What We Know About the New York Yankees Offseason Strategy

A Trade for Controllable Young Pitching

The Yankees have made no secret about their desire to acquire young, controllable starting pitchers to shore up the long-term outlook of their rotation. In his recent end-of-season press conference, Brian Cashman stressed that upgrading the pitching staff was his top priority, citing the trade that brought youngsters Luis Cessa and Chad Green to the Bronx as the type of move he would look to make.

Rather than go after an ace like Chris Sale or Sonny Gray, it seems much more likely that Cashman will go under the radar, acquiring arms in the upper-minors that are unproven, but look like they may be ready to help in the big leagues in 2017.

New York already has a pretty impressive number of live arms to compete for jobs next winter, with Luis Severino, Bryan Mitchell, Cessa, and Green all having at least a taste of MLB success this year. None of those guys are even close to a sure thing, however, so if the Yankees don’t want to spend big or give up prospects, the quantity over quality approach seems reasonable.

If New York wants to set its sight slightly higher, a more proven arm with just a year or two of service time would probably interest them, although for a guy like that they’d probably need to deal from their position player depth.

Carlos Rodon of the White Sox, Sean Manaea of the Athletics, and Jon Gray of the Rockies are all examples of young potential frontline starters the Yankees would likely covet if they’re made available.