Yankees need to trade Jorge Mateo and Domingo Acevedo for Sonny Gray

Yankees prospects are some of the best in baseball. Now is the perfect time to unload two, who will never be as good as their potential, for a starting pitcher.

Yankees Hal Steinbrenner owns a slide ruler. As much as I am sure that Aaron Judge hit that Seattle home run a lot farther than 440 feet, I am sure about Hal and his slide ruler. And Hal uses that tool to graph prospects’ actual performance versus their talent, potential and attendant rankings.

Take Gary Sanchez. In the spring of 2016, Sanchez was listed as the Yankees fifth best prospect, right behind Rob Refsnyder, and only the eighth best catching prospect. Gary was not good enough to be ranked in the top 100. But he was, and is, a highly talented player with the best throwing arm and home run stroke of any current catcher.

Hal’s chart would have shown Sanchez as a player the team would not want to trade. Being low on the ranking side means the Yankees would get little in return but give up a lot of talent. That’s a bad trade.

Instead, Hal wants to swap the players who are a mirror image of his chart. The Yankees and any other team want to get rid of players who are highly valued but are likely never to maximize their potential. And that takes us to Jorge Mateo and Domingo Acevedo.

Performance Issues

Both players are at Double-A right now and at their maximum values. Acevedo has a strong arm and can throw 103-mph; that charts well. And it means he is going to pitch in the majors. His line at Trenton reads like an ad for a pitcher any team would want to trade for: a 2.32 ERA and WHIP of 1.05, with 48 hits and 52 strikeouts in 52 innings.

Looking to rebuild? Here is a future cornerstone, franchise pitcher and the eleventh ranked player in a very deep system. At least that’s the way Hal hopes other teams read their charts. But his command issues are, well, an issue. He gave up three runs in one inning in the futures game and has a 4.38 ERA in two starts at Scranton.

But that’s performance; we’re talking about potential. You can almost hear other GM’s talking themselves into trading a significant player for Domingo: “We can fix him and make him our ace. If not, he will be our closer.”

Both, or neither, of those things might happen in his career. But it is all still possible, which is one reason the Yankees are keeping him in New Jersey. That keeps his potential high without exposing him to the competition he already showed once he could not handle.

Hal’s slide rule is resting on the Time to Trade part of Domingo’s chart. His value and potential are still high, but there are glimpses that betray his abilities. He could be one of two pieces that bring back a pitcher such as Sonny Gray. And the other piece should be Jorge Mateo.

Standing in a Long Line

If we could look over Hal’s shoulder, we would see a potential line for Jorge longer than anyone’s since Rickey Henderson. Mateo is the fastest man in baseball, at any level. He once stole 82 bases in a year. And there is real pop in his bat. Jorge has the talent to bat .300, hit 30 home runs and steal 75 bases.

Hal might need a bigger slide rule.

But, boy, would that performance line look short by comparison. 2015 saw Mateo swing his bat 365 times at Low-A Charleston for a line of .268/.338/.378. Those are not great numbers for a man of his talent, especially the OBP, but he also stole 71 bases. Potential!

More from Yanks Go Yard

He was promoted to High-A Tampa for his final 21 games, and it gave Mateo a boost. He slashed .321/.374/.472 and stole eleven more bags. Once again, Potential!

Then came 2016. He spent the entire year in Tampa, part of it sulking because Gleyber Torres was promoted and he was not. His play never even approached his potential, and he ended the year hitting .254/.306/.379. Only that year he stole only 36 bags.

This year has been more of the same. He spent another 275 at-bats still at High-A…and did worse! His line at the same level he has been at for two years reads .240/.288/.400. And he is stealing at a good but not legendary rate, swiping 28 at Tampa and 37 overall.

How to Promote Your Prospects 101

But the Yankees pulled a great move earlier this year when they promoted Mateo as the trade market became more present in the minds of GM’s. He responded as his history suggested by having a great two weeks. His status was restored by some after his first game and the positive press has not stopped.

A closer look at his recent performance is also predictable. Since his promotion high has worn off, Mateo has batted .279 in his last ten games, batting closer to .200 in his last seven than .300, and has abandoned his OBP. Jorge has worked zero walks in his last eight games. That’s a player that you want to get his first year in the majors from, but trading him for a front line pitcher is much more prudent.

The good news for Yankees fans desirous of a trade is that Mateo is still the team’s third best prospect and number 36 overall. The time will never be better to trade him based on his current play, ranking, and (once again) Potential!

Yes, Please, Win Now

Add to all of the above the timing and talent of the current Yankees and trading these two is automatic.

The 2017 New York Yankees are ready to win now. They cannot wait to see if Acevedo can start and they don’t need a closer. As to Mateo, Cashman already needs to trade one of his best infielders who is currently playing in the majors, and he is not going to replace Gleyber Torres, Didi, Starlin or Miguel Andujar with Mateo.

Next: See the Players at Triple-A Who Might Still Help the 2017 Yankees

They all have talent, but without the attitude and effort issues. If two of these players have to go, and they probably do, Mateo should be the first one out the Yankees door. Especially if it brings back Sonny Gray, Yu Darvish, or Chris Archer.

I know Hal and Cash read YanksGoYard, so I hope they read this piece. And then I want to see where Hal has me on his sportswriters slide rule chart. That man has a chart for everything.

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