New York Yankees: The organization should not trade for Max Scherzer

The New York Yankees are apparently very interested in superstar pitcher Max Scherzer. While pitching currently lacks in the pinstripes due to injuries, Scherzer is not a good fit for the Bronx Bombers.

It was reported that New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was very interested in trying to acquire Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer.

It is no secret that Scherzer has been fantastic over his career, especially since arriving in Washington.

His career line of 165-87 with a 3.19 ERA is fantastic, and makes himself very appealing to teams looking for an elite arm in the rotation. He would easily slot in as the #1 pitcher in almost every organization in the league.

There is the potential that Scherzer may be dealt before the trade deadline this year, I just don’t believe he will end up with the New York Yankees.

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I also don’t think the Yankees should target Scherzer.

The first reason is his salary.

The Yankees currently have a payroll of $217 million, and Scherzer is still due roughly $70 million dollars over the next two years (not including his salary this year).

Unless the pinstripes can magically send Giancarlo Stanton or Jacoby Ellsbury to offset some of the payroll (to the Nationals or another team), the Yankees would be over the luxury tax by a staggering amount.

Given the Yankees will currently owe $175 million in 2020 (this is before arbitration players  receive money), the team will have serious salary cap concerns before considering signing other low tier free agents, never mind ace quality arms.

Signing Scherzer would seriously limit signing other internal prospects to long term deals such as Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar (unless they are traded in exchange for Scherzer).

Another reason the New York Yankees should not sign Max Scherzer is the asking price.

With the Washington Nationals on the cliff’s edge of considering a complete rebuild, the asking price for any of their top players will be prospect heavy and most likely overpaid (especially during the trade deadline and before the playoffs).

While Clint Frazier would be an interesting trade chip, he alone would not be enough.

The Yanks would need to throw in more top prospects like Estevan Florial or Jonathan Loaisiga, which would be a heavy price to pay for 2.5 years of Scherzer.

I for one do not think this deal would be worth it, and the organization should explore a trade for pitchers that have some more control if they tend to trade away highly rated prospects.

Even a scenario where the team does a ‘trade and sign’ deal with a player like Madison Bumgarner would be more beneficial because it would cost the team less prospect capital, but the Yankees would still gain a quality, playoff experienced starting pitcher.

While the probability of Scherzer landing in New York is quite low, it is interesting that the Yankees are considering acquiring the 34 year old righty given their salary concerns.

If anybody can make it work, I would think it could be the New York Yankees to pull some magic fairy dust and sprinkle in some ace material while sending nothing in return.

Are you feeling lucky Yankees fans?