Many believe that the New York Yankees, in spite of their surprisingly hot start, just don’t have the firepower to contend for a championship this season. This begs the question, will they be buyers at the trade deadline?
Trade Deadline Strategy: The Yanks Should Stay Put
While the answer – as of right now – is up in the air, the logical conclusion would be a simple “No.”
The Pitching Staff
This team, as presently constituted, is overachieving. The pitching staff, which was supposed to be anchored by ace Masahiro Tanaka, has already shown that it is far from reliable.
Tanaka has not been his usual self this season. Aside from his masterful complete game at Fenway Park and an easy victory against the Chicago White Sox, he has been mediocre at best.
In his seven other starts, Tanaka has allowed 35 runs over the course of just 32 innings. Numbers like that are more than concerning, especially considering that Tanaka has allowed 13 home runs already this season, while he allowed 22 all of last year.
CC Sabathia has been solid, in spurts, but is far from the Cy Young candidate he once was. In nine starts, Sabathia is 4-2 with a 4.62 ERA.
While he has played the role of slump-buster a few times, making quality starts in outings following consecutive Yankees losses, he was shaky against the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles – two of the teams the Yanks will be competing with for the AL East crown, as well as a Wild Card spot.
Somehow, Michael Pineda, the man who seemed likely to be the most inconsistent pitcher on the staff, has been fantastic this season. He’s 5-2 with a 3.35 ERA, and has gone six or more innings in six of his nine starts.
Luis Severino, arguably the pitcher on the staff with the highest potential upside, has been decent. He’s 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA and has kept the team in position to win most of his starts.
He also has had two particularly encouraging outings to his record this season: seven shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox and seven one-run innings against the Chicago Cubs.
Rookie Jordan Montgomery, a young lefty with four legit pitches, has shown flashes of what he could be one day, but is certainly not a top tier starting pitcher right now.
The Yankees bullpen, while overworked at the moment due to a series of shaky performances by the starters, has been good to great thus far.
As long as Aroldis Chapman is able to return to form when he comes back from his injury, the back-end will be as strong as ever. In fact, the Yanks are 23-0 when leading after eight innings this season, including that 18-inning marathon win in Chicago.
While the starting pitching staff is not exactly the best in the league, they are not what they’ve been lately. A rough series against the Houston Astros, who seem to be legitimate title contenders, left many fans assuming that this team needs to make a trade or trades in order to contend.
Hal Steinbrenner also said publicly at the baseball owners’ meetings, “We’re going to see where we’re at, what options are available and what those options would cost.”
Nonetheless, fans need to remember two things:
- The Yankees were not setting out to contend for a title this season. Rather, this year (and the next) were supposed to be years for their young talent to grow and develop. The fantastic rookie performance by Gary Sanchez last season, as well as the hot start of Aaron Judge this season, has led many to forget this.
- The farm system is deep and GM Brian Cashman has been abundantly clear that he is not looking to raid the minors in a move to win now. It’s more likely that the Yankees will promote from within as the season progresses, in the hopes of shoring up the staff, rather than trading multiple prospects for a legitimate top flight pitcher.
Patience is a virtue. It’s understandable that Yankees fans are used to winning and want to win as fast as possible, but in waiting on this one, Cashman and Steinbrenner are trying to build toward another dynasty.
The Lineup
The New York Yankees are leading Major League Baseball in on-base percentage, are tied for the lead in home runs, and are leading the AL in batting average.
The bats have been stellar for the most part, with some certainly performing better than others. Judge is playing like an All-Star, on both sides of the ball, and Starlin Castro is putting on a show at the plate.
Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury, both players who are aging and whose big contracts are the main reasons they weren’t traded away, have been hitting well enough. Sanchez has rebounded from his rough start and stint on the DL, and Didi Gregorius has been hitting over .300 since his return to the lineup.
Of course, Chris Carter and Greg Bird have left a lot to desire in terms of production from the first base position, but the others have served to pick them up during their slumps.
The more concerning development, as Bird is still developing and was nicked up, is Chase Headley’s month-long slump. After his hot April, it appeared that Headley was poised to have his best season in pinstripes; however, his average has dipped over 60 points in just three weeks.
Will the Yanks look to make a deal to supplement their lack of production at the corner infield spots? Not a chance.
Bird is viewed by many as the future of the franchise at first base, so they will allow him to fight through his struggles at the dish – when he returns from injury, that is. As for Carter, the team must have known what they were getting into when signing him.
Carter is reminiscent of former Yankee Mark Reynolds, the “feast or famine” power hitting first baseman. He won’t ever hit for average, but he just might get into a groove and run into a few home runs as he continues to see more consistent playing time.
Headley isn’t going anywhere. He’s under contract for this season and the next for $13 million and, as of right now, is the team’s best option at third base.
Ronald Torreyes, while an exciting, energetic player, is both more valuable as and more suited to be a utility player coming off-the-bench. Gleyber Torres, on the other hand, who was just promoted to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, might get some looks if Headley’s skid becomes a long-lasting problem.
Torres has seen playing time at shortstop, second base, and third base this season in Double-A. Headley’s struggles could serve to spring Torres to an early MLB debut, though the team doesn’t seem keen to rush their prospects.
Verdict
As per usual, the gun is being jumped when discussing the New York Yankees.
These Yankees, as presently constituted, are likely not going to win the World Series. Yet, these Yankees can contend in the AL East and can certainly win a Wild Card spot.
With Cashman at the helm, the Yanks are going to stand pat at the trade deadline, in terms of big deals. They very well might make smaller deals, as he has been known to do in the past.
Cashman, according to NJ.com, said in April, “I’m not afraid to make trades. I’m not afraid to be aggressive and do fair deals that put everybody in a better position.”
He continued, “But ultimately every recommendation to ownership we’re going to make is what’s going to be in our best interest, factoring the present and the future. I’ll continue to operate that way, no different than I have in the past.”
Cashman’s words drive home the point that, while contending for a title this season would be fantastic, the ultimate goal was and still is to be World Series contenders for many years to come.
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