7 moves the Yankees must make after embarrassing playoff exit

It’s time for the Yankees front office to get to work. Changes must be made.

It really is a shame that a 60-game season with an expanded playoffs is going to determine the future makeup of the New York Yankees, but that’s what happens when another year ends with results that are unacceptable. If you want to call yourself a contender, you cannot play baseball in the manner in which the Yankees did in 2020.

Not only did the entire team crumble when the roster was dealing with a number of injuries, but even when they were fully healthy, they couldn’t handle business against the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS. While the Rays are good, the talent gap between the two teams isn’t even close. Mike Brosseau and Randy Arozarena beat Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. That. Can’t. Happen.

But this isn’t just on the players. The front office has played a big role in constructing a boom-or-bust offense without the necessary pitching to back it up. Yes, Luis Severino and James Paxton missed most or all of 2020, but the manner in which the bullpen folded was embarrassing. That was supposed to be an area of strength to back the rotation. Not even close.

So, here we go. This is a long one, but it’s worth mentioning every last move the Yankees need to execute or at least consider. Some are obvious. Some will upset you. But no stone can be left unturned when this team enters the 2021 season.

7. Re-Sign DJ LeMahieu and Masahiro Tanaka; Give James Paxton Qualifying Offer

Let’s begin with the Yankees’ most obvious duties on the endless checklist.

We don’t really need to get too in depth here. DJ LeMahieu needs to be back or this offense can start digging its grave. Though he wasn’t exactly otherworldly in the postseason, especially against the Rays, he’s still the engine that kickstarts the bats. He’s out-played his two-year, $24 million deal and deserves a blank check for the next four seasons.

As for the pitching, the Yankees simply cannot let their veteran arms go. JA Happ is out, so with that money coming off the books, all of it can be used to bring back Tanaka and Paxton. Tanaka on a three-year deal seems fair. He’s still producing and is largely consistent, though his home run issues anger the fanbase each and every year.

Paxton is the Bombers’ only hope for a reliable left-handed starter too, and they can avoid a multi-year commitment here because of his 2020 injury woes that limited him to just a handful of starts. Give him the qualifying offer, which will be right in the range of what JA Happ was making these last couple of years. If he performs, it’s a tremendous investment. If he falters, they’re not tied down.

This gives you a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Tanaka, Paxton, Severino, Deivi Garcia for 2020. If one of them gets injured, you have Clarke Schmidt likely ready. The bullpen is still deep enough to take a game by itself, if need be. But the pitching market doesn’t inspire much confidence unless you want to splurge on Marcus Stroman or bring hot-headed Trevor Bauer into the world’s biggest spotlight. We vote no on those options.

6. Sign Liam Hendriks and/or Blake Treinen

The Yankees will need to bolster their bullpen based on our later suggested moves.

The Yankees thought they had the best bullpen in the league. They don’t. They just invested a lot of money into it, and a number of those decisions have blown up in their faces. Paying Aroldis Chapman $16 million per year to continuously fail in the playoffs. Paying Adam Ottavino $9 million per year to be unusable down the stretch and in the postseason.

So now it’s time you add some veterans who have been around the block and are capable of pitching in high-leverage situations, no matter the inning. Oakland A’s closer Liam Hendriks is about to become a free agent, and LA Dodgers reliever (and former A!) Blake Treinen is too. How will these guys fit? We’ll get to that in a bit, but for now, this is what the Yankees need.

Hendriks has been a premier closer the past couple of seasons, and the A’s have deployed him whenever they’ve needed outs. He’ll likely be a lot more comfortable in a setup man or seventh-inning role with his nasty stuff. As for Treinen, he’s got setup man-type pitches, but he’s fallen a bit flat over the last couple of seasons after his legendary 2018 campaign with Oakland. That means he can probably be had for relatively cheap. He can be another Chad Green for the sixth or seventh innings, especially when some guys need rest.

We’ll get to how the Yankees will be able to make this possible in a bit, but the biggest thing here is stabilizing the bullpen with guys who have a track record of getting the job done in high-leverage situations. Chapman never really had that before coming to the Bronx, and neither did Ottavino. Time to switch things up.

5. Trade Aroldis Chapman, Gary Sanchez and Adam Ottavino

The Yankees need to make these trades happen, and that’s the end of it.

Whether you agree or not, the Yankees need to cut bait with these players before the 2021 season starts, and it’s hard to argue.

Just imagine what will happen if Aroldis Chapman blows another playoff game. With fans involved. New York City might burn to the ground. Gary Sanchez played 12 innings during the ALDS. Adam Ottavino pitched 0.2 innings. Chapman is making $16 million. Gary is likely due for $5 million or more. Otto is set to earn $9 million.

If these guys are proving to be a detriment and/or if manager Aaron Boone is reluctant to use them, then what’s the point? Find them new homes, rid yourself of the salary, and take whatever you can get in return. There are immediate solutions for all of these potential vacancies.

The first and most obvious is Zack Britton. He’s a closer and is more comfortable in that role. Let him own it for 2021 and beyond. Signing Hendriks and Treinen helps fill the potential Chapman and Otto departures in a much more cost-effective manner, and both of those veterans are much better suited for high-leverage situations.

As for Sanchez, it’s clear Kyle Higashioka is capable of starting, but the Yankees would more than likely prefer a platoon behind the plate. Sign another catcher — a ton are about to hit the market — and have that be your plan for 2021. The Yankees need defense at the catcher position more than anything else, not a liability who bats under .200 and is only good for home runs. The lineup has plenty of those kinds of hitters.

You can probably fetch solid prospects for all of these guys, but unloading the salaries will be most important in keeping other important players around and making some additions in free agency.

The only thing to make note of here is that Chapman has a full no-trade clause in his contract. He must approve any deal before it is made official. We’d like to think he’ll approve one to another contender, especially if it’s made clear he’s no longer wanted in New York.

4. Explore Trades for Brad Hand, Whit Merrifield and Josh Staumont

The Yankees should also be aggressive in trading for players.

Trading for players is just as imperative as trading away players. So who should general manager Brian Cashman target? The answer is right under his nose.

Call up the Cleveland Indians, who are likely going to make a lot of changes this offseason and see if they’re willing to trade closer Brad Hand, who has a $10 million team option for 2021. If the Tribe are going to sell guys like Francisco Lindor, there’s a high probability someone like Hand will follow. That’ll add another high-leverage lefty to the Yankees’ bullpen in the wake of Chapman’s potential departure. Plus, there’s no guarantee Hendriks and Treinen will be signed, so every other option needs to be considered.

The “go for the gold” trade, however, would be calling up the Kansas City Royals and inquiring about reliever Josh Staumont and the do-it-all Whit Merrifield. This potential trade would likely mean Clint Frazier will no longer be a Yankee, but the front office has made it clear where they stand on him after screwing with his status on the big league roster for years, and then not letting him get the proper playing time in the postseason in 2020.

Adding Staumont would give the Yankees long-term bullpen security (he’s under team control for quite a while) and Merrifield would give Boone even more flexibility on defense and in the lineup. Merrifield hits for average, steals bases and can play all over the infield and outfield. The Bombers need another guy who can do something other than hit home runs, and given their injury troubles for the past four seasons, they need another stud who can fill in anywhere on the field.

This deal won’t be cheap (Frazier plus another MLB talent and another prospect?), but it’ll undoubtedly save the Yankees from a lot of problems in 2021 and beyond. If they’re going to make trades, these are the players to target and pay a premium for.

3. Front Office Needs to Stop Making Decisions for Aaron Boone, or Needs to Fire Him

The Yankees need to chill on the analytics.

The New York Yankees are not the Oakland Athletics or Tampa Bay Rays. They aren’t working with a dollar-store budget, having to make ends meet with bottom-of-the-barrel talent. They’re not constantly searching for diamonds in the rough or are required to use a heavy dose of analytics to beat the behemoths of Major League Baseball.

They are the behemoths. Do you think for a second that the Game 2 pitching plan was Boone’s doing? Absolutely not. That was likely heavily influenced by the front office in an attempt to take advantage of “matchups” after analyzing spreadsheet after spreadsheet. Well guess what? We don’t need a computer to tell us JA Happ is bad, or that playoff baseball is very different than regular season baseball, or that weak 92 MPH fastballs are very hittable.

Leave the managing to the manager. If you feel Boone isn’t capable of managing in that capacity, then get rid of him. The New York Yankees manager shouldn’t be a puppet in any regard. And the Yankees shouldn’t be dictated largely by analytics. It’s very clear this organization values on-base percentage more than batting average, which has proven to be a colossal detriment to the offense’s success. A mix of all of these aspects is required to create a balance and avoid heavy hitting droughts. Cashman and Co. seemingly still haven’t figured that out for over four years now.

Let’s pump the brakes on the analytics, please. They, without a doubt, have a place in the game, but not to the point where they’re dictating an overwhelming amount of your biggest decisions.

1. Figure Out if Aaron Judge is the Face of the Franchise

The Yankees really need to think long and hard about Aaron Judge.

For the third straight season, Aaron Judge was limited with injuries that eventually affected his postseason performance in a big way. Yes, he hit three timely home runs in those seven playoff games, but he had four hits total, struck out far too much, and left a ton of runners on base. That can’t be happening with your No. 2 hitter, especially when the manager is refusing to move him down in the lineup.

Also, what’s Judge’s future with this team? He’s under club control through 2022, but at this point, if you view him as the face of the franchise, why hasn’t he been signed to a contract extension? We understand that diagnosing his value is very difficult at this point since he’s been hampered by injuries for much of his career, but waiting doesn’t do anybody good. You put yourself in position to constantly be asked by the media about this and largely leave the future up in the air.

Plus, investing in Judge will be among the most crucial moves within the next year or so. DJLM needs to get paid this year. Gleyber Torres will eventually need an extension. Even Chad Green should be on the radar, because he’s in the same situation as Judge. Starting pitching will always be an eternal need for this team. The longer you wait, the more the price tag goes up, especially if he manages to stay healthy.

On the contrary, however, can you invest a ton of money in somehow who can’t stay on the field? Judge will not be cheap, but it also seems unforgivable to let him walk in free agency if it were to get to that point. This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult situations surrounding a franchise-like player in all of baseball. We wish it were as easy as giving Mike Trout $400 million or forking over $275 million for Nolan Arenado, but it isn’t.

The win-win scenario here would be getting Judge to accept a long-term deal in the $175 million range. He needs to understand that his injury woes are a colossal financial risk that could hamper what the team can do elsewhere in terms of continuing to build a roster around him. On the flip side, Judge will make up for all of that in endorsement deals in the New York market. Perhaps the two sides can work out a deal in which Judge makes a percentage of merchandise sales. Who knows. But something has to be determined this offseason in regards to his future, because this is the biggest domino that has yet to fall.

In a disastrous alternate universe, perhaps he’s traded if the two sides can’t agree to something? Probably not, but everything must be considered in regards to a situation this complicated.

Yankees: 3 players NYY must ditch before 2021 season

The New York Yankees are going to have to ditch some players ahead of the 2021 MLB season. This cannot be the roster entering next year.