Despite the New York Yankees sitting alongside the Tampa Bay Rays on June 1st, tied for first in the American League East at 26-25, it’s been known for some time that their weak spot was in the starting rotation. With ace Masahiro Tanaka about to make his return from the disabled list on Wednesday to face the Mariners, he’s still just one wrong pitch away from the dreaded Tommy John surgery. C.C. Sabathia has been regressing the last three seasons, losing velocity which makes his off-speed pitches not as effective. Ivan Nova is recovering from Tommy John, and should return sometime during July. That leaves Michael Pineda, Adam Warren, and Nathan Eovaldi holding down the staff. Not exactly Clemens, Pettitte, and Cone.
Fixing the New York Yankees Rotation
The Yankees starters are ranked 19th in baseball in ERA at 4.29, ranked 29th in batting average against at .278, 25th in SLG at .432, and have given up the seventh most home runs at 37. Needless to say, the Yankees staff as a whole have been struggling, and are in need of some sort of stability in their rotation. Pitchers feed off of each other, and with one bad performance after another, it leads to more panic and timidness to not mess up, instead of building upon good starts. Look at the Mets and their young staff, you can’t tell me that after Matt Harvey pitches, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard don’t want to emulate what he just accomplished.
Brian Cashman did a bad job not addressing the starting rotation issues in the off-season, knowing full well that the organization was taking a risk on Tanaka’s elbow, Sabathia’s regression, and Nova out until mid-season. He did trade for Eovaldi, but at the expense of Martin Prado and David Phelps. Prado was the big piece in the trade, as his versatility in the infield would’ve helped solve part of the Yankees equation at second base. Nonetheless, there are options for Cashman to go after in trades, especially since the AL East doesn’t seem to be a powerhouse division. Cashman needs to be on the phones, and I have a few suggestions on who he should be targeting.
1. Johnny Cueto
Cueto would be an ideal addition to the Yankees staff, but they would be trading for a rental. Cueto, 29, is a free agent at the end of the year, but is still just 29 years old, and has pitched well for the fourth place Reds. The Reds could trade Cueto, and still sign him in the off-season when he becomes a free agent, but because he is a rental, he won’t fetch as much in a return as a guy like Hamels signed long term. Cueto is 3-4 on the year with a 3.03 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He’s also been on the wrong end of same games, as he currently sits 98th in run support per nine games at just over three a game. Cueto throws a lot of innings as well, averaging over 7 innings per start. This would be the first guy I would target if I’m Cashman, and if he pitches well for the Bombers in his half year stint, look to make an extension with him, especially if Tanaka does go down for any length of time.
2. Cole Hamels
Hamels is signed through 2018, with an easily obtained club option for 2019, which has him making over $88.5 million. Yankees are one of the few teams that can take on his entire contract, however, the Phillies are looking to rebuild, and would want a lot back in a trade. The Red Sox have been connected to Hamels since the off-season, however GM Ben Cherington has balked at the price it would cost to trade for him, a combination that had names Mookie Betts and Blake Swihart in the mix. The Yankees cannot keep trading away their young prospects, they need to start developing from within, which all teams are doing now. Fewer and fewer superstars are hitting the free agent market for the likes of the Yankees or Red Sox to simply sign, teams are now investing into their farm and signing their young talent early to team friendly contracts. If the Yankees offer to pay a large portion of Hamels contract, then there’s a slight chance that this deal would cost them less in prospects. However, the Phillies have made it clear they are in rebuild mode, and would be looking to recoup prospects in return, something the Yankees need to be leery of.
3. Jeff Samardzija
The White Sox are currently sitting in last place in the AL West, and Samardzija is a free agent after the season. Samardzija is another guy that averages close to seven innings a start, and is 4-2 on the year with a 3.84 ERA. Samardzija just turned 30, and has several more years of prime pitching at his disposal. Another promising stat for Samardzija is the amount of inning he’s thrown in his career. Since he started his career in the bullpen for the Cubs, he doesn’t have a ton of innings thrown at his age like many other players would. The White Sox would presumably want some decent prospects and maybe some Major League talent back for his services, they are not far out from competing again in the AL Central. They could use a catcher, so maybe the Yankees could part with one of their young catchers, John Ryan Murphy, Gary Sanchez, Louis Torrens, or Austin Romine as part of a larger package.
Other potential pitchers that could become available include Aaron Harang, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, and Kyle Loshe. Any of the mentioned pitchers would help the Yankees starting rotation going forward, and also prevent their AL East rivals from obtaining one of them as well. I still believe the Red Sox could make a big run in this division if they could obtain a legitimate top of the rotation starter; they have the offense to carry them. The Red Sox starter’s ERA is even worse than the Yankees, ranked 29th at 5.05 and have given up the fifth most walks in baseball with 100. The next two months will be imperative for the Yankees to make a move to solidify their postseason chances this year, hopefully without mortgaging the future. They recently promoted their top pitching prospect 21 year old Luis Severino to Triple A, after only pitching 14 games in Double A between 2014-15. This looks like a desperation move, as Severino seems to be progressing much quicker through the minors than the Yankees are used to with their starting pitchers. You don’t want to rush a kid that isn’t prepared for the bright lights of the Bronx, so look for Cashman to make some phone calls the next two months. I hope he has unlimited talk on his cell plan.
Main Photo Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
