Yankees: Imagining five off the wall blockbuster trades

Owners of the third-best record in 2018, the Yankees fell apart during the ALDS against the 108-win Red Sox. Not unexpected, the Yanks had a good team, a great team actually, but were just a step behind Boston last season.

Once the Houston Astros leapfrogged the Yankees for second best record in baseball, we all knew what the playoffs held in store.

The mighty Yankees are a World Series caliber team; the problem is the competition is so great, that the Yanks might need to make a move or concede to a steady dose of Wild Card finishes.

Ownership could open their wallets and sign a star free agent and find a way to fit said superstar into the lineup, but why waste more money when there are some guys already not earning their pay on the roster?

That’s not to say all the players I suggest to trade aren’t worth their pay, but there are possibilities that would be in the team’s best interest of winning a championship next season. Which means dealing “good” players.

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But due to the state of the Yankees, as of now, I’d mark several players as off the table, including Aaron Judge, Miguel Andújar, Luis Severino, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and the recently acquired James Paxton.

Judge, Andújar, Severino, Sanchez and Torres are all under 27 years of age, and are some of the best players in baseball; with the partial exception of Sanchez, who had a very poor 2018.

Gregorius, on the other hand, has developed into a great ballplayer; his leadership qualities, as well as his age, make him an excellent fit for the Yanks — too good a piece to trade.

And Paxton, having been recently acquired through trade, would be an unlikely trade victim. Especially of a team in need of starting pitching.

But everyone else on the roster is on the table, including the hard-hitting, Giancarlo Stanton.