Yankees: Three affordable trades to solve infield job openings
By Carl Scott
Pitchers and catchers report in less than one month, and the Yankees still have job openings in the infield. If general manager Brian Cashman decides he wants to acquire a veteran player, he has plenty of cheap options.
When Yankees GM Brian Cashman makes a trade, he only moves forward when the exchange is a great value. For example, he bit on the Giancarlo Stanton deal because he acquired Stanton for less than his actual value.
Think about it for a second, that deal was a disaster for the Marlins. Stanton backed them into a corner because of his no-trade clause, and the Yankees were not going to buy him at a premium price because of his gigantic contract. As a result, the Yanks were able to buy low on the NL MVP.
My gut feeling is that the Yankees will enter Spring Training with a classic position battle between in-house rookies and veterans for the job openings at second base and third base. However, acquiring a new player is an option if it financially makes sense for Cashman’s Yankees, according to Newsday.
"“We’re more than prepared to go into spring training with what we have,” Cashman said by phone this past week. “We’re fully prepared to do that unless an opportunity presents itself that fits in our current [financial] environment.”"
I think the Yankees should start their kids in 2018, but there are plenty of players who should be on the Yanks’ radar for a trade. And some of these options could also come at a cheap, contractual price.
The suggestions I’m about to make are veteran infielders who can perform at a level beyond their current salary. Also, the following players either have one-year remaining on their current contract — or have multiple years of team control.
All three of these options, in my opinion, would add tremendous value to the Yankees in 2018. The cost for all three of these veterans would be potentially one or two mid-tier prospects.
No need to trade away top organizational prospects Gleyber Torres, Chance Adams, Estevan Florial, Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield or any of the other top prospects in the organization. And no need to go over $197 million in payroll.