Beltran, and Nova all have to be traded. Beltran's value will never be higher than it is now. We have to get something more than a compensation pick for Chapman. And Nova has actually increased his value. He's not worth taking the chance of accepting a qualifying offer. It would be a shame to let him walk away for nothing in return. This team has a very small chance at postseason play. And that's on the optimistic side. More than likely, they'll finish right around the .500 mark and come up a few games short. Filling those 3 holes with minor leaguers is not going to make that big of a difference.
ReplyDeleteHere are the players that I'd like the Yankees to hold onto, as I believe they could be a part of the team's future...
ReplyDeleteSP: Luis Severino
SP: Nathan Eovaldi
SP: James Kaprielian
RP: Dellin Betances
RP: Andrew Miller (can really help team in '17 and '18)
C: Gary Sanchez
1B: Greg Bird
2B: Starlin Castro (lower BABIP, higher LD%, than career averages=better than we've seen so far this year)
SS: Didi Gregorius
IF: Jorge Mateo
RF: Aaron Judge
That leaves two starting pitcher spots, third base, center field, left field, and designated hitter open.
BTW, I didn't assign Mateo a position, but by the time he's ready for MLB Didi or Starlin will probably be let go. Unless the Yankees still haven't got a regular third baseman, and one of those three guys can learn the position (only Didi has any experience there, and that was just 10 innings in 2014).
Very Good list Bryan.
DeleteI would add; Wilkerman Garcia SS, Luis Torrens C, Domingo Acevedo P, Jacob Lindgren P, and Refsy for sure.
Castro has worked out at 3rd base and I think he will grow out of 2nd base soon.
I'd expect a AAA pitching prospect if we are talking about moving these parts. The AAA players from Wilson trade will continue to blow. A 1.66 Era in Scranton is worthless, and they won't be playing any significant role in new York. Shit, if we get a higher AA level prospect pitcher, they'd still make it to new York before those losers.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's stupid and a poor precedent where players haven't been traded during contract years. Like Hans will say, not trading cano or Robertson is the stupidest freaking thing to be done... FYI we would probably have several prospects already 1-2 yes into pro ball, better than the prospects we have now, if we traded those players at the deadline. But here we are.
ReplyDeleteAgain, the worst possible thing that could happen is a playoff shot. What are we going to add a bat before the deadline? Real smart.
Exactly Daryl. Go online and read an article on the NY Post about their last 10 first rd picks and then all you elf fans come talk to me. The writers last name is Schneidman or something like that.
Delete