Why the Yankees can win without trading for a pitcher

Conventional baseball wisdom claims the Yankees must deal for a new pitcher to experience success in October. That might not actually be true for this team.

There can be no debate that the New York Yankees do not have the strongest pitching staff in baseball. The bullpen led by Aroldis Chapman is excellent, but the starting rotation is far too dependent on Luis Severino to win every start. That poses one obvious question: can the Yankees win a World Series without adding an arm before the trade deadline?

Conventional wisdom throughout the world of baseball says no. Relying on the likes of Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and C.C. Sabathia to win a boatload of playoff games sounds like front office malpractice. Clearly, Brian Cashman would like to strengthen his starting rotation before the deadline.

The problem is the market for starting pitching projects to be very tight. Unless Cashman is willing to part with high-ceiling prospects, it’s going to be difficult to get much accomplished. The Yankees might be able to swing a deal for a competent rental, but acquiring another ace is likely beyond the team’s reach.

That means Aaron Boone will likely need to navigate the rest of the season without a dominant pitching staff. That’s going to make the odds of ending the club’s title drought longer, but it doesn’t make the task impossible for Boone.

It does mean that the Yankees will need to find other ways to win meaningful ballgames down the stretch. Fortunately, Boone does have quite a few avenues he can explore to win without trading for another top-notch pitcher. In this piece, we’ll explore five things the Yankees can do to win the World Series without making a significant move for a pitcher. We start with the distinct possibility that Boone can rely on his latest rookie pitcher to pitch the Yankees into the record books.