Yankees Rumors: Orioles like Jacoby Ellsbury “a little”

While this may not be your typical Yankees rumor, the offseason hot stove has been ice-cold. So even a tidbit of possibility about the mercurial Jacoby Ellsbury is better than none.

I’m so over this offseason. Between the rampant speculation and the bitter cold, Yankees Spring Training can’t come soon enough.

So as much as I’m sure you’re dying for another article detailing why Yu Darvish is a perfect for the Yanks’ rotation, I’ll pass.

Instead, let’s take a look at the info Jon Heyman presented on Sunday afternoon.

According to the New York Post writer, the Orioles and Yankees briefly discussed the inclusion of Jacoby Ellsbury in any part of a potential Manny Machado deal.

"The Orioles actually like Ellsbury a little, but indications are he might consider waiving his no-trade to be closer to his Scottsdale, Ariz., home with maybe the Diamondbacks or Giants making some sense."

The fact that anyone likes Ellsbury even “a little” is news. For the past two seasons, I’ve been resigned to the likelihood of the Yanks having to wait until the final year of Ells’ contract before flat-out releasing him, A-Rod style.

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How “a little” translates to the amount of money the Yanks would still need to eat on the $68.5 million owed to Ellsbury over the next three years, remains to be seen. That $21.5 AAV is undoubtedly putting a cramp in acquiring any game-changing talent this winter (Giancarlo Stanton notwithstanding).

Of course, there’s also the no-trade clause that Ellsbury wields like Excalibur — ready to strike down any deal he deems undeserving.

Sherman notes that he personally can’t see any club taking on more than $5 million per season, nor can he envision Hal Steinbrenner eating upwards of $50 million total.

Quite the conundrum.

Mark Polishuk of MLBTradeRumors.com believes that the Orioles acquiring Ellsbury would actually help their depleted outfield core.

"While the Orioles’ interest in Ellsbury may be muted, his addition would bring more left-handed balance to Baltimore’s lineup and also perhaps open the door for Adam Jones to shift to right field."

While I stand by the belief that the Yankees will avoid trading from the very top of their farm system (Gleyber Torres, Estevan Florial and Justus Sheffield) — waiting to acquire Machado as a free agent after next season, the chance of including Ellsbury inside a blockbuster trade would need to at least be considered.

Wishful thinking, but if the Yanks were granted an exclusive window to negotiate a contract extension with Machado before completing a trade, this would be a considerable tremendous coup for Brian Cashman and company.

Next: Yanks sign Jace Peterson for minor league depth

However, that NTC casts a cloud of uncertainty without much chance of ever dissipating.

While this may not be your typical Yankees rumor, the offseason hot stove has been ice-cold. So even a tidbit of possibility about the mercurial Jacoby Ellsbury is better than none.

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