It’s hard to believe, but we now live in a world where the New York Yankees were sellers at the trade deadline. Most importantly, general manager Brian Cashman hit it out of the park with the numerous trades he made over the last week.
Over the last few years, the Yankees have begun to build their farm system up from one of the worst in baseball, to at least one that was in the middle of the pack. Promising youngsters such as Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Jorge Mateo have given fans hope that a youth movement could be in the works.
However, ownership had long been afraid of a rebuild and sought to take on aging and overpriced free agents to keep the team competitive. After languishing on the fringes of the Wild Card race the last few seasons, Cashman finally got the green light to unload some of his more valuable veterans.
New York Yankees Finally Embrace the Future
The returns the team got for Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran were more than any reasonable fan could ever have hoped for. In trading those three players, Cashman completely rebuilt the team, and the Yankees now possess one of best farm systems in baseball.
By trading Miller to the Cleveland Indians, the Yankees acquired at top-25 prospect in Clint Frazier and another top-100 prospect in Justus Sheffield. The Chicago Cubs parted with one of their own top-25 prospects in Gleyber Torres in order to pluck Chapman from the Yanks. Even Beltran netted a former top-five pick in Dillion Tate.
All told, the Yankees now have seven of the top 100 ranked prospects for the 2016, tied for the most in all of baseball with the Houston Astros.
Now per https://t.co/IHYIMXRUfd (https://t.co/09wc27xmua)
24. Frazier
26. Torres
27. Mateo
32. Judge
39. Sanchez
64. Rutherford
95. Sheff— River Ave. Blues (@RiverAveBlues) July 31, 2016
Going into rebuild mode is always a tough decision for any franchise to make, but the Yankees have absolutely made the right move. This team, as constructed before the deadline, was never going to win a World Series this season. By becoming sellers at the trade deadline, the Yankees have accelerated their rebuild plan.
This is not to say that all prospects will work out; in fact, a great deal of the most talented players tend to flame out before ever making it to the Major Leagues. However, the Yankees now have a war chest of talent that they can either develop (ala the Kansas City Royals) or look to flip in trades somewhere down the road.
Winter has long been coming for the New York Yankees, but by making some necessary moves, don’t count on the Yankees being down for very long.
Main Photo:
