Dream offseason
Major moves:
Trade for Juan Soto
- Yankees get Juan Soto
- Padres get Michael King, Everson Pereria, Roderick Arias, Jhony Brito
- Yamamoto 8 years/$224M
- Cody Bellinger 6 years/$165M
This one is pretty straightforward. In a vacuum, going after two top free agents that fill needs and making the big trade for Soto improves the team drastically. I do think Soto will move for a very different type of package than people expect if the Padres move him. Yamamoto and Bellinger will both command a lot of years and a lot of money, but it’s a dream offseason. Let’s dream a little. You have to admit, this lineup and rotation look like strong on paper…
Lineup:
- DJ LeMahieu – 3B
- Juan Soto – LF
- Aaron Judge – RF
- Cody Bellinger – CF
- Gleyber Torres – 2B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1B
- Giancarlo Stanton – DH
- Jose Trevino/Austin Wells – C
- Anthony Volpe – SS
Rotation:
- Gerrit Cole
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- Carlos Rodon
- Nestor Cortes
- Clarke Schmidt
Realistic offseason
Major moves:
Trade for Brendan Donovan
- Yankees get Brendan Donovan
- Cardinals get Nestor Cortes
Trade for Brent Rooker
- Yankees get Brent Rooker
- A’s get Gleyber Torres, Everson Pereria
Sign Cody Bellinger and Eduardo Rodriguez
- Cody Bellinger 6 years/$165M
- Eduardo Rodriguez 5 years/$85M
I’ll be the first to admit that this team looks light on starting rotation depth. I would go into the season with the intent of giving a lot of young arms a shot. That extends to names like Clayton Beeter, Will Warren, Drew Thorpe, Chase Hampton, and Randy Vazquez. I’d rather be looking for a 2-3 type starter at the deadline than have to add another valuable bat or two. The Braves have been relying on young arms for a few years now, the Diamondbacks had rookie Brandon Pfaadt starting games in the World Series – if the Yankees are serious about getting younger it’s time to show that in the rotation instead of waiting until a guy is 27 to give him a shot. Bringing Eduardo Rodriguez in will give them a reliable lefty in the middle of the rotation on a modest contract.
I’m not really an advocate for trading Gleyber Torres, but I see it making sense in certain situations. Brent Rooker of the Oakland A’s would be an All-Star corner outfield addition to extend the lineup splitting time between left field, right field, and DH. The A’s could look to flip Gleyber at the deadline this year for more prospect capital, while picking up Everson Pereria to be a cheap option for their outfield. By trading for Brendan Donovan, the Yankees can pick up a higher contact/lower power, left-handed version of Gleyber. Giving up Nestor will sting, but I truly think we’ve seen the best of what he has to offer as he approaches 30 and the Cardinals are desperate for pitching.
A lot of Yankee fans seem to be a hard pass on Cody Bellinger. I understand he’s a regression candidate, but I don’t really get how people are so against a 28-year old, left-handed center fielder with power. Isn’t that exactly what this team needs? The Yankees are in a tough spot and they’ll need to take some risks to take a big step forward. Signing Cody Bellinger is one of those risks.
Lineup:
- DJ LeMahieu – 3B
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- Aaron Judge – RF
- Cody Bellinger – CF
- Brent Rooker – LF
- Brendan Donovan – 2B
- Giancarlo Stanton – DH
- Jose Trevino/Austin Wells – C
- Anthony Volpe – SS
Rotation:
- Gerrit Cole
- Carlos Rodon
- Eduardo Rodriguez
- Clarke Schmidt
- Michael King/Johny Brito
Bust offseason
Major moves:
Trade for Alec Burleson/Dylan Carlson
- Yankees get Alec Burleson/Dylan Carlson
- Cardinals get Johny Brito
Sign Kevin Kiermier and Frankie Montas
- Kiermier 2 years/$22M
- Frankie Montas 1 year/$12M
This team would…not be good. This is a worst case scenario when it comes to the Yankees offseason. The lineup is atrocious but, terrifyingly, I could see it happening. The rotation actually looks pretty good on paper, but in practice there’s no reason to think it would go much differently than it did last year. Alec Burelson and Dylan Carlson would both be the wrong Cardinals to trade for – high strikeout, low contact OF/DH types that don’t move the needle or make the roster more flexible. This team is run-it-back with minimal cosmetic changes.
Lineup:
- DJ LeMahieu – 3B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1B
- Aaron Judge – RF
- Giancarlo Stanton – DH
- Alec Burleson/Dylan Carlson – LF
- Anthony Volpe – SS
- Jose Trevino/Austin Wells – C
- Kevin Kiermier – CF
Rotation:
- Gerrit Cole
- Carlos Rodon
- Nestor Cortes
- Clarke Schmidt
- Frankie Montas
