Yankees: 3 fan favorites who could be traded by Opening Day

2. Clarke Schmidt

The Yankees might be more willing to part with Clarke Schmidt than Garcia.

Clarke Schmidt was supposed to be the Yanks’ breakout arm of 2020 when he was in the throes of Spring Training.

But when he actually arrived, he was relied upon as a relief ace with traffic on the bases (Hint: It didn’t work.) and carried the final start of the ’20 season once the team had only positioning to play for — and his ugly loss could’ve sent the Yankees to the Wild Card Series with Tampa Bay instead of Cleveland. Yikes!

There’s at least a solid chance Schmidt looks entirely different and more confident when he arrives for the 2021 season, throwing it back to the confidence he displayed in the spring and early summer before the Alternate Site became a part of his vocabulary.

But the Yankees can’t plan for him to be anything but a depth piece, and it once again may be time to pay the piper for a significant rotation upgrade if Schmidt’s name comes to the forefront of trade discussions.

Some Yankees may only be available in upper-echelon, Luis Castillo-level trade talks. But Schmidt will probably hear his name called for trade targets who are a notch below that, and fans might have to prepare themselves for one of their prospect crushes to be un-hugged.