Are the first-place New York Yankees for real? These five moves could help them stay on top of the American League.
The New York Yankees are the biggest surprise in Major League Baseball so far this year, and it’s not even close. Picked by many to suffer their first sub-.500 season since 1995, the Bombers are off to a 21-9 start and have the best record in MLB. They reeled off eight straight wins from April 9 to April 17 and have currently won 10 of their last 12 games. No one in the league has been hotter than the Yanks.
Hot start being what it is — and the Yankees have taken advantage of a generous schedule to start the year — this is still a team with some very noticeable flaws. Their starting rotation, led by Luis Severino and Michael Pineda, has been good, but questions linger. The Yankees middle relievers have grossly overachieved. First base has also been a black hole in the lineup.
It will be difficult for the Yankees to decide how to handle this team. The front office made a concerted effort to rebuild the farm system last July, and it now ranks among the best in the league. How quickly the Yankees dip into their pool of prospects to keep this year’s team in contention remains to be seen. If the starting pitching can hold it together, the Yankees should consider pushing more of their chips to the center of the table and making an effort to contend ahead of schedule. Here are five moves to mull over for Brian Cashman and company.
5. Snap up Pedro Alvarez if he opts out with Orioles
New York City prep product Pedro Alvarez is currently laboring away for the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, attempting to prove that he can play the outfield. That is a silly idea, and Alvarez has little to no shot of making it back to the MLB level with the Orioles as an outfielder. His future is at DH or first base. While the Yankees have no need for a full-time DH or even a platoon DH thanks to Matt Holliday’s hot start, they do have a need for a left-handed power bat that can occupy first base.
Greg Bird was off to an ugly start to the 2017 season before an ankle injury landed him on the DL. Bird is batting just .100/.250/.200 on the year with 22 strikeouts and only three RBI in only 19 games. His replacement at first, Chris Carter, is hitting .204 with only one home run and 20 strikeouts in 54 at-bats. Alvarez proved he can be better than both last year. He is one of the best power hitters against right-handed pitching in the league, and hit 21 home runs in only 299 at-bats against righties last year.
Alvarez can opt-out of his minor-league deal with the Orioles this month, and if Bird and Carter are still struggling, the Yankees should take a flyer on the 2013 NL home run leader.
4. Bring back David Robertson
The trio of Tyler Clippard, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman have been nails for the Yankees in innings seven through nine this year. As a whole, the New York bullpen has an ERA of 2.60, which ranks fourth in all of baseball. Betances may be having the best year of his career, and is striking out 16.0 per nine. Clippard is also sporting a career-high strikeout rate, and his changeup has been filthy.
Those three were expected to dominate. The same cannot be said of the likes of Adam Warren, Chasen Shreve,and Jonathan Holder. Vegas would have been giddy over the idea of taking your money if you tried to bet that those three pitchers would throw eight shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs in an extra-inning game. Shreve, Warren, and Holder have all been very good this year, but at some point, the wheels are going to fall off. None of them have the type of stuff to support this level of pitching over a full season.
David Robertson is a proven veteran who the Yankees could consider making a run at for a Big Apple reunion. He has frustrated Chicago White Sox fans at times, but is having his best season since leaving New York. With Jose Quintana and Todd Frazier’s trade values falling lower by the day, the White Sox may look to move Robertson in a hurry. Adding him would give the Yankees four very good relievers.
3. Move Brett Gardner
For the past two offseasons, the Yankees have not made it a secret that they would be open to moving left fielder Brett Gardner. The 2015 All-Star and 2016 Gold Glover is still a solid player, but does not appear to fit into the club’s long-term vision. Turning 34 in August, Gardner is enjoying his best power season ever, but it will probably not last much longer.
Gardner is a career .390 slugger, but he has slugged .481 so far this year with six home runs and five doubles. He batted just .205/.318/.329 in April before getting hot to begin the month of May with a .387/.457/.839 line. In reality, he is somewhere between these two slash lines. Now is the time for the Yankees to capitalize on Gardner’s perceived value. He is still under contract for 2018 and has a team option for 2019 that comes with a $2 million buyout. By this time next year, Clint Frazier needs to be playing left field for the Yankees. It’s fine if they want to attempt to hold onto Gardner for the rest of this year, but his trade value in December may not be as high as it is right now.
It’s not that the Yankees don’t like what Gardner can bring to their club. He’s a much more dependable option than Jacoby Ellsbury. If Gardner gets dealt, it will be strictly business as no team is taking on the rest of Ellsbury’s contract. If the Yankees find a deal that suits them, look for Gardner to be on the move later this season with Aaron Hicks being given a more prominent role or Frazier getting his first taste of life in the big leagues.
2. Call up Gleyber Torres
How the Yankees handle their top prospect could be a big indicator of how aggressive they plan to be with the 2017 team. Torres is probably as ready for the big leagues as he’ll ever be, even at the age of 20 with no experience above Double-A. So far this year, he has batted .282/.364/.410 with five doubles and a perfect ledger in the field. He has continued to show exceptional instincts at shortstop.
In 2015, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa battled for the AL Rookie of the Year with very little experience at Triple-A. Correa made his debut at the age of 20, while Lindor was barely older than 21. Both have already wowed with their poise and are on their way to becoming perennial All-Stars. Corey Seager also debuted at 21 and nearly won the NL MVP at 22 while winning the Rookie of the Year.
Torres wowed the Yankees with his maturity in Spring Training. He looks ready for the big leagues right now, but there has been no rush to call him up this early in the year. Didi Gregorious is working his way back into the lineup after missing most of April. For now, the Yankees can allow Gregorious to hold down shortstop, but the time will come later this year when it is impossible to ignore Torres in the minor leagues.
Here’s a modest proposal — summon Torres to the major leagues and install him at third base. After starting the season off hot, Chase Headley has cooled dramatically. Torres does not have much more to prove down on the farm, and if the Yankees are serious about this year, they will find out what he can do. The youth movement has been fun to watch so far this season, and Torres will only make it more entertaining.
1. Trade for an ace
The Yankees are less than a full year removed from blowing up their roster at the trade deadline. That should have signaled a full rebuilding year in 2017, but they are exceeding expectations by the widest of margins. If their hot record holds into July, management is going to have to have a serious conversation about how far in to go on this year’s team. They do have the prospects in the minors to acquire a legitimate number-one starter if the front office feels strongly enough that this 2017 team can contend for a World Series.
Some of the names the Yankees could target include Gerrit Cole, Jose Quintana, Johnny Cueto (who the San Francisco Giants should consider trading if they have even the slightest inkling his opt-out clause will be exercised), Julio Teheran, or Yu Darvish. Who becomes available will depend on how the next few months of baseball play out, but the most intriguing name to watch is Darvish. The Texas Rangers were expected to battle for the AL West crown, but are buried in last place by five games.
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The Yankees have the prospects in place to acquire any one of the aces mentioned above. With restrictions and punishments being scaled back for signing free agents, the Yankees will not have to be so protective of their prospects. If the Yankees are able to pull off a trade for an ace, that could seal the deal on their status as legitimate contenders this year.
Cashman and the front office will have to be blown away by the team’s play the next two months before they go all-in on 2017. It’s going to take more than contending for a Wild Card to get them to blow up the farm system.