New York Yankees: Addressing Starting Pitching Needs
By Manny Gómez
For two straight off-seasons the New York Yankees passed up on chances to obtain an ace via the trade. Both times it came back to bite them. Will Brian Cashman and the Yankees make the same mistake again?
In 2017, the New York Yankees passed up an opportunity to acquire Chris Sale who was at the time, and still remains, widely considered one of the best starting pitchers in MLB. At the time, the Yankees organization felt that the Chicago White Sox were asking for too much. Brian Cashman implied that It would have taken Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino just to get “the ball rolling.”
Since then, Chris Sale has etched himself as a top three starting pitcher in all of baseball. In fact, since joining the Red Sox, Chris Sale leads MLB in fWAR, FIP, xFIP, and K/9. He trails Max Sherzer and Clayton Kershaw in ERA by a measly .04 points.
In the same time period, Yankees starting pitchers rank 6th in fWAR, 8th in FIP, 5th in xFIP, and 7th in K/9. Their ERA was the 11th best in MLB in the same time period.
Cut to: 2018
Prior to the 2018 season, a Gerrit Cole trade to the Yankees was imminent.
Sources: The New York Yankees are working on a deal to acquire starting pitcher Gerrit Cole from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sides are talking, and while a final package has not come together, there is confidence. "A matter of when rather than if," one source said.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 22, 2017
The Pittsburgh Pirates wanted the Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres to highlight the deal for Gerrit Cole, who at the time was coming off of two mediocre seasons, but the Yankees wouldn’t budge.
yankees have always loved gerrit cole, and maybe they work a deal eventually. but still hearing of one big holdup: pirates want gleyber to headline package, yanks want frazier to headline it.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 22, 2017
In 54 starts prior to 2018, Cole posted a 4.12 ERA, 3.81 FIP, and a 1.320 WHIP. There wasn’t a chance that the Yankees were going to make that deal.
Instead, Gerrit Cole was traded to the Houston Astros for pitchers Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz, and top prospects Colin Moran and Jason Martin.
Cole joined baseball’s best rotation and put together a Cy Young caliber season, leading MLB in SO/9 while posting a 2.88 ERA, 2.70 FIP, and 1.033 WHIP. By comparison, no Yankee starting pitcher came close to Cole’s 2018 season.
Now, the Yankees find themselves in a situation where they can land a couple of formidable starting pitchers again.
Will they squander this opportunity this time? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, here are the top FIVE candidates that make the most sense for the Yankees in order of priority.