Looking Ahead to the Next Potential Yankees Fire Sale

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.