Yankees trade with Mets for Jacob deGrom should be top priority?

The Yankees should ready themselves to trade a “whatever it takes” package of their top minor league prospects if it means putting Jacob deGrom in pinstripes before the trade deadline.

There is a difference between a pitcher that might help get the Yankees to the playoffs and one that will navigate the postseason waters towards the World Series. In a short series, pitching is everything. Just ask the 2017 Yanks who lost the last two games to the Houston Astros in the  ALCS.

In case someone out there doesn’t remember, the Bombers were up three games to two going back to Houston to decide the series last fall. The Yankees pitted Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia against Justin Verlander and Charlie Morton/Lance McCullers in those contests.

The Astros scored seven runs in Game 6, and four runs in Game 7 for a total of 11 runs against the Yankees one lone run. That is why the Yanks need another front-line pitcher, and trading for Mets ace Jacob deGrom might be more likely than some imagine it to be.

With all due respect, C.C. Sabathia can still help the Yankees during the drawn-out season from time to time, and Domingo German can do his fair share. But the Yankees shouldn’t rely on either as one of the three or four starters needed to win in a best of seven series versus the Red Sox or Astros.

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However, there is a team with two such aces that might be sellers for the right price. That club, surprisingly, is just across town — the Mets. Brian Cashman might be able to catch his opposite, Sandy Alderson, under the right conditions, for a swap of sorts.

The Mets, with their excellent preseason pitching staff, were expected to be contenders this season. The club started out on fire but soon fell apart, traded Matt Harvey — and for whatever excuse, are already 7.5 games back and do not look anything like a contender as compared to the Nats, Braves or even Phillies.

Therefore, it could be time for Alderson to cash in on deGrom, who will be entering his third year of arbitration eligibility, after signing a one-year, $7.4 million contract for this season.

In exchange for a once in a lifetime package that only the Yankees can offer, with their stacked talent-rich farm system, the Mets could become contenders as quickly as 2020, which is similar to what the Yankees recently did.

The Yanks are a young team and very deep at almost every position. They can easily afford to let go of four or five players from a group including, but not limited to Clint Frazier, Brandon Drury, Tyler Wade, Estevan Florial, Justus Sheffield, Luis Cessa, Luis Medina, Chance Adams and Giovanny Gallegos. Naturally, the Yanks wouldn’t part with all of them.

So far this year, deGrom is 4-0 with an ERA of 1.49 and a WHIP of 1.037. Having the 1-2 punch of Severino and deGrom would make the Yankees, with their already dominant bullpen, almost invincible in a short series.

Next: Yanks again being linked to Padres reliever Brad Hand

There is a price for everything they say, and if Brian Cashman is ready to go another level, he should call Sandy Alderson before the July 31 trade deadline, and ensure a clear path to the World Series for the team that he’s built to win now.