Fansided

One future Yankee on each MLB team

By Adam Strangis

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 29: General view of a wall displaying retired New York Yankees numbers which is seen during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on July 29, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Rays 5-4. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 29: General view of a wall displaying retired New York Yankees numbers which is seen during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on July 29, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Rays 5-4. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 24: Carlos Rodon #55 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the second inning at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 24, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 24: Carlos Rodon #55 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the second inning at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 24, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images) /

Chicago White Sox – Carlos Rodon, Starting Pitcher

To be crystal clear, this is a long play for the Yankees. The White Sox are still in the middle of a rebuild and control the 25 year old lefty for another three seasons in arbitration after this season. The Yankees can never have enough starting pitching and even though Rodon has not really pitched up to his draft stock(number three overall in 2014), he has had some injuries that have kept his career from taking off yet.

Maybe he hasn’t pitched to his draft pick but Rodon has been serviceable in the early stages of his career. His ERA is right about 4.00 and his WHIP is 1.39. If he can just stay healthy, we can all see why he was such a high pick just a few years ago. This would be a good spot for the Yankees to buy low if they could pull it off soon but the White Sox have no real pressure to deal him away at the present time. Once we get past this next season, things will start to get a little more interesting if the Sox can’t sign Rodon to an extension.

Rodon is a Scott Boras client, so you can bet there will be no discount in any contract signed. If Rodon starts pitching to his potential, there will only be a handful of teams that can afford to pay him and one of those squads will always be the Yankees. We could see a scenario just like Gerrit Cole with the Pirates. They knew he wouldn’t sign with them so they dealt him before arbitration ran out to maximize value in return. it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that play out with Rodon either.

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