Yankees And Jose Quintana: Do It And Get It Over With

The Yankees interest in acquiring a young CC Sabathia for a boatload of prospects is understandable. But please, do it and get it over with.

The Yankees, for the second time now, are smack in the middle of trade talk around the league involving the acquisition of Jose Quintana via a trade with the White Sox for a boatload of prospects.

And when the Yankees catch the scent of someone they are interested in, they usually take no prisoners and complete the deal. But somehow, this deal appears to be the stuff of intrigue and deception, with both sides rattling their swords but doing little else.

Exhibit number one. Asked specifically about Quintana, Brian Cashman’s answer provides nothing:

“It’s easy to find players you want. It’s hard to actually acquire them. But we’ll stay engaged with everybody and anybody. I can’t speak to anybody specifically, but, listen, it’s no secret if you’re looking for areas of weakness in the current roster, it would be the rotation. And if we can shore it up and improve it, so be it. If not, we’ll rely on what we have.”

We understand that these things are touchy and Cashman needs to keep us in the dark with regards to naming names of the prospects who might be dealt. And leaks of any kind would be detrimental to the team as well as unprofessional.

Any thoughts that the White Sox are dealing from a position of power are greatly exaggerated

But here’s the thing. There are certain players the Yankees will not trade under any circumstances. It’s not rocket science. Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and probably James Kaprielian, even with his arm injury at a young age, fall into that category of “untouchables.”

Yankees To Chicago: Do You Want Quality Or Quantity?

But beyond that quartet, it’s a free-for-all. From there, the only thing worth talking to the White Sox about is to ask them a simple question: “Do you want quality or quantity?”

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After all, it’s not hard to figure out the White Sox at this point. They have one blue chip stock remaining from their purge of the team over the winter. They are hoping to rob a bank in broad daylight. They are mired in a Division they can’t win as long as there’s a team named the Indians in there with them. And they have a team over on the North side of Chicago that suffocates the attention of the entire city.

So, any thoughts that they are dealing from a position of power are exaggerated. Therefore, Cashman can get a deal done if he wants to. And that’s the key to this whole thing.

But beyond that also lies the question, why wouldn’t he want to acquire Santana, who is a workhorse reminiscent of CC Sabathia in his heyday. He just turned 28 and is under team control through 2020 (team options), and he’s signed at a modest salary ($26.5 million) through those years. What’s there not to like?

It’s no secret that the Yankees have too much of a good thing. And at some point, they’ll need to pare their roster down to make room for players whose names we haven’t even heard yet, plus the talent that will become available in the free agent market as soon as 2018 (think Jake Arrieta for starters).

So, pick your poison and be done with it. The White Sox can have two blue-chippers like Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo. Or, they can have four players from the second tier that would include names like James Montgomery, Miguel Andujar, Tyler Austin, and on and on.

Remember too that Quintana was once with the Yankees organization from 2008-2011. So, it’s not like his name is new to them. Think about it, though. 25-30 quality starts and 15-17 wins – it’s alluring, isn’t it? The entire rotation would be transformed, and so would the pennant race.

Yankees: Four (More) Takeaways From Spring Training

The Yankees are moving rapidly to the close of Spring Training. Many questions about the team have been answered, but these four remain.

But, you know the old say about “getting off the pot”. That’s it here. In spades!