Yankees trade for Mariners pitcher James Paxton realistic?

The loss of Robinson Cano might convince Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto to make a call to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who is looking for a starting pitcher and is loaded with talent to trade.

“One man’s problem is another man’s opportunity,” a quote by Tuchy Palmieri, could best describe the probable effects Seattle Mariners star second baseman Robinson Cano could have on the New York Yankees.

Following Cano’s 80 game suspension for a diuretic potentially used as a masking agent, the Mariners will likely drift out of contention from an already challenging AL West division and miss the playoffs yet again this season.

On the other hand, the Bombers recently lost a key component of their own in left-handed starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery. As reported recently on by Rotoworld:

"WFAN’s Sweeny Murti reports that Jordan Montgomery could be out up to two months with a flexor strain his left elbow. The Yankees placed Montgomery on the 10-day disabled list with the elbow injury on Wednesday, but it sounds like the southpaw will be significantly longer than that. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Montgomery won’t begin throwing for at last two weeks — possibly three- so his ETA can’t be confirmed until we find out how he responds to the rest. Domingo German will get first cracks at sticking in the rotation, but don’t be surprised if the Yankees begin the trade season early to look at potential replacements"

James Paxton, not Manny Machado, should be the primary trade target

Twenty-nine-year-old James Paxton was the “Seattle Mariners 2017 Pitcher of the Year” after going 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA and racking up 156 K’s in just 136 innings pitched. This success despite two separate 10-day stints on the DL.

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Thus far in 2018, Paxton is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA, has a 71:19 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.11 WHIP. Paxton, who threw a no-hitter on May 8 in his native Canada, now possesses a career WAR of 9.4, 3.31 ERA and WHIP of 1.20 in five-plus seasons with the M’s.

The southpaw is earning $4.9 million in ’18 and will enter his first arbitration-eligible season in 2019. Unable to become a free agent until 2021, Paxton is a cost-effective top of the rotation option that many clubs will be fighting for prior to the July 31 trade deadline.

However, the Yankees perhaps have the most talent to showcase to Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto for the likes of Paxton. Dipoto might soon feel like a “kid in a candy store” with pockets full of change.

Commodities such as infielder Brandon Drury, outfielder Clint Frazier, utility man Tyler Wade, pitchers Luis Cessa and Justin Sheffield top a list of exciting young players and prospects, some already with MLB experience — and some that are currently feeling the Yanks’ big league roster crunch.

Even if Dipoto doesn’t find exactly what he wants via the Bombers, there is always Brian Cashman’s ability to engineer multi-team blockbuster trades that move players around like balls in the pinball machine.

Next: Yanks are over Robinson Cano; why isn’t media?

Who knows? Maybe Cashman can even find a way to achieve the impossible dream and unload Jacoby Ellsbury as the Mariners once did with Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees back in 2012.