The New York Yankees have had a mediocre season so far. They currently sit at 44-46, which puts them in fourth place in the tough AL East.
As soon as they look like they are going to turn it around they go back to making the same mistakes they were making before. Due to these struggles, the team may have to be sellers at the deadline. They have not yet committed to the sellers mentality but it seems that it is heading in that direction. If their struggles continue, the team is going to look into moving both closer Aroldis Chapman and right fielder Carlos Beltran.
The Yankees built one of the best bullpens baseball had ever seen. The problem is that they are having trouble getting to that bullpen with the lead. In the back end, they have Andrew Miller, Delin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman. Between the three of them, the highest ERA is 2.66. This is the best combination ever seen out the back end of a bullpen in baseball history.
Some of the most successful organizations have built winning teams with a shutdown bullpen but the Yankees are missing the other piece to the puzzle. In order for your bullpen to be successful, your starters have to get your bullpen the lead going into the final innings. While the bullpen has done the job, the starters have not. Currently the starters have combined for a 4.85 ERA which places them 23rd in Major League Baseball. The only starter that has pitched decent this year is Mashiro Tanaka but even he has had his fair share of bad starts. The team miscalculated on their starters and now the back end of their bullpen is not as valuable as it could be.
The bright side for the Yankees is that they have a lot of talent that they can sell at the deadline. Andrew Miller, Delin Betances and Aroldis Chapman would bring in huge packages to acquire. Carlos Beltran is another talent that the Yankees can sell for a nice package in return. He has had a great bounce-back season, hitting .294 with 19 home runs and 58 RBI’s. Beltran, 39, is in the last year of a 3 year, $45 million deal with the Yankees. If the Yankees are going to sell, they shouldn’t just sell one or two of these guys, they should sell all of them.
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While the Yankees farm system is ranked 14th in baseball, these trades could put them into the top 10. Most of the talent in their farm system has come from the international market as they spent a lot of money last year there. The Yankees have a huge opportunity to rebuild their organization but in order to do so they need to have a fire sale before the deadline.