Yankees sound like they have perfect plan to not let Walker Buehler beat them again

Juan Soto is commanding all the attention around the New York Yankees' offseason right now, but no matter what happens with the superstar outfielder, Brian Cashman also can't afford to let this winter go by without giving his team's starting rotation a boost. Gerrit Cole isn't getting any younger, Carlos Rodon is awfully hard to trust and for as much upside as Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt have, there's a lot of youth and inconsistency in that group. One more known quantity to take some pressure of Cole would do wonders, whether Soto returns or not.

The good news is there are plenty of options for Cashman to choose from. He could go shopping at the top of the market, with names like Max Fried, Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes available. If Soto's market gets up toward $700 million, though, that might be pricey even for the Steinbrenner family. He could try to swing a trade for someone like Chicago White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet or Seattle Mariners righty Bryan Woo, but while the Yankees have a decent-enough farm system, they'd likely lose a bidding war with teams like the Boston Red Sox or Baltimore Orioles.

So it seems likely that Cashman will be looking for a value play, someone who brings ace upside but could be had for a lesser deal than the biggest names. Someone who was a Cy Young candidate in the not-so-distant past. Someone who's already proven they can pitch under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work onThe Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Walker Buehler, Yankees have 'mutual interest' in free-agent deal

What a pivot this would be. Just a few weeks after doing his best Gladiator impression in front of Yankees fans after clinching the World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, apparently righty Walker Buehler has some interest in coming to New York. According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, there is "mutual interest" between the two sides:

And why wouldn't there be? Buehler comes with his fair share of red flags, more specifically a lengthy injury history. But when he was rolling with the Dodgers, he was as good as anyone, and he certainly looked well on his way back there during this postseason. That sketchy health record will likely keep his market relatively in check, which could put him right in the Yankees' price range.

He's also exactly the sort of player Cashman has traditionally had eyes for; the Yankees GM loves nothing more than getting a distressed asset for pennies on the dollar, and Buehler's pitch mix feels like something that New York's pitching development crew could do wonders with. Buehler hasn't handled a full workload in some time, which could be a concern as the Yankees don't have a ton of innings-eaters already on their staff (especially not with Cole's elbow injury this past season). But if New York wants to maximize its championship window, it needs to take big swings, and none would be bigger on a per-dollar basis.