What We Know About the New York Yankees Offseason Strategy

Quietly Shopping More Veterans

The Yankees reportedly were listening on all of their veteran players at the trade deadline. In addition to the guys that were moved, Brett Gardner, Brian McCann, Chase Headley, Jacoby Ellsbury, CC Sabathia, and Michael Pineda all saw their names surface in the rumor mill.

Of that group probably the two most likely to be moved this winter are McCann and Gardner, but I wouldn’t completely rule out a trade of any of the others.

Given their thin rotation, moving Sabathia or Pineda seems pretty unlikely unless they were part of a larger series of moves. On the other hand, both are entering the final year of their deal and the market for starting pitching should be pretty cutthroat this winter. Big Mike especially would bring back a ton in return this winter because he remains one of the most prolific strikeout artists in the league despite his mixed results.

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Headley would definitely draw interest this winter, but who would the team replace him with? Justin Turner of the Dodgers is the only clearly above-average option on the free agent market and will cost a lot more than Chase. As for Ellsbury, he’s still just good enough that the team has no real incentive to eat the money necessary to move him.

The front-runners to be moved are definitely Gardner and McCann. Even during a down year, Gardy led all Yankees position players in rWAR and is on a reasonable contract.  While they haven’t had a ton of luck finding a fit yet, he remains one of their most marketable vets. It is just a matter of time before Clint Frazier takes his job next year, so the team might as well just get it over with and let Aaron Hicks or Mason Williams hold down to fort to start the season.

It actually probably makes sense to keep McCann even after the emergence of Gary Sanchez as the starting catcher, but the Braves seem likely to make a push for their former star, especially after the injury to top free agent option Wilson Ramos. If they bid high enough, I could see the Yankees being convinced to move him.