Yankees insider puts awkward ticking clock on Marcus Stroman trade, pitches solution

Yankees insider Joel Sherman just delivered one of the most concise summations to date of New York's current predicament: Luis Arraez doesn't make much sense, based on their stated roster goals entering a fresh start. But, at this point, they probably have to go and get him anyway, right?

Sherman broke things down on his Pinstripe Post podcast Wednesday, noting that Arraez's defensive struggles would represent a stark departure from the Yankees' offseason mandate. He can't be shoved at first base; that's Paul Goldschmidt's territory. Jazz Chisholm thrives on spectacular plays, but struggled with middling fundamentals at third. Will that carry over to second, or will he improve? Can Arraez be buried at third? Given his low hard-hit rate and singles-first attitude, does his offense rule him out before his defense can?

And yet ... the Yankees are getting down to the wire here, and if they're not more desperate than the Padres, it's certainly close. Despite Aaron Boone claiming Marcus Stroman might be the most important starting pitcher on the roster last week (?), the Yankees are descending on an awkward situation if they can't deal the righty before spring training after telegraphing their desires all offseason.

Are the Yankees honestly going to let Stroman report to camp after all of this? And are they honestly going to head to camp en masse without a final infield addition? Keeping Stroman makes no sense. Adding Arraez makes no sense. Trading them for one another somehow makes the most sense of all?

Yankees insider Joel Sherman wonders if Marcus Stroman-Luis Arraez trade makes sense

One final piece of the puzzle entered the periphery on Thursday when John Seidler, brother of Peter, was officially approved as the Padres' chairperson, despite a hefty dose of offseason turmoil. Does this make a rapid response fire sale more or less likely? Feels like "more".

Arraez's pros are significant; three-time batting champions do not grow on trees, even if you don't approve wholeheartedly of how he got there. His cons, though, represent a regression to the old, discarded norm, as well as an unfortunate return to what the Yankees were before they let Gleyber Torres walk.

Is importing Arraez better than an internal competition? Almost definitely. Add Stroman's pending toxicity, and this is probably the only trade involving those two names that makes any form of sense.