The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs have had ongoing conversations about Kyle Schwarber. That’s not the player they should be targeting
The New York Yankees landed Brian Cashman’s white whale in Gerrit Cole earlier this off-season with the biggest contract for a pitcher in MLB history. Cashman’s white whale on offense could be Chicago Cubs’ outfielder Kyle Schwarber. The New York Yankees have tried to acquire him for years, going back to the Aroldis Chapman trade in 2016.
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Interesting talks, unlikely deals: What #Padres’ discussions for Lindor and #Yankees’ conversations about Schwarber really mean. https://t.co/2ybnZZG5qK
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 16, 2019
It’s no secret the New York Yankees don’t have much from the left side of the box. Brett Gardner is back and will man center, while switch hitter Aaron Hicks recovers from Tommy John surgery. Mike Ford, Mike Tauchman and Tyler Wade could be reserves on the bench. Schwarber makes sense in that regard, however, he’s not a great outfielder and in a big left field in the Bronx, he may not be a great fit.
If the New York Yankees are going to target anyone on the Chicago Cubs, it should be Kris Bryant not Kyle Schwarber.
Why?
Well there are a couple of reasons.
One, can they trust Gio Urshela to produce what he did again? Can Miguel Andujar stay healthy and be better on defense? If the answer to both is no, the New York Yankees have a big time hole at third base. Enter Bryant, who can play there over the next couple of years.
If those answers are positive, then Bryant can play at all four corners and give the New York Yankees some positional flexibility. They could also then trade either Urshela, Andujar, Luke Voit or Ford in a package to upgrade somewhere else (here’s looking at you Josh Hader). There’s also plenty of contracts expiring over the next couple of years that can help absorb Bryant’s salary.
New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t really have to do much the rest of the off-season. Maybe an extra bat for the bench. Maybe an extra arm for the bullpen. But if he’s going to make a deal with the Chicago Cubs, he should get someone who can have some defensive versatility, something that was lost with DJ LeMahieu becoming the full-time second baseman with the departure of Didi Gregorius.