MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees pursuing Chris Sale?

New York may have faked out the rest of baseball by leading them to believe they are sellers at the deadline and could parlay the players acquired for Aroldis Chapman in a deal for Chicago’s Chris Sale.

It may be the best bait and switch of the baseball season. The New York Yankees made it look like they were about to re-tool their roster and farm system by trading Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and with rumors flooding the Internet that others were about to leave the Bronx, there are indications they might have something in the works with another team from Chicago as they try to land Chris Sale from the White Sox, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.

A month ago, Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner said he wanted his team to be buyers at the deadline, not sellers. But with the team hovering around the .500 mark, once Chapman was gone it was presumed he had changed his thinking. From Andrew Miller to Ivan Nova to Brian McCann to Carlos Beltran, everyone was thought to be available. Well, so much for conventional thinking.

While still in fourth place, the Bronx Bombers are 52-49 entering play on Thursday and just 4.5 games out of first in the AL East, but more importantly, they’re just four back in the Wild Card hunt.

General manager Brian Cashman got a nice package of players for Chapman and he could be willing to let one or two of those players and/or someone else from their roster or system to entice the White Sox into letting go of their talented, but troubled lefty.

Sale is not very fond of Kenny Williams and dates back his pointed criticism of his Executive Vice President in the Adam LaRoche affair when his son was barred from the clubhouse and LaRoche retired. He sure didn’t make ownership happy when he had his Edward Scissorhands tantrum cutting up uniforms which got him suspended. Even manager Robin Ventura became a target.

So are the White Sox so fed up with the southpaw that they are willing to part with their ace? GM Rick Hahn could be handing the Yankees a postseason berth while effectively letting his club know that 2016 is done. They got off to such a hot start pundits were talking about playoffs, but despite Sale’s 14-3 record and 3.18 ERA, the Pale Hose are no better than a .500 club right now.

As far as Cashman is concerned, prying Sale out of Chicago won’t be an easy task. He is signed through 2017 with a pair of team options and the Sox are not just going to let him go just because they are mad at him unless they get something earth shattering in return. Stay tuned.

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