The New York Mets beat their crosstown rivals to the punch and acquired Marcus Stroman. With Stroman no longer available who’s on the Yankees board now?
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is plugged in with every team except for the Boston Red Sox. Makes sense seeing as that’s how he operates, and always seems to get the best deal possible.
After the New York Mets swooped in and stole Marcus Stroman from the Yankees, now the team is back at square one in their quest to acquire more pitching before Wednesday’s trade deadline. With no Stroman on the board, who could they turn to?
With the acquisition of Stroman it’s now more likely that the Mets deal one of Noah Syndergaard or Zack Wheeler, if not both. The Yankees have touched base with the Mets about Syndergaard in the past but the price was deemed too high, and it seems as though Brodie Van Wagenen is going to keep the price considerably high.
After that there’s not much out there that actually solves the Yankees’ problems in the short term. The team needs a No. 1 and a No. 2 starter while they await the return of their ace Luis Severino. Their starting staff is coming off of the worst week statistically in the franchises history, and needed Domingo German to stop the bleeding on Sunday against the Red Sox.
Indians’ pitcher Trevor Bauer is also a pitcher in play for the Yankees. After he chucked a ball over the center field fence in Kansas City on Sunday, perhaps the Indians are more likely to deal him even though they currently hold the first Wild Card spot. The Indians are a proactive team as far as their roster is concerned and have financial issues that are going to make it hard for them to keep their big-name players in the future.
All the other names out there, like Robbie Ray or Mike Minor, don’t actually solve the team’s current problem so it’s not likely that Cashman would push too hard to acquire either of them. If all else fails, the Yankees could just beef up their already elite bullpen. Giants’ relievers Will Smith and Sam Dyson are potential trade candidates as is the Pirates’ Felipe Vasquez, although it’d be tough to find an inning for him as he’ll likely want to close wherever he goes.
Internally, the team’s top prospect, Deivi Garcia, could be an option as a sixth starter. Garcia is currently in Triple-A where he’s going through a bit of a learning curve with a 5.14 ERA and a .916 OPS against. If he finds his stride with his electric fastball and power slider, a September call-up just to give the staff an extra arm isn’t out of the question.
With the trade deadline just days away, you can expect Brian Cashman to exhaust all possible options now that Stroman is no longer one of them.