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3 trade calls Yankees should make the day MLB Lockout ends

By Adam Weinrib |
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 27: Matt Olson #28 of the Oakland Athletics swings and misses the pitch against the New York Yankees in the bottom of the first inning at RingCentral Coliseum on August 27, 2021 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 27: Matt Olson #28 of the Oakland Athletics swings and misses the pitch against the New York Yankees in the bottom of the first inning at RingCentral Coliseum on August 27, 2021 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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Ramón Laureano #22 of the Oakland Athletics (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
Ramón Laureano #22 of the Oakland Athletics (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /

Welcome to the theoretical free agent feeding frenzy, where the trade market could end up getting both slightly neglected and extremely complicated — but hopefully not for the New York Yankees, who’ve done their homework.

After all, Brian Cashman loves a trade steal, and has been laser focused in the past on not just making one surprise transaction per offseason (at least) but also winning every trade that gets posted.

That has been his downfall, on occasion. You do have to give to get, and when the Yankees are unwilling to take a chance on offloading talent they believe in (like Oswald Peraza), it makes it significantly more difficult for them to come to agreements (especially because of the baked-in Yankee Tax that costs the Bombers extra).

So, what is Cash to do, especially with the other 29 teams swirling and trying to make additions, too? Hopefully, he’s spent the past three months of downtime doing his homework so the first post-lockout calls come easy to him.

When the lockout is lifted, the Yankees are going to need (clears throat, breathes in for 1,000 years): a first baseman, a shortstop, a center field insurance piece, possibly a fifth outfielder, some more bullpen lottery tickets, a No. 2 or 3 starter, more innings for the rotation, and a new manager (kidding).

They did next-to-no building prior to the lockout being installed, adding only Joely Rodriguez on a major-league contract, making no trades, and only touching up the system with a few minor-league signings (Ender Inciarte, for one). This has been your State of the Yankees Address. There’s a lot of work to do.

While some of that work can be accomplished with money alone, via the signings of, say, Carlos Rodón and Freddie Freeman, there are also plenty of available (and helpful) trade partners who will need to be contacted just as quickly.

3 trade calls Yankees must make day after MLB Lockout ends

3. Oakland A’s for Matt Olson/Ramon Laureano/Frankie Montas

Brian Cashman’s first call should be to Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics, and it should last an extremely long time. Tie up that line. Don’t let anybody else in. Force Beane to talk things out with you the way he did with Mark Shapiro about Ricardo Rincon.

Was that just a scene from Moneyball, or did that really happen? You tell me.

The Yankees’ interest should start with slugging first baseman Matt Olson, and Cashman should engage with the A’s to figure out if there’s any way around including Oswald Peraza in a potential swap. As long as the answer’s still no, he should expand the deal to make it worth his while, then push it across the finish line.

Could that mean outfielder Ramon Laureano as the Yankees’ fourth outfield option/Aaron Hicks insurance? Or any of the three starters being dangled on the market, all with their own unique brand of pros and cons? Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea all bring with them at least No. 3 starter upside, as well as the theoretical durability the Yankees require for whoever’ll be absorbing the innings between Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery, backing up Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino.

And, if Rodón is their big free agent pitching acquisition, all the better to have an arm you can count on added to this deal.

Olson should be Plan A for the Bombers, and it should happen within the first 24 hours of discussions. These two sides should know each other well enough by now. As for the remaining pieces of the trade? The Yankees should go for broke. This is their major acquisition brewing, after all.

Zac Gallen #23 of the Arizona Diamondbacks (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Zac Gallen #23 of the Arizona Diamondbacks (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

2. Call Diamondbacks About Zac Gallen/Merrill Kelly

After Brian Cashman agrees to mortgage a small portion of his shortstop future (not the whole thing, just a portion!) for Matt Olson and Co., he should fire up a call to the Diamondbacks and demand the 2001 World Series trophy be returned, due to how clearly “unfair” a rotation of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson was.

Kidding. Almost.

Once that business is handled, it’s time to get down to brass tax. Cashman could press on second baseman/center field All-Star Ketel Marte, but he’ll cost a boatload and will only add to the Yankees’ confusing position-less-ness. He’ll up their athleticism, but will hurt their strikeout issue. He’d be a good addition, but perhaps not at the required price.

Hopefully, this call to Arizona is about pitching — both the Schilling/Johnson thing and a possible pair of one high-upside and one depth arm.

The two sides should be familiar here, too, not from pre-lockout 2021 conversations, but from previous years spent talking Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray. This time around, there are two intriguing D-Backs hurlers who could help New York in two different ways.

Cashman could start the call by trying to pry Zac Gallen away, intent on unlocking his No. 2 upside and paying a heftier price. Gallen, swiped from Derek Jeter’s Marlins in the Jazz Chisholm trade that’s working out pretty well for everyone, is still just 26 years old and under team control through 2025. Last season, he took a step back on the mound (4-10, 4.30 ERA, 139 Ks in 121.1 innings while battling various injuries), but still, his fastball spin ranked in the 67th percentile and his xBA and xSLG were both above-average, too. If the Yankees want to include two top-10 prospects and some back-end depth (15-20-ranked prospects?), Arizona should listen.

Or what about Merrill Kelly? Not to be confused with catcher Carson Kelly (who the Yankees should, uh, also trade for), Kelly offers the exact same fastball spin rate and an elite walk rate (81st percentile), but precious little else typically coveted for the top of the rotation. Still, he could be an innings-eating No. 4 and is a free agent after the 2022 season. That means he should come relatively cheaply, leading Cashman to his third call of the afternoon.

Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

1. Call Mariners About Aroldis Chapman

Be honest. There’s come a time over the past several years when you’ve asked yourself whether Aroldis Chapman is the singular problem throwing Yankees Universe off its axis.

Whether there’s something cosmic going on here or not, the Yankees have more than enough bullpen depth to jettison Chapman’s salary, move Jonathan Loaisiga or Clay Holmes or Chad Green to the ninth inning, and never make the mistake of paying someone like the 34-year-old ever again (he’s 34 now, unbelievable).

And hey, who likes both trades and upsetting their clubhouse chemistry more than the Seattle Mariners?!

Just this past season, the M’s dealt their closer Kendall Graveman just minutes before a theoretical home stretch towards a playoff run, creating a near-mutiny … before the team rallied anyway, potentially to spite their GM, and nearly earned a Wild Card berth.

Chapman is both exactly what the M’s need in the bullpen and exactly the type of distraction a feel-good story and tenuous clubhouse balance needs to survive.

If Cashman can get Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto on the horn, though, and convince him to take on Chapman’s salary and surrender literally anything of semi-value (a top-15 prospect and a teenager? top 20?), the Yankees will have enough on the big-league roster to reload, especially as they proved down the stretch they can turn guys like Holmes and Michael King into bullpen options while leveling Loaisiga up.

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