Yankees Editorial: Yankees Trade Value 40-36

Feb 21, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (right) and generial manager Brian Cashman during spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the first annual Yankees trade value series, where we will explore who on the 40-man roster (as of 3/1/15) has the most trade value. Remember, this is only players on the 40-man roster. You will not see Gregory Bird, Luis Severino, Jacob Lindgren or any other prospect in this series.

So what is this based on? Well first of all, when you talk about trade value, age is a big thing. With steroids out of the game, older guys aren’t doing as well as they used. Health is a part of this. Obviously a healthy player will have more value then an injured player.

Another big part of this is contract. Alex Rodriguez‘s contract hurts his value, while Brett Gardner‘s will help his.

Position helps as well. If you look around the league, a skilled catcher will have a little more value than a power hitter who can’t field. It’s a new age, and teams are going to want defense not just offense. Power is scarce in the game, but defense is a highly valued as ever.

Desirability to another team is important. Teams have all sorts of swing guys and arms in their camps. Teams have prospects trying to make names for themselves. Will a team look and say, wow this player is truly desirable for us? Does he make us that much better?

Without further ado, here are the first players in the rankings. We will have this series twice per week throughout March with the finally right before Opening day. Here we go!