Yankees: Does a poor 2020 season from James Paxton help NYY in free agency?

James Paxton hasn’t had a great start to 2020, but could that actually help the Yankees?

After two disastrous starts from James Paxton, the left-hander finally turned things around last weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays, but of course, the New York Yankees couldn’t provide him with the needed run support.

Oh yeah, and manager Aaron Boone couldn’t take him out of the game in time before an untimely home run.

The Yankees are 1-2 in games in which Paxton starts, and one of those wins was the miraculous comeback against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball almost two weeks ago. Yankees fans surely want the veteran to emerge and become a bonafide No. 2, but what if he continues to falter in 2020?

Could that actually help the Yankees in terms of his free agency?

Paxton will hit the open market after this season as one of the top pitchers, but it’s hard to see him cashing out in a big way after last year’s 3.82 ERA in 29 starts (only 150.2 innings) AND if he can’t get back on track during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Let’s also not forget he’s never made 30 starts, thrown over 160.1 innings or recorded more than 15 wins in a single season. Throw all that historical data and lump it in with a trying contract year and the fact he’ll be 32 years old, and the Yankees stand to benefit.

Wouldn’t general manager Brian Cashman love to keep the left-hander in town at a discount price? Paxton hasn’t met expectations in terms of being a top-of-the-rotation starter, but why not give him JA Happ money and keep him around? He can twirl gems but would mostly profile as a No. 3 at best. That’s not bad at all.

Additionally, at this point, it’s clear the Yankees don’t even really need Paxton at his best this year (though that would be nice, very helpful and extremely comforting). They sport the league’s most threatening offense and best bullpen, so as long as there’s an ace like Gerrit Cole holding down the fort at the top of the rotation while Tanaka continues his postseason brilliance, one could hope that’s enough to get the job done.

By no means is anyone rooting for this, but there is a silver lining in a lackluster campaign from Paxton. If he continues to underperform, the Yankees won’t need to go out and spend big on another question mark starter (like Trevor Bauer, Marcus Stroman, etc.).

Instead, they can keep Big Maple at a decent price and hope he avoids injury troubles/mechanical issues for the next few years. Not so bad, right?

And on the flip side, a poor 2020 could have the Yankees fully move on from him and bring in someone new. Either way, there’s a solution if things don’t get exponentially better from this point on. Glass half full!

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