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.

Gardy’s Going, Going, Gone

Even after the Brian McCann trade, I don’t think general manager Brian Cashman is done moving veterans. Ownership may be standing in the way of a full-on rebuild, but the team was able to move McCann because they had a clear replacement ready in Gary Sanchez. I think Brett Gardner is in a similar situation, with Aaron Hicks, Mason Williams, Clint Frazier, and Dustin Fowler lined up behind him.

If the Yankees do decide to deal Gardner at the Winter Meetings, there are plenty of teams who would make sense as a destination for the veteran speedster. The Nationals, Cardinals, Mariners, Rangers, and Phillies are all clubs who could use an upgrade in left or center field as well as a top-of-the-order bat.

In the past, it has been reported that New York has sought a young, controllable starter in any Gardner trade discussions. Names that came up in last winter’s rumor mill were James Paxton of the M’s, Trevor Bauer of the Indians, and Matt Shoemaker of the Angels.

After another year of declining power, it no longer seems reasonable to ask for a starter of that caliber for Gardy, but a nice pitching prospect or two in the upper-minors could still be feasible.

Nothing concrete has emerged on the Gardner front as of yet, but as we saw with the McCann talks, a deal can come together pretty quickly once the rumors begin swirling. I would say there is no better than a 50-50 chance that Gardy is still with the organization when the Meetings end on December 9th.

Signing Matt Holliday to Fill the DH Vacancy

Buster Olney of ESPN recently reported that the Yankees were on the lookout for bargains to fill their designated hitter job because of the “flush buyers’ market” for veteran sluggers. While I would love to see them go for a premium model like Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Bautista, I just don’t see them going three to four years on a guy like that when they have so many other viable options.

John Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball revealed in a recent column that the team has been in contact with Holliday’s representatives, and it seems possible they could swoop in with a healthy one-year offer next week during the Meetings and take care of that need early. Something in the $10-12 million range should probably be enough to get Holliday to put pen to paper.

Even during a “down” 2016 campaign, Holliday put up a solid .246/.322/.461 (107 OPS+) batting line with 20 home runs and 62 RBI in 426 plate appearances. Most of that value was given back with his poor work in the field, but moving to DH full-time will put an end to that problem.

Holliday will turn 37 in January and has struggled to stay on the field the last two years after a decade as one of the most consistently productive power hitters in the game, so the whispers about his decline are inevitable.

Given his exceptional talent, however, I would be willing to bet he has one or two seasons as an above-average middle-of-the-order bat left in him. The Steamer projection system agrees, predicting a .275/.358/.465 (121 wRC+) with another 20 homers, 70 RBI, and 1.8 WAR.