If Brian Cashman hasn’t already made the phone call to the
Texas Rangers about a potential trade then maybe he should be because his job
is likely depending on it. The Rangers recently announced that ace starting
pitcher Yu Darvish, third baseman Adrian Beltre, shortstop Elvis Andrus, and
Shin-Soo Choo all cleared waivers and can be traded to any team for the rest of
the season. Also by the end of the week Neal Cotts is likely to have cleared as
well which begs the question, does Brian Cashman have one more blockbuster in
him that may potentially save his job?
The biggest obstacle in any potential trade is that the
Rangers think they can and plan to contend in 2015 with ¾ of the team back
healthy next season. The Rangers are unlikely to want to unload any of the
aforementioned players except for maybe Cotts. Cotts would be a nice rental for
New York but would not be enough to push the team over the edge. Beltre would be
a nice addition and is definitely a bat you make room for but would not be as
high on the priority list in my book as a Choo or an Andrus would be. Choo
would bring a ton of on base percentage to the team and give Joe Girardi three
options to play center field at any given day. The Yankees may have the best
outfield defense in all of baseball with the addition of Choo. Andrus could
easily be the shortstop of the future replacing Derek Jeter next season and
replacing Stephen Drew at second base for this season.
It is probably a pipe dream for any of these players to come
to New York but the rotation would be scary good again with a healthy Michael
Pineda, Masahiro Tanaka, and Yu Darvish to join Hiroki Kuroda, Brandon
McCarthy, and Shane Greene. The infield defense would shine with the addition
of Andrus and the offense may finally get the jolt it needs with any of Choo or
Beltre. It’s unlikely but Cashman better be on the phones now because once
again, his job more than likely depends on it.
