As of this moment, the five-man starting rotation for the New York Yankees is Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes, Clarke Schmidt, and a giant question mark. By the time spring training begins in a little over a month, they will surely add at least one established starter via trade, free agency, or both.
The Yankees have been linked to several major trade targets. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported their interest in Cleveland Guardians starter Shane Bieber and Miami Marlins left-hander Jesus Luzardo. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported they’ve kicked the tired on Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox.
Of course, the Guardians, Marlins, and White Sox won’t give up their pitchers for free. The Yankees will need to trade away desirable players in order to acquire a pitcher in a trade. Here are some of the more likely candidates in their organization to be included in a deal.
Major Leaguers
For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll consider anyone who played in MLB last season to be a major leaguer—even though some of them might not make the 26-man roster out of spring training.
Oswald Peraza is a young player in need of playing time and a change of scenery. The 23-year-old shortstop was a consensus top-100 prospect in MLB prior to the 2023 season. His best asset is his defense, which has the potential to earn him a Gold Glove someday. While he posted a superb .836 OPS in Triple-A last year, he only hit .191/.267/.272 in 191 plate appearances with the Yankees. Meanwhile, fellow rookie Anthony Volpe won the Gold Glove at shortstop and will be a roadblock for Peraza at his natural position for the foreseeable future.
Everson Pereira is another well-regarded prospect who failed to make an impact in the big leagues. He got a 27-game trial as an everyday left fielder in September but only hit .151/.233/.194. He’ll turn 23 in April hit a robust .300/.373/.548 in Double-A and Triple-A last season and can play all three outfield positions, but needs to improve his pitch recognition and swing decisions. He’s now blocked behind several established major leaguers after the club traded for Juan Soto, Trent Grisham, and Alex Verdugo.
Unlike Peraza and Pereira, Jasson Domínguez had little trouble in a small sample against MLB pitching, blasting four home runs in eight games before hurting his elbow. That injury will keep him out of action for the first few months of the 2024 season, but his prospect sheen hasn’t worn off whatsoever. The Yankees likely view him as their center fielder of the future, so he is a more valuable—and perhaps less attainable—trade asset.
Ben Rortvedt alone won’t move the needle much on a trade for a frontline starter, but he’s still a trade candidate. The Yankees figure to go with Jose Trevino and Austin Wells as their two catchers this season, but Rortvedt is out of minor-league options. The team will need to carry him on their 26-man roster or expose him to waivers. They already have fourth and fifth catchers on their 40-man roster—minor leaguers Carlos Narvaez and Agustin Ramirez—so they may look to get something in return for Rortvedt rather than carry three backstops in the big leagues.
Prospects
The best prospect in the Yankees’ system is mammoth outfielder Spencer Jones. By virtue of his 6’6” stature, massive raw power, and surprising speed, he draws (unfair) comparisons to Aaron Judge—even though he bats left-handed. He reached Double-A at the end of last season and could make it to the majors by the end of this year, even though he still needs to make significant improvements on pitch recognition and plate coverage.
If he can make enough contact—and that’s no sure thing—he could lead MLB in home runs someday. It will take a substantial return for the Yankees to part with him given his enormous potential, even if he’s a little further from actualizing it than most top prospects who reach Double-A at age 22. The club may not even be willing to negotiate trading him at all, but other clubs will certainly ask.
The team dealt away a lot of their pitching depth from the majors and the minors in the Soto trade, which could cause them to balk at including another young pitcher in a deal. However, Chase Hampton and Will Warren profile as future mid-rotation starters if they continue on their development paths. Both of them have already reached the high minors and should make their MLB debuts in 2024. Their proximity and upside will tempt trade suitors.
Hampton and Warren are in contention for the fifth starter spot right now, but the Yankees will be more comfortable with their unproven arms as depth options. For that to happen, they’ll need to pick up at least one more starting pitcher. If that necessitates a trade, expect some of the aforementioned players to report to spring training with a different franchise.
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