The New York Yankees have clawed from the basement and the
cellar of the American League East and while the team is still far behind the
Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles in the division a playoff spot is not
completely out of the question. Now if the Yankees played in the National
League Central where the Chicago Cubs rule the land right now that may be a
different story which got me to thinking would the Cubs and Yankees make good trade
partners? Both if the Yankees fall out of playoff contention or if they stay in
it you would have to think either way the answer is yes. Right?
If the Yankees fall out of contention they have a lot that
they could offer to a team stockpiled with talent and prospects. The Chicago
Cubs are the same team that was ready to put Kyle Schwarber in left field
despite defensive concerns simply to get his bat into the lineup, you don’t
think Chicago would take a rental of Carlos Beltran (assuming he accepts and waives
his no trade clause) if the price was right? You don’t think Chicago would jump
at the opportunity to acquire one or both of Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller?
I sue do.
If the Yankees continue to compete can they hook up in a
trade as well? I don’t see why not but it obviously becomes far less likely.
The Yankees still have a ton of outfield depth, Mason Williams should be back
to join a stable of outfielders including, but not limited to, Slade Heathcott,
Ben Gamel, Jake Cave and others, and they should be better equipped in the
bullpen depth department as well. In this case the deals would be smaller and
likely only involve Cubs prospects but a trade could be struck nonetheless in
my opinion.
I don’t pretend to be a Cubs expert nor do I know a whole
lot about their system and their needs and strengths but I believe a deal could
be struck between these two teams at some point. They already have a working
partnership and have made trades in the recent past so why not? We just have to
wait and see how the cookie crumbles before we define what kind of trade this
will be for the New York Yankees because it looks like either way the Cubs are
going for it in 2016.