Predicting the Yankees’ Moves at the Upcoming Winter Meetings

Yanks Go Yard takes an early look at what New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman could get up to at the upcoming Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland.

The annual MLB Winter Meetings, which run from December 4 to 8 this year at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, just outside of Washington D.C., are almost always the busiest and most exciting event of the Hot Stove Season, and the New York Yankees appear poised to be at the center of the action for this winter’s festivities.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has reportedly been in consistent contact with a number of the biggest names on the free agent market since the start of the offseason, most notably sluggers Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and Yoenis Cespedes, starting pitchers Rich Hill and Jason Hammel, and their rumored top target of the winter, former closer Aroldis Chapman.

Given the amount of buzz the club has generated on the rumor mill thus far, it wouldn’t be surprising if they made at least one big signing from that group during the Meetings. There can’t be that much smoke without at least a little fire, right?

The team’s biggest needs at the moment are an everyday DH, a closer, and a starting pitcher. The first two are readily available on the free agent market, but the lack of quality starting pitching options aside from the injury-prone Hill may lead Cashman to explore a deal for a young starter.

With executives from all 30 MLB clubs in one place for four days of non-stop negotiations, the time seems right for Cashman to finally pull the trigger on a deal for the rotation building block they so desperately need.

Let’s take a stab at predicting some of the moves the Yankees might pull the trigger on during the course of the Meetings. To be clear, I don’t expect all of these deals to get done, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of them became a reality.