WHO IS NEXT ON THE YANKEES WISH LIST?

So the Winter Meetings are finally done, and the Yankees already got their most wanted Christmas present. No lump of coal for us, but what comes next now that the Yankees finally got Gerrit Cole? There's still work to do.

1. What about Dellin Betances?

I like the idea of Josh Hader, but I also like what I am familiar with....which is Dellin Betances. Obviously, last season was lost but we know what he is capable of. We've seen it before. We know he can perform in New York but we don't know if Hader can. Right now, if any of these rumors are true like THIS ONE from Joel Sherman it sure sounds like the Yankees have moved on from Betances faster than I have.

I have to say I do like Hader, it's hard to look at his stats and argue otherwise. Hader has been dominant but Milwaukee abused his arm a little the past two seasons. Over that time Aroldis Chapman and Hader have had a similar workload but Hader has thrown almost 70 more innings. I have to question how the Brewers let him go from 47.2 innings in his first season to 81.1 innings the next. They never stretched him out, he was never a starting pitcher, he went right to a relief role. He's young but, they never conditioned him and that could be a problem going forward.

Why wouldn't the Brewers wait until the trade deadline to send Hader to a contender that needs a good reliever? They should be able to get even more for him at that point. I mean, as it stands right now Hader is going to cost more than other trade proposals I have read about. We posted A TRADE THAT COULD GET HADER TO THE BRONX! BUT...Luis Gil and Miguel Andujar are unlikely to get that deal done. Hader is only 25 and he is under team control through 2024. He's been an All-Star for the last two years, if the Brewers were willing to trade him so easily and for so little talent in return we really should be asking "WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?" because otherwise the proposed trade as is does not make sense.

Should the Yankees really be ready to move on from Betances so quickly?

2. What about a backup catcher?

Austin Romine's time in a Yankee uniform is over. He was a good backup catcher, so now who should the Yankees look to fill that role? The Yankees have Kyle Higashioka. The Yankees like him because of his receiving ability and he does have some pop in his bat, but he hasn't hit much in his limited big-league experience. He's at least worked with some of our pitchers but is he ready to go from minor league catcher to big league backup? Higashioka is out of minor-league options and they do not have MLB ready catching depth otherwise.

But the Yankees also have interest in Martin Maldonado who caught Cole and worked well with him. Cole had a 1.57 ERA in 10 starts with Maldonado catching him so that surely peaked Brian Cashman's interest. But Maldonado has been a bit of a journeyman, he also caught for the Royals and Cubs in 2019. He doesn't provide much offensively, so he's what you expect form a backup just like Romine was. Difference here, he was successful working with the best pitcher in all of baseball....so how do you ignore that?

So should the Yankees give Higashioka a chance in the big leagues or give Cole his personal catcher?

Truthfully, the backup catcher role doesn't concern me much....but the Hader interest does. I like what we see on paper, but I have to question if Hader is conditioned or ready to play for us. Can he be a better option than Betances? I think the Yankees should still be engaged with Betances. He is going to be a difference maker somewhere.

I guess we will have to wait and see. If you had to pick between Hader and Betances, who do you pick and why?

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @NYPrincessj