Latest trade rumors connect Yankees to another ace (but it'd cost them)

The New York Yankees have indicated that they won't wait around for Cody Bellinger's decision, and are fully prepared to get on with the rest of their offseason in the meantime. Good. That's the right sentiment. Now it's time to, you know, do something. Put that motto into action. Jump the market. Move it.

The Yanks and Red Sox haven't done all that much to really ratchet up their on-field war this offseason (though Sonny Gray reignited the culture war). The Orioles and Blue Jays? They've stepped up. Dylan Cease won't be Toronto's final splash. Nobody saw the Orioles' Kyle Schwarber bid as anything more than a curiosity ... until they landed Pete Alonso at the same price. Even the Rays seem willing to dip into their pitching reserves and trade for Ketel Marte, then replace those pitchers with additional arms from the factory.

The Yankees have a dynamic and deep rotation when healthy, but that caveat is far from a given. Brian Cashman made it very clear he'd like to add an arm via trade, and there's no better time than the present.

As Brendan Kuty wrote in his post-Winter Meetings primer, "The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported Wednesday that the Yankees were among the teams in the market for the Milwaukee Brewers’ Freddy Peralta. Another league source said there’s been widespread interest in the Cincinnati Reds’ Hunter Greene."

Either Peralta or Greene would be a phenomenal addition, but Reds manager Terry Francona has been adamant all offseason long — after some of his local guys stoked the Greene Flame — that his ace is unlikely to go anywhere. At the Winter Meetings, he heightened the charges, basically begging the rest of the league to send over their whole roster if they expect to land Greene.

Widespread trade interest in Reds' Hunter Greene reportedly involves Yankees

What would the Reds really be looking for? Expect them to beg you to help replenish their pitching staff with controllable assets. If they're giving away Greene, they're going to want you to regenerate arm after arm and replace him in triplicate: Will Warren, Elmer Rodriguez, Ben Hess? Carlos Lagrange?

The Yankees do have what the Reds might be seeking in a rational world — but that's not the one we live in. Terry Francona's bluster, combined with a whole lot of competition for the services of these aces, means the Yankees won't be able to take care of business pre-Bellinger without sucking in their guts and accepting their fate.