Yankees potential trades with Pirates and Diamondbacks take shape

By which I mean the Hot Stove Season

Cash has done yeoman’s work already to transform the team but still has several important goals. One, add at least one more starting pitcher. And while Chase Headley and Starlin Castro no longer block better, younger players, and helped clear a bit of salary, the biggest blunder of them all is still on the roster: Fifth outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

That last bit seems daunting. Ells is owed $21 million a year for the next three years and was never worth the contract. That’s doubly true today as Jake is set to play the 2018 season at age 35. Frankly, trading him would take a miracle.

Seems I’ve read that somewhere before.

Fortunately for the Yankees, and (some) Yankee fans, it’s a season of miracles. And I don’t mean that jolly fellow who still owes me a Flexible Flyer from my fifth birthday. No, I clearly mean Brian Cashman. For instance, it took a desperate new ownership group to come along in Miami at the exact right time to make Giancarlo Stanton a Yankees’ player.

But as earlier reported, there are a lot more moving parts to these new deals. And the one unbreakable commandment is ‘Thou Shalt Not Exceed Thy Luxury Tax Threshold.’ Time for Brian’s best moves to take shape.

This seems a difficult path to walk. Now, though, the Yankees have shown their desired route for a return to glory. Whether they can get there or not remains to be seen.