Looking Ahead to the Next Potential Yankees Fire Sale

If the New York Yankees under-perform again in 2017, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them sell for the second consecutive year at the August 1st trade deadline.

The Yankees decision to sell at the 2016 August 1st trade deadline was unprecedented and has completely changed the outlook of the  franchise over the next few years. With four trades, general manager Brian Cashman brought a huge influx of talent into the organization, 12 legitimate prospects and as well as beloved MLB swingman Adam Warren.

According to MLB Pipeline, the top two current prospects in the organization, shortstop Gleyber Torres and outfielder Clint Frazier, came over to New York at the deadline, as did five from their top 20 overall. Those acquisitions put them over the top as the game’s best farm system and set them up to be sustainable contenders again as soon as 2018-2019

This offseason,New York’s front office continues to try and straddle the line between contending and rebuilding. Signing Aroldis Chapman is a clear win-now move. Trading away Brian McCann and possibly Brett Gardner? Not so much.

I don’t mind that approach as long as the Yankees would be once again willing to sell off their short-term assets at the deadline next year if they are five or six games out from the second Wild Card in July. That’s not being a contender.

If anything, this year’s team is even more stocked with attractive trade chips on expiring deals that they could cash in for even more young talent. Let’s take a look at which big names the Yankees could shop next summer if things go south in 2017.

Masahiro Tanaka

While I would much prefer the Yankees explore an extension with their best player this offseason, there’s no denying that Masahiro Tanaka would bring an enormous return next summer if the club made him available. What contender couldn’t use an extra front-of-the-rotation arm?

The 28-year-old ace put up his first full, healthy season as a major leaguer in 2016, pitching to a 3.07 ERA and 3.51 FIP in 199.2 IP (31 GS), striking out 20.5% of the batters he faced (8.1 K/9), walking 4.5% (1.6 BB/9). He was also much better about keeping the ball in the park (1.0 HR/9), something that was an Achilles heel his previous season (1.5 HR/9). He was worth 5.4 wins above replacement according to Baseball-Reference.

It’s hard to imagine that a half-season of Tanaka would net the Yankees less than a half-season of Aroldis Chapman last year, so one top 20 prospect, another top 100 guy, plus secondary pieces seems like a good starting point. It seems like a good opportunity for the front office to finally find the long-term rotation building block they’ve been looking for.

The best starters dealt at last year’s trade deadline were Drew Pomeranz and Rich Hill, neither of whom have anywhere near Tanaka’s track record. The 2015 David Price deal is probably closer, where Detroit acquired 40% of their 2016 rotation in Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd, as well as promising minor league lefty Jairo Labourt.

Frontline starters in their prime are not easy to come by, so I’d much rather see New York try and build around Tanaka for the next few years, but if they know he’s going to opt out and aren’t going to pony up the money to keep him, they might as well get what they can for him.

All Expiring Contracts

The front office’s primary focus at last year’s trade deadline seemed to be getting something in return for all of their impending free agents. The only player on an expiring contract they did not deal away was first baseman Mark Teixeira, who was hitting below the Mendoza line, had a full no trade clause, and was planning on calling it a career after the season.

Next year’s Yankees club has even more attractive rentals when August 1st rolls around, with four key contributors in the last season of their contracts.

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If 37-year-old Matt Holliday returns to his previous form as New York’s everyday designated hitter in the first half, it’s not a stretch to think he could fetch a similar return to what Carlos Beltran got from Texas last year.

As with Tanaka, I’d like to see the Yankees explore a contract extension with Michael Pineda because of how hard it is to find quality starting pitching. As frustrating as he can be, Big Mike is still just 27 and led all of baseball in strikeouts per nine (10.6 K/9) last year and at his worst is still a solid back-of-the-rotation option.

If Pineda gets hot at the right time next year, he could bring back a nice return from a club in need of starting depth. Drew Pomeranz last July is a good example of that.

CC Sabathia reportedly drew interest at last year’s deadline, so the Yankees shouldn’t have trouble finding a taker for the remainder of his 2017 contract at the very least. If they’re willing to eat a little money, a quality prospect or two isn’t out of the question.

Next: A Blueprint for the 2017 Yankees to Make the Postseason

Relief help is always in high demand at the deadline as well, so it would not be at all surprising to see setup man Tyler Clippard change hands at his third straight trade deadline. He brought back a talented young arm in Vicente Campos for Arizona last year.