Yankees Offseason Trade Target: Matt Shoemaker

Reports indicate that the Los Angeles Angels are willing to listen on Matt Shoemaker this offseason for the right return. Let’s take a look at how the New York Yankees match up for a deal.

Although the Los Angeles Angels are expected to try and contend in 2017, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports hears that they could be willing to part with a controllable starting pitcher like Matt Shoemaker if they could land an everyday second baseman in return. It seems like a package centered around Starlin Castro from the Yankees for either starter could potentially benefit both sides.

As bad as the Angels’ starters were in 2016, they actually have quite a few interesting arms to fill out their 2017 rotation. Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney should both return to action next year, and they recently brought in Jesse Chavez, who had a rough season with Oakland but is a strong candidate to rebound.

In addition, Los Angeles has Ricky Nolasco, J.C. Ramirez, Nate Smith, Alex Meyer, Vicente Campos, and Daniel Wright as guys who seem capable of holding down a starting role.

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Where the Angels really need help is on the offensive side, where things are pretty depressing aside from Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun. Recent rumors suggest they have been prioritizing a starting second baseman to pair with Andrelton Simmons in the middle infield next season.

Starlin Castro would be a huge upgrade over their internal options, but he probably isn’t enough to bring back Shoemaker on his own. Last winter, Castro’s trade value was Adam Warren, who doesn’t offer nearly the same upside as Shoemaker.

Castro for Shoemaker seems like an OK place to start though, even if the Yankees would have to toss in some other pieces to balance it out. Maybe one of the spare outfielders like Mason Williams or Aaron Hicks could be a good fit? LA did have interest in Brett Gardner last winter, so maybe something like Castro and Gardner for Shoemaker could work?

After a rough April, Matt Shoemaker was one of the most dominant starting pitchers in the American League for the remainder of the season. From May 1st onward, Shoemaker pitched to a 3.10 ERA and 3.02 FIP in 139.1 innings, striking out 22.5% of batters while walking just 3.5%.

It is worth noting that Shoemaker’s season was ended on September 4th after being hit by a line drive. He suffered a small fracture to his skull, but the injury is not expected to have any impact on his status for next season.

The 30-year-old righty still has four years of team control remaining because he didn’t break into the majors full-time until his age-27 season when he finished as the runner-up for the 2014 American League Rookie of the Year Award.

Next: Three Risky Starters the Yankees Should Target

With three starters possibly set to depart after next season, acquiring Shoemaker would give the Yankees a potential front-of-the-rotation arm to build around for the next few years.