"So do they go for another Sonny Gray, at a time when there are a bunch of Sonny Grays out there? Or do they add another arm like Zach Britton to what is already a deep and talented bullpen, which would be the bullpen equivalent of adding the kind of stick they would have added with Machado? Maybe you add somebody like Britton and tell everybody you’re not even looking for five solid innings for your starters in October, but even less than that.
It’s worth mentioning again that if you add Britton, you keep him away from the Red Sox, Astros, or even the Cubs."
Photo: Getty Images
But is Britton the answer, and will the Orioles pass him around the AL East? Sure, we all heard the rumors about the Orioles and Yankees and Manny Machado, but to be honest, if the Yankees were REALLY in it, they would have grabbed him. Cashman is a genius because Cashman knows what he wants and will not bend over to give up solid young talent anymore. At least the good ones. So far, it has worked out wonderfully.
Photo: Getty Images
But back to Britton. Is Britton like Sonny Gray... just in a reliever's body? Is he better in a smaller market, and filled with pressure of coming to a place like the Bronx? I guess the honest answer is we won't know that until we pull the trigger. Bottom line though, it does worry me because you all know how I feel about Gray and his inconsistency… it's mind numbing.
Photo: Getty Images
This season Britton is 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA. He's struck out 13 and has walked 10. This is all in 16 games. But, he's 30 and with Jeurys Familia and Brad Hand not on the market as MLB Trade Rumors has suggested, Britton is the next logical get.
The question is will the Yankees do this, and make it alittle easier on their starting rotation? The bullpen has been good and helpful this season with a few hiccups along the way, but still, I like them better than any other pen out there. Add in Britton and it just gets better.
Add in Britton and it could really pick this team up.
Look, we all know Lupica is an opinion writer and not a baseball insider by any means. I'm a younger, more novice version of that. That being said the idea makes sense. We will just have to see.
A year ago we were looking for starting pitching nearing the trade deadline and a year later, we are still looking. The pitcher we picked up might be the one we are dealing away on or before July 31st. According to Jon Heyman, "Some believe the Yankees will consider trading Sonny Gray a year after acquiring him. He has struggled this year, and especially so at Yankee Stadium. Some believe it's either the stadium, or the city, that doesn't agree with him, and that he'd do much better elsewhere." But if we trade him, potentially to the Milwaukee Brewers who have his old pitching coach on the payroll, who do we pick up?
Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America
The Yankees are showing some interest in Mets starter Zack Wheeler among the other guys they have already established connections to like J.A. Happ and Cole Hamels. They also have renewed interest in San Diego's Brad Hand and Orioles Zach Britton, to provide more power to the bull pen.
Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America
Zack Wheeler is healthy for the first time in four years. And he is throwing hard and fast. "Wheeler, 28, owns a 4.42 ERA in 17 starts this season. While that ERA doesn't jump off the charts, Wheeler appears healthy, is throwing hard and sports a FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) of 3.70. If the Yankees think his stuff will continue to lead to success, a possible upgrade for the stretch run can likely be had without surrendering a haul," reports NJ.com.
Source: Getty Images North America
The Brewers also have an interest in Wheeler. We did well in our trade with another pitcher from Milwaukee, and he is still with us today. That guy is CC Sabathia and who knows what kind of trade combination could yield us some starting pitcher to replace Gray and support Masahiro Tanaka and the rest of the staff?
Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America
We are a day away from the All Star Break and with guys like Greg Bird, Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius heating up, I almost don't want to break the momentum. Post-All Star, I hope we see Gleyber Torres back in the lineup, and a shake up in starting pitching. Could Sonny Gray be someone else's problem the second half of the season? I hope so, as long as there is someone else ready to play ball in pinstripes with the guts and grit we need to carry us to the post season.
Thank goodness the All-Star break is here. The Yankees need this break more than words can explain. Now that the All-Star break is here it means the trade deadline gets closer and those rumors continue to heat up. Could one of these be in the works?
Rumor has it that the Yankees are tied to two new targets in their two biggest weaknesses....and one of them has us and sports writers everywhere scratching their heads a little.
1) Padres - Yankees trade in the works?
This weekend the Padres sent special assistant David Post to watch the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team. The Padres are going nowhere in their division and are 22 games behind and are expected to trade valuable left hand reliever Brad Hand before the trade deadline. Lefty Hand is in the middle of a breakout season and although he has good numbers the workload is going to be a serious concern. Hand pitched 111 innings in 2014, 93 1/3 in 2015, 89 1/3 last year and 47 so far this year, so some could make the case that Hand’s been overworked.
But the Yankees could welcome Hand’s addition because of the struggles with the bullpen especially with Tyler Clippard and Dellin Betances. We've been pretty critical of Clippard lately and some of us at BYB have more faith in him then all of us. Personally, I see Clippard as a liability at this point. He finished June with an 11.17 ERA and has a 13.50 ERA in his two July appearances so trying to justify putting any faith in Clippard in tough game situations is impossible at this point. Would Hand be an upgrade? Do the Yankees think so? I guess we will wait and see.
2) Miami has the All-Star game and the next Yankee?
Photo: Getty Images
The Yankees are desperate to get some production out of first base. The Yankees have DFA'd Chris Carter twice in a two week time span and Tyler Austin and Greg Bird are on the shelf. The Yankees need a consistent face at first base that can give them some offense and rumors suggest Justin Bour may be on the Yankees radar.
The list of possible first base trade candidates is extremely short and considering that the Yankees are dead last in production from first base at .200 they will likely have some competition from other teams looking for upgrades. Bour is 29 and in his fourth year in the majors and has a .286 this season with 20 home runs and 57 RBIs. He would certainly give the Yankees more production at first base but would probably cost the Yankees more then they would want to part with.
Photo: Getty Images
I really don't know how to predict just how costly he would be but considering he is on a very team friendly. Bour is a late bloomer and he is not a young guy. You have to wonder if this is just an abnormal strong year for him. His previous three seasons were not as impressive so how do you value a guy like Bour? This is what has me scratching my head.
I get why the Marlins would want a nice package in return for him. He is someone that they consider a valuable piece and cost effective. I would hate the Yankees to overpay for a guy that is not proven or consistent. I just don't know you come up with a fair price to make this happen. Is the Yankees farm and building toward the future worth a guy like Bour? I want to see more production at first, but this seems like a very risky gamble. Bour is playing in the Home Run Derby for his home town crowd so maybe he will show the Yankees something they can't ignore and make them want to pull the trigger.
The Yankees definitely need improvements at these positions but who knows if these new rumors have any more truth to them. I guess we will have to wait and see and hope that the trade deadline brings us some much needed support.
--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ
Brian Cashman says the Yankees are going to be "careful buyers" this trading deadline. Do yourself a favor and be a careful listener when he explains what he means, so you're not disappointed later -- you know, like when they have a lead and Clippard starts warming in the pen.
The GM who staged the biggest garage sale the Bronx has seen in a generation isn't saying he'll be careful not to overpay some smiling car salesman wearing a clean, freshly-pressed suit in a well-lit auto showroom when he goes shopping for a couple of shiny new Cadillacs. He saying he's hitting the back roads, poking around junkyards, church bazaars, garage sales, smelly barns and overgrown lots for rusty scratch-and-dent "as is" rent-a-wrecks that more discerning, well-paying customers want nothing to do with and will cost little more than the gas it takes to drive them home.
Photo: NJ.com
“We have a long-term plan that I think people are seeing the excitement from," he said, per the Daily News. "We’re definitely not going to deviate from that, but also, part of that long-term plan is in the short-term winning now and putting out the best effort possible. But not at the expense of what we feel can lead us to more championships, plural. And so I think everything we’re going to try to do is going to be in the context of improving us now as well as how it continues to improve us in the future. "Whatever we do, it’s gonna hurt, that’s the nature of the beast. But that’s the walk we’re trying to walk. So far I can tell you the sticker prices are pretty high, and I’d like to think our fan base would be happy that we’re saying no to a lot of things that are currently being presented to us."
I know a lot of Yankee fans won't take no for an answer. But you can't blame Brian for being concerned about asking Hal permission to invest in a tux, limo and corsage for a prom that could turn out like Carrie's.
This season, after all, while entertaining and exciting for its showcase of future potential, is a nightmare for any GM to project and navigate going forward, and especially one whose prime directive is to safeguard, as Brian put it, "what we feel can lead us to more championships, plural."
So if you're in Brian's shoes, which Yankee team would you tell your boss you're betting his assets on for the second half:
The one that sat at 38-23 a month ago, 15 games over .500 and four games up in the AL East standings, flying high on a six-game winning streak and a +117 run differential?
Or the one that just crash landed into the All-Star break winning only seven of their last 25 games with a -19 run differential, looking up the butts of the Red Sox 3 1/2 games, caught and tied by the Rays for second place, and hasn't been able to rub two wins together since June 12th?
On the one hand, you could argue they're still three games better than they were after their 86th game last year and have a small busload of key injured players allegedly on their way back from the disabled list.
For fearful fans expecting this rebuilding season to resemble a disaster movie of upside-down Poseidon Adventure proportions, that slight improvement and those returning players might combine for a case to make some big deadline moves.
Then again, some might posit being three games better than a team that wound up throwing its best players overboard for life preservers is a little like saying it's just sinking three hours slower than the Titanic.
The reality is there's just no way for sure anyone can know which team we'll see in the second half, and it's distinctly possible it may never be all back in one piece, healthy and firing on all cylinders like it was to start the season. So when Brian says he's buying carefully, he's saying don't expect any big moves.
The eliminates starting pitching from his shopping list -- and since the weak rotation is the primary cause for the burnt bullpen, more bullpen infernos can be expected in the second half and bargain basement band-aids are this careful buyer's most likely deadline targets.
Out of the slew of recent Yankees rumors making no sense whatsoever, at least one looks potentially promising, although not surprisingly it was half wrong when first reported. The Yankees, it turns out, have in fact actually been having serious discussions with the Padres about securing a reliever. It just wasn't about the reliever the rumors first mentioned.
Photo: Getty Images
According to Sunday reports in the Post and MLBTradeRumors.com, Brandon Maurer -- not the more desirable and costly Brad Hand -- is the object of Yankees interest in the San Diego pen.
Frankly, Maurer makes much more sense and is a far better fit for the profile of garage-sale find that would attract a careful buyer like Brian, who's hamstrung by a blueprint with a budget, loves damaged-toy projects that pop the right sabermetric buttons and needs to hedge his bets.
Photo: Getty Images
Per MLB Trade Rumors: "Maurer has a 5.60 ERA over 35 1/3 IP for San Diego this year but he has been victimized by a inordinately low 52.9% strand rate. ERA indicators (2.95 FIP, 3.56 xFIP, 3.31 SIERA) and his peripheral numbers (8.92 K/9, 5.00 K/BB rate) paint a much more positive view of his 2017 performance. San Diego had interest in Gleyber Torres prior to his Tommy John surgery, though officials from the Padres and other teams believe that the Yankees’ farm system is deep enough that they’ll be able to make deals without moving any of their top prospects."
Any team who tells Brian they have a potentially useful, cost-effective trade piece he can drive off their lot that won't cost him or his boss "any of their top prospects" is at the top of the believability scale in the Yankee rumor mill right now, even if the guy's engine is knocking and his paint is peeling.
And any rumors of shiny Cadillacs that mention crosstown rivals, prized Yankee prospects or the luxury tax should be effectively ignored as idle gossip. Because a careful buyer like Brian can't be caught dead driving anything flashy and expensive home from the deadline at this late date in the rebuild. If he did, it would be a distinctly retrograde move; the kind that not only implies the team isn't serious about its rebuilding plan but signals a willingness to abandon it.
For both the GM who drew up the blueprint and the team that's still paying a steep price for decades of instant gratification and overspending on flashy nameplates, a step backwards like that would be astounding.
--Barry Millman BYB Writer Follow me on Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore
Don't kill the messenger, but there is talk that the Yankees could shop Gleyber Torres. Now, thinking about how that sounds, makes me sick. The kid went down to an awful injury, perhaps moments before he would be called up to the Big Leagues. And now, there's talk of shopping him?
Source: New York Daily News
"The San Diego Padres, (are) still seeking their shortstop of the future, and are said to have asked the New York Yankees about top prospect Gleyber Torres," reported Jon Heyman on Thursday. And you ask, for what in return? Now before I share this, I have to reference a discussion point between my son and myself on Friday evening. It is our opinion that the San Diego Padres is the MLB team where guys head out to pasture: a dead zone, much like the Sacramento Kings for the NBA. The mere thought of him being dealt is disturbing enough, but to the Padres?
Source: ESPN
According to Heyman, "Padres GM A.J. Preller didn’t return a text, and Yankees GM Brian Cashman declined comment specifically on Torres, saying only that “teams are interested in a lot of our prospects.” Now just because the Padres asked for Torres, doesn't mean the Yankees have any interest in trading him. No harm is asking, I suppose. But, the Yankees do have an interest in beefing up its relief pitchers and 27-year-old left hander Brad Hand seems to be a possibility. I might add, not for Torres even if they threw in Yangervis Solarte. Fox announcers mentioned during the game on Saturday that the Yankees are in fact one starting pitcher from being in serious contention.
Source: NY Post
As far as Torres, recall that he had an season-ending injury resulting in Tommy John surgery only recently and the Yankees aren’t about to trade a “potential perennial All-Star” for a mediocre relief pitcher in Hand," said Heyman. Just reporting what's being tossed around the blogosphere.
Source: Getty Images
July is heating up with trade talks and Yankee prospects. If we are going to stay competitive and in it, we have some decisions to make. By the way, the Red Sox also have an interest in Hand...just saying, we have to make some decisions. Could the Yankees be shopping Clint Frazier after bringing him up for his Big League debut?
Time will tell.
--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor Follow me on Twitter: @suzieprof
