Yankees Trade Deadline “To-Do” List
With only a few hours remaining until the 4 pm ET trade deadline, the General Manager Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees have several items of business left on their agenda.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman has been one of the most active executives in baseball over the past week, but he’s not done yet. Even after moving his two biggest trade chips, elite relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, Cashman has a lot of work ahead of him in the hours leading up to the trade deadline.
The Yankees have seemingly committed to a rebuild at this point, bringing in a slew of top prospects into an a farm system that was already on the rise. With any remaining chance of contending in 2016 evaporated at this point, the team needs to move the remaining expiring contracts on their roster to new homes today at the very least.
Here are the top priorities for Brian Cashman and the Yankees before their 4 pm ET deadline:
1. Sell Ivan Nova to the highest bidder– It’s a tough decision to get rid of one of the longest tenured players in the system, but with the demand for starting pitching so great, and several promising pitchers in Triple-A pushing for a rotation spot, this is a no-brainer. There hasn’t been many rumors about Nova, but a few days ago it was reported that he was all but certain to be moved.
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2. Get a solid return for Carlos Beltran– Last night we heard the Yankees are setting a high price for Beltran, and rightly so. He’s one of the best bats on the market. The Red Sox, Astros, Rangers, and Indians all have some degree of interest, so it seems likely some team will step up and give the Yankees what they’re looking for. If not, they could always bring him back to DH next year on a qualifying offer. That wouldn’t be my choice, but there are worse options.
3. Decide what to do with Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda– If the Yankees don’t believe these are players they can build around long term, they may want to take advantage of the shreds of promise still clinging to these two inconsistent starters. Pirates GM Neal Huntington says Pittsburgh is still looking for upgrades, and they reportedly scouted Eovaldi’s last start.
4. Clear out the outfield log-jam- Moving Beltran will help, but the Yankees simply have too many outfielders to fit on the 40 man roster after the season before the Rule 5 draft. Trade speculation surrounding Brett Gardner has died down, but moving him makes as much sense as ever.
Ben Gamel, Mason Williams, Aaron Judge, Jake Cave, Cesar Puello, Tyler Austin, Clint Frazier, and Billy McKinney can’t all co-exist for long in the minors. Something has to give, and shipping one or a few of those guys out of town for some pitching depth seems like the obvious solution.
5. Blow it up!– Maybe the best thing that Brian Cashman could do in the next few hours is commit to a full on house cleaning and play all the kids the rest of the year. Send Brian McCann to the Braves for salary relief. If Matt Kemp can get moved, why not Jacoby Ellsbury? Give Alex Rodriguez his walking papers. Eat the rest of CC Sabathia‘s salary and find a contender who will give him a roster spot.
Next: Yankees Prospect Profile: Clint Frazier
It would incredibly fun to see the Yankees just turn the team over to their future stars in the second half and see what they can do. Likely? Of course not. But I didn’t think the team would trade Andrew Miller, so anything is possible.