Yankees Biggest Moves (and Misses) at the Winter Meetings

Still No Trade for Rotation Help

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General manager Brian Cashman has established himself as one of the best wheelers and dealers in the business during his two decades at the helm. He has a number of impressive blockbusters on his resume, but surprisingly failed to pull the trigger on anything at the Winter Meetings while his club’s chief rival made one of the boldest trades of the last decade.

One of my predictions for the Winter Meetings (at least I got the Holliday signing right) was that the Yankees would finally swing a deal for the young, controllable starting pitcher they’ve been looking for since last winter. Sonny Gray seemed like the obvious choice, but there seems to have been little of substance taking place regarding the Athletics’ ace recently.

The Royals, White Sox, and Diamondbacks were among the clubs rumored to be shopping starters during the Winter Meetings, but while Cashman has said he is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to upgrade the rotation, he seems hesitant to surrender the young talent necessary to land one. When asked by George A. King of the New York Post at the Meetings about the chances of adding a starter, Cash answered:

"I don’t anticipate it. It’s a tough market and the price tags are extremely high. We could play on a lot of things because we have a lot of prospects people desire and we desire them, too. I would say it’s less likely for us to acquire a starter."

The decision to trust the loaded farm system and allow it develop slowly rather than cash in prospects to speed up the rebuild is a defensible one, even if it means the Hot Stove League is a little less exciting than it might have been. It’s hard to complain about how the Yankees are positioned for the future right now.