Yankees Eyeing Starting Pitching, Giants, Blue Jays, Indians Are Potential Trade Partners In 2019

So much for the New York Yankees being the favorites to land Dallas Keuchel. The free agent is reportedly set to sign with the Atlanta Braves, who narrowly outbid the AL East leaders with a reported one-year, $13 million contract offer.

The Yankees were unwilling to go above a prorated version of the $17.9 million qualifying offer Keuchel turned down from the Houston Astros in the offseason. By falling about $1.5 million short of Atlanta’s bid, New York will now have to give up valuable assets in their quest to improve the rotation for the 2019 MLB season.

It sounds like the Yankees’ pursuit of a starter is a matter of “when,” not “if.” According to multiple reports, New York is intent on adding another pitcher in hopes of winning their first World Series championship in a decade.

There should be plenty of quality candidates available via trade within the next few weeks. The Toronto Blue Jays will likely trade Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez for the right price. The San Francisco Giants are expected to deal Madison Bumgarner. Trevor Bauer was on the market in the offseason, and the Cleveland Indians might look to move him again now that their chances of winning the AL Central are slim.

The New York Mets and Yankees have been connected in trade rumors since last summer. Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard could become available if the Mets fall out of the race. It remains to be seen if the cross-town rivals would actually do business together.

A few of those options are more highly regarded than Keuchel. That means the Yankees would have to part with one of their highly regarded players in order to make a trade work.

Clint Frazier is the Yankees’ most logical trade piece. He’s just 24 years old with plenty of upside. The outfielder has already had some success on the major-league level with .268/.320/.516 splits and 11 home runs in 44 games this season. When Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton return from the injured list—possibly within the next month—he’ll be hard-pressed to find playing time.

There’s also Frazier’s recent handling of the New York media, which might make sending him elsewhere a tad more palatable.

The Yankees are 1.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and 6.5 games in front of the Boston Red Sox atop the division. If they are unable to win the AL East, it’ll likely be the result of their rotation not being good enough.

James Paxton and C.C. Sabathia have already had stints on the IL with recent histories of battling injuries. Luis Severino still hasn’t pitched this season because of multiple ailments. Domingo German has emerged as a quality starter, but he is on an innings limit.

Keuchel’s cost exceeded his value, according to the Yankees. It should be interesting to see what the organization is willing to give up and for whom before the July 31 deadline.