New York Yankees Rumors: Gerrit Cole, Jose Quintana Could Be Trade Options If Team Needs Pitching

The 2017 MLB season is still less than six weeks old, but the New York Yankees could already be looking at potential trades to improve the team. Looking like a legitimate World Series contender, the organization has likely begun thinking about making an upgrade in the rotation.

With pitchers like Gerrit Cole of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox potentially available, trade rumors involving the Yankees are almost certain to begin circulating. New York has the pieces available to acquire a top starting pitcher, and landing one might end up being the difference in the team’s quest to win a championship.

The Yankees are the biggest surprise in baseball through almost a fifth of the season. A loss to the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night dropped them to 21-10, putting them just a half-game behind the Baltimore Orioles for MLB’s best record. New York has ridden the league’s No.1 offense and a strong bullpen to a hot start, while their starting pitching has left something to be desired.

If the playoffs were to begin tomorrow, the Yankees would enter the postseason with a ton of question marks in the rotation. That fact was highlighted by C.C. Sabathia’s performance in the team’s most recent loss. The only starter with a playoff win in his career, Sabathia allowed five runs in six innings, raising his ERA to 5.77.

New York is well ahead of schedule in terms of becoming a contender, looking like one of MLB’s elite teams when they weren’t expected to contend until 2018 or 2019. But with the Yankees needing help in the rotation, general manager Brian Cashman has said he’s working on upgrading the team’s most glaring weakness.

“Yes,” Cashman told WFAN’s Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno in mid-April when asked if he was ready to trade for a starter. “I'm willing to do that right now if the right deal's in play. We've been very active for the last year trying to acquire starting pitching, but it's not an easy thing to acquire. So that's always of interest. It's an area of weakness. You're always trying to attack an area of weakness. But talking about it and doing it are two different things and we're not in a position right now to recommend a significant overpay.”

New York currently ranks 10th among AL teams in starting rotation ERA. The 2015 Kansas City Royals are the only AL team since 2000 that made the World Series while ranking worse than 10th in the AL in starters’ ERA.

The Yankees passed on trading for Chris Sale this past offseason, allowing the Boston Red Sox to send top prospect Yoan Moncada to the White Sox in a package for the ace. New York was unwilling to deal their top minor leaguers in exchange for the left-hander, who might be the favorite to win the 2017 AL Cy Young award.

As the trade deadline approaches, however, pitchers that won’t cost the Yankees their No.1 or No.2 prospects should be available.

“We've engaged everybody,” Cashman said. “It's a very thin market. That's why the demand is always so high. The trade deadline (of 2016) would be exhibit A. We went for the highest talent, no question about it, every time we made a move but if you had to draw it up with what your wish list was, we would have attacked what our areas weakness was, which was the starting rotation.”

New York has appeared unwilling to trade players like catcher Gary Sanchez or minor-league shortstop Gleyber Torres in order to acquire a starting pitcher. They are expected to be a part of the team’s future for years to come, as is outfielder Aaron Judge, who has emerged as an AL MVP candidate.

That leaves prospects like outfielder Clint Frazier and pitcher Justus Sheffield, both of whom the Yankees got in exchange from the Cleveland Indians for reliever Andrew Miller at last year’s deadline. The New York Daily News’ John Harper recently speculated about the Yankees possibly trying to acquire Cole from the Pirates, and he was told by one executive from an MLB club that a package surrounding Frazier and Sheffield might get the job done.

Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington recently indicated that the team doesn’t expect to trade Cole anytime soon, though that could change as Pittsburgh falls out of contention. The Pirates are in last place in the NL Central, and only two NL teams have lost more games.

Cole made his MLB debut in 2013, and he isn’t eligible to become a free agent until 2019. He had a career-high 3.88 ERA in 2016, though he’s bounced back nicely in 2017 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in seven starts. The 2015 season was the only time Cole surpassed 200 innings, and he finished that season fourth in voting for the NL Cy Young award.

Cole would immediately become New York’s No.2 starter, putting him just behind Masahiro Tanaka, who hasn’t gotten off to a very strong start this year. Despite Quintana’s early-season struggles, he also would be the Yankees’ No.2 starter in a potential trade.

Ever since the White Sox traded Sale, there have been rumors that Quintana could soon follow him. Chicago is building for the future, having traded outfielder Adam Eaton in the offseason, as well, and New York reportedly was interested in acquiring Quintana this past winter.

Quintana has a 4.46 ERA in seven starts, though his track record indicates that number will soon come down. The 28-year-old has tossed over 200 innings in each of the last four seasons, posting an ERA between 3.20 and 3.51 each year.

Given their hot start, the Yankees have some time to evaluate their pitching staff before making a deal. Both Michael Pineda and Luis Severino have gotten off to fast starts, potentially showing that they can be reliable starters in the playoffs. Even rookie Jordan Montgomery has been a pleasant surprise with a 3.81 ERA in five starts.

But if New York’s rotation doesn’t improve before the trade deadline, the Yankees might have to make a deal to improve their World Series chances.