Hot stove season is upon us and New York Yankee fans have been promised great things this offseason by General Manager Brian Cashman. Pete Caldera of northjersey.com caught Cashman’s remark to Mike Francesa on his radio show: “We’re going to kick the tires on every opportunity and then kind of see where and what we should do after that,’’ Cashman said generally.
More specifically, Cashman has said the Yankees are interested in acquiring two starting pitchers to bolster and fill out the rotation; to that end, he has traded top prospect LHP Justus Sheffield, RHP Erik Swanson, who was the Yankees number 22 prospect, and OF Dom Thompson-Williams for Seattle ace James Paxton.
Paxton, who was dominant in 2018, in fact, he threw a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 8th, went 11-6 in 28 starts with the Mariners and posted a 3.76 ERA with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. His 208 strikeouts was good for ninth in American League.
The Yankees have accomplished half of the task Cashman has set for himself, he provided an upgrade to the rotation of Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, and CC Sabathia, and fans are anxiously awaiting his next move to acquire another starting pitcher.
By far the most attractive trades the Yankees could make would be with the Cleveland Indians for Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco, but on Wednesday, the Mets threw yet another high-caliber hat in the ring, announcing that they would consider trading Noah Syndergaard.
MLBtraderumors.com reported that:
“The Mets are “seriously considering” trade scenarios for high-end righty Noah Syndergaard, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Per the report, at least six rival organizations are “real players” for the high-octane starter.”
Whether the Yankees are one of these organizations vying for Syndergaard’s services, it’s impossible to tell, but Cashman will undoubtedly explore every available option to secure the right fit for the final rotation spot.
If the Yankees decide to seek an arm through free agency, the rumors around a Patrick Corbin-Yankees deal seem to be forged on mutual admiration, as Corbin grew up a Yankee fan in the Syracuse area. The Yankees, for their part, have to like the numbers the 29 year old left-hander, Corbin, put up this season.
In 2018, Corbin was 11-7 in 33 games with a 3.15 ERA and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He pitched 200 innings and was durable all season for the Diamondbacks. The Yankees have been rumored to be interested in Corbin as a possible number four guy in the rotation.
Once the starting pitching is in place, fans assume Cashman will address the Manny Machado/Bryce Harper situations, fill the hole in the infield left by the injury to shortstop Didi Gregorius and make the decisions that will bring this team a championship in 2019.
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