New York Yankees: Five Possible Trade Deadline Candidates
The New York Yankees are having an incredible start to their season. Unfortunately for them, the Boston Red Sox are having a slightly better season thus far. As winning the AL East is definitely preferable to the Wild Card game, expect the Yankees to make a trade between now and the deadline.
New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman is not one to shy away from trades. As shown last season, if he believes the Yankees have a chance to improve through a trade, he will take a risk.
Even though 2017 was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Yankees, Cashman realized the potential of the Baby Bombers.
He made the decision to move some promising prospects for players that could help out right away. The Yankees have a deep farm system and a very young, talented team, so many of their prospects are expendable. Some of those expendable prospects were used last year to acquire five win-now players.
On July 19, 2017, the Yankees acquired Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle from the Chicago White Sox for Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, and Tyler Clippard.
The Yankees acquired Jaime Garcia from the Minnesota Twins for Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns on July 30, 2017.
On July 31, 2017, the Yankees acquired Sonny Gray from the Oakland Athletics for Dustin Fowler, Jorge Mateo, and James Kaprielian.
These three trades were key in helping the Yankees secure a Wild Card spot. The trades also played a large role in the Yankees advancing all the way to game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
Following the results of the 2017, the Yankees decided to make a few more moves to gear up for the 2018 season. This included adding the 2017 National League Most Valuable Player, Giancarlo Stanton, and the versatile Brandon Drury over the offseason.
The Yankees traded Starlin Castro, Jorge Guzman, and Jose Devers to the Miami Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton and cash.
In a three-team trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees sent out Nick Solak and Taylor Widener to acquire Brandon Drury.
Although the Yankees are normally thought of as a free spending team with a big budget, they have a cap on what they will spend this season.
The Yankees are aiming to reset their luxury tax penalties by keeping their payroll under $197 million. Even after all of the Yankees acquisitions, they were able to stay under this amount.
A key trade with the Padres over the offseason helped the Yankees dump salary. In that trade, Cashman was able to move Chase Headley, and his $13 million contract, alongside Bryan Mitchell for Jabari Blash.
This gave the Yankees flexibility some much-needed flexibility to be able to add Stanton, re-sign C.C. Sabathia, sign Neil Walker, and also still have money available to add to the team at the trade deadline.
According to Spotrac’s salary and payroll tracker, the Yankees currently own a $178,249,384 payroll. This leaves roughly $18,750,616 left for the Yankees to add to their current team.
As the Yankees are in a win-now position, they will definitely be looking at the trade market for opportunities to increase their odds of advancing to the World Series.
The following are five trade scenarios that could make the New York Yankees even better than they are right now:
#5 – Manny Machado
Although the Yankees already have an abundance of infielders, Manny Machado would still be a difference maker for the Yankees. The starting shortstop for the American League in the 2018 All-Star Game is highly coveted around the league.
Even though Machado could be pursued as a Free Agent following this season, it makes sense to go after him now as he could be the difference maker in winning the Yankees winning the AL east.
Through 94 games this season, Machado has 23 Home Runs, 64 RBI, and a .383 OBP. He holds a .568 SLG and a 2.4 WAR.
The Yankees current third baseman, Miguel Andujar, has 12 Home Runs, 39 RBI and a .320 OBP through 82 games. He holds a .498 SLG and a 1.0 WAR.
Although Machado is a shortstop and has stated that is the position he wants to play, the Yankees would want him to play third base. Machado’s dWAR at third base was 2.3 in 2016 and 1.0 in 2017. At shortstop this season he is currently at a -1.4 dWAR. Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius holds a 2.5 WAR and a 0.5 dWAR, so he is staying at shortstop.
The Orioles are most likely holding out for a return similar to the one the Yankees received from the Cubs for Aroldis Chapman.
In that trade, the Yankees received 2018 All-Star Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren, Billy McKinney, and Rashad Crawford for half a season of Aroldis Chapman.
As the Yankees will not want to part with a Gleyber Torres type prospect, the Orioles will most likely be looking for a package similar to Brandon Drury, Chance Adams, and Billy McKinney for half a season of Manny Machado.
If the Yankees also want the Orioles to include Zach Britton, they may have to replace Drury with Miguel Andujar or Clint Frazier.
#4 – Cole Hamels
Cole Hamels is only 4-8 on the season with a 4.28 ERA and a career high 5.15 FIP.
Hamels does not have much to be motivated about on a Texas Rangers team that is currently 21.0 games back in the AL West.
However, his numbers are greatly improve when he is matched up with a potential playoff team. Hamels holds a 7.36 ERA and a 1.841 WHIP against teams below .500 on the season. Conversely, he holds a 3.05 ERA and a 1.167 WHIP against teams above .500.
The numbers this season against teams above .500 include 25.0 innings pitched against the Houston Astros across four starts. In those starts, he holds a 3.60 ERA with a 1.200 WHIP and an 8.6 SO/9.
Hamels also has sixteen career appearances in playoff games with a track record of success. He has started in each one of those playoff games and holds a 3.48 ERA along with a 1.088 WHIP.
Between the career post season success and the success against potential 2018 playoff opponents, Hamels to the Yankees makes sense.
Although Hamels is not the ace he once was, he should be able to command a nice return due to his playoff experience. Expect the Rangers to request Albert Abreu and Thairo Estrada from the Yankees for the veteran lefty.
#3 – Michael Fulmer
Michael Fulmer is currently having a down season compared to his previous two seasons, but that will not affect his asking price.
On the season, Fulmer holds a 4.11 ERA, a 4.04 FIP, and a 1.267 WHIP through 18 starts.
Fulmer has 9 quality starts this season and he has pitched at least 7.0 innings six times.
In his 69 career starts, he holds a 3.61 ERA, a 3.80 FIP, and a 1.169 WHIP.
The 2017 All-Star is only 25 years old and he is controllable through the 2023 season. Due to this, the Tigers will ask for a lot from the Yankees for the young starting pitcher.
George A. King III of the New York Post reported that the Tigers have interest in Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade. However, it would definitely take more than those two players to acquire Fulmer.
The Tigers would most likely command a package similar to Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, Chance Adams, and Everson Pereira from the Yankees.
#2 – Brad Hand
Even if the Yankees are able to acquire a starting pitcher, they could still turn to Brad Hand to further solidify an already amazing bullpen.
As Aroldis Chapman is currently the only trusted Yankees left-handed reliever, Hand could fill a big need for the Yankees. On the season, Hand is 2-4 with a 3.05 ERA, 3.16 FIP and a 1.083 WHIP in 41 relief appearances. He also has 24 saves and has finished 31 games.
Hand is currently 28 years old and he is controllable through the 2021 season.
The Padres will most likely be looking for a package similar to what the Yankees received for Andrew Miller. Miller had additional years of team control left at a reasonable rate at the time of the trade, similar to Hand.
The Yankees acquired Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller, and J.P. Feyereisen for the ace reliever back in 2016.
The Padres will most likely be looking for a package centered around Clint Frazier. Chance Adams and Matt Sauer could be other pieces involved.
#1 – Jacob deGrom
Jacob deGrom would cost the Yankees the most in terms of prospects, but he would form quite the duo with early Cy Young candidate, Luis Severino.
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deGrom is 5-4 on the season through 19 starts with a 1.68 ERA, a 2.31 FIP and a 0.973 WHIP. As Sonny Gray has shown, not everyone can be successful in the Bronx as they were elsewhere. The good news for the Yankees is they know already that deGrom can handle pitching in New York.
Finding a trade that makes sense for both sides would be tough, but it is not impossible. The Yankees have players that could help the Mets, so it would not make sense for the Mets to refuse to deal with their crosstown rivals.
deGrom is 30 years old and the earliest he can reach free agency is in 2021. Due to his phenomenal numbers and his remaining control, the Yankees will have to give up many top prospects to get the Mets to consider a trade.
Even though the Yankees seem unwilling to include Estevan Florial or Justus Sheffield in trade conversations, the Mets would require one of them to move deGrom across town. Due to this, Justus Sheffield, Miguel Andujar, Clint Frazier, and Thairo Estrada could be what the Mets would need from the Yankees in order to move their ace.
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Who do you think would make the most sense for the Yankees to acquire?