Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Offseason Predictions: Starting Pitching Edition

These are not the Yankees of old. They are not going to spend 300 million dollars this winter on
Cole, Strasburg,and Rendon. Though signing these three guys would probably put the Yankees “over the edge” and bring them their first world series in 11 years, it is not smart for the future. They would end up with obsolete players in their late thirties who don’t even play anymore (Ellsbury, end of a-rod, etc). The way to build a winning team has changed since George was in charge. Bringing up young breakout stars and trading for high ceiling, young, and controllable players from other teams is the new strategy. The Yankees have had a very seamless youth movement. The Baby Bombers have taken over, during the regular season at least. These Baby Bombers will eventually hit arbitration and free agency and the Yankees, even with their big wallet, won’t be able to retain them all. Keeping a balance of veterans and young controllable players is how teams have recently won the world series. This brings us back to this offseason. I already outlined who I would target on the offense trade market. So this brings us now to the pitching side of things.

Through a lot of thought and consideration, I have just about came to a conclusion for my predictions for the Yankees this winter on the pitching side. The Yankees have needed another ace for the last couple years and this would have supposedly made the difference. The Yankees missed on Verlander, Scherzer, Corbin, and trading for Cole, and this is why the Astros and Nationals have a world series win and the Yankees don’t. I don’t believe in saying the Yankees would’ve won the world series with one other guy because there are a lot of other variables that have to be factored in. If the best team on paper always won, then games wouldn’t be played. The Astros would’ve just been handed the world series title. There too much chance and other factors to really predict baseball and that's what's great about it. So all of you guys out there who think the Yankees will sign Cole, don’t get your hopes up. If the Yankees do wind up signing Cole, I would not be disappointed though. I would give it about a 25-30% chance of happening. Who knows, maybe "Ninja Cash" will swoop in last second and strike a deal with Gerrit. Anyways, here's my big predictions. "Expert prediction" if you insist.

This offseason I think the Yankees will sign Zack Wheeler and trade for Robbie Ray.

Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler hasn’t exactly had a great career so far, but he looks like a breakout candidate. A lot
of analysts have compared his stuff to Cole, though the naked eye doesn't really show that. He has good velocity, spin rate and low exit velocity. Hopefully the Yankees sign a pitching coach who can help him reach his full potential. Maybe a change of scenery is what he needs. He has the talent, maybe he just needs a change of mindset, maybe a winning mindset. Something he can’t get with the Mets. The Yankees had a lot of interest in him around the trade deadline, but trades between the Mets and Yankees never really come into fruition. He has been roughed up a bunch in his career so he won't be as expensive as a Cole but talent evaluators say he has a lot of talent so he will get a good amount of money. He isn't quite the true ace that the Yankees have supposedly been trying to get but he does bring a good amount of potential to the table.
Prediction:
Wheeler signs with the Yankees for 4 years and $76 Million

Robbie Ray

The Yankees have always been a big fan of Robbie Ray and so have I. He has good velo and good
offspeed pitches. He is another pitcher who hasn’t quite reached his potential yet. The Yankees have
had a lot of interest in him last offseason and near the trade deadline this past season. I think it has
been a matter of the Dbacks thinking they are in postseason contention but they really are not. Don't
let me get into a whole debate about the 2nd wild card messing up the balance of the league and
making for less trade deadline deals because no teams think they are sellers because they think
they can sneak into the second wild card spot. Anyways, Robbie Ray has high strikeouts and plus
stuff he just lacks control sometimes and if the Yankees new pitching coach can help him reach his
potential he could be one of the top starting pitchers in the game. These two moves are going to be
really impacted by whoever the Yankees decide to make their new pitching coach because these are
two potential really good pitchers if the right person is their coach. No pressure Yankees, but you better make the right decision.


Mock Trade:
Yankees Get:
Robbie Ray
Dbacks Get:
Michael King
Albert Abreu
Clarke Schmidt


If you have predictions for who you think the Yankees will get this offseason, let me know who in the comment section below. 

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