Yankees Should at Least Consider Trading Dellin Betances this Winter

As painful as it would be, the New York Yankees should at least listen to offers on superstar reliever Dellin Betances this winter.

This idea may seem like a reactionary response to a few bad appearances from the best reliever on the planet, but hear me out. Even if Dellin Betances hadn’t blown two crucial games in a row, arguably killing the New York Yankees chances of making the playoffs in 2016, it probably would have made sense for the team to explore trading him this winter.

The fact that Betances has allowed nine runs in his last four innings of work just gives me the opportunity to bring the idea of trading one of the Yankees best players up without being torn apart. Do I think Dellin Betances has what it takes to be a closer? Absolutely. This position has nothing to do with him not having a “closer’s mentality” or some nonsense like that.

His inability to hold runners and make routine throws to first is a significant drawback, admittedly, but every player not named Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw has some kind of flaw. Those are not the reasons New York should shop him.

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The Yankees should think about trading Dellin Betances this offseason because he might be at the peak of his value. With 244 innings over the last three seasons, no other reliever in baseball has come within 20 frames of the big man’s workload.

Yankees fans were extremely spoiled by Mariano Rivera for a long time. Finding a reliever who can sustain an elite performance for two decades is incredibly rare. It is far more likely that Betances will flame out at some point in the next few seasons. Remember that he was also a late bloomer who threw 641.1 innings in the minor leagues before his debut.

Many relievers hit a brick wall when they get to 30. Former New York closer David Robertson and his 3.62 ERA this year is an excellent example of that. He went from elite at age 28 (2.04 ERA and 2.61 FIP) to merely OK by 31 this season.

Maybe the biggest argument for trading Betances is the franchise-transforming prospect haul Yankees general manager Brian Cashman received for Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman at the trade deadline. Betances is younger, has more team control, and is arguably better than both of those guys.

One top-20 prospect, another top-100 guy, and two more interesting minor leaguers would probably be the starting point. There’s not a team in baseball that wouldn’t inquire about Betances this winter if he were available, which would further drive up his price.

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This certainly wouldn’t be a popular decision. Betances is a home-grown, universally liked guy who even grew up in New York. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be the right move for the long-term outlook of the club, however.