Yankees Simulation: Transactions from FanSided Winter Meetings

My first trade was a blockbuster

Pitching, pitching, pitching. Anyone and everyone that begins talking about the needs of the Yankees this offseason usually starts and finishes the conversation with addressing the needs of the starting rotation.

And while Luis Severino will likely rebound from his 2018 second-half struggles, the 24-year-old needs someone to help take the glare off of each and every start he makes.

While rumors have swirled for weeks that James Paxton of the Mariners and Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco of the Indians could be had via trade, each come with their own question marks.

Now I did my due diligence and contacted the Indians faux-GM right away. He made it clear that unless I offered four top 20 prospects, Kluber wouldn’t be going anywhere since this gentleman preferred to keep the former Cy Young winner — and instead deal Carrasco.

For Kluber, he’s entering his age-33 season and has struggled mightily in each of the past two postseasons. His teammate, Carlos Carrasco, will turn 32 this season, has only twice appeared in a playoff contest and in my eyes, is too similar to Masahiro Tanaka.

As for Paxton, who is coming off a career-year that saw him throw two complete games and a no-hitter, the “Big Maple” still only managed to throw a career-high 160.1 innings. I get that when healthy, Paxton can dominate a game, as his 208:42 K:BB ratio in 2018 will attest; however, “trading the farm” for a guy that spent the majority of the first five years of his MLB career on the disabled list wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

Yes, throwing big money at free agent pitchers Patrick Corbin and Dallas Keuchel was an option, but when I tell you how many millions they commanded, you’ll understand why I quickly pulled out of negotiations.

Instead, I focused on a three-time World Series Champion that is still just 29-years-old and is set to make an uber-affordable $12 million in 2019 — Madison Bumgarner.