The New York Yankees made a huge splash yesterday when they signed starting pitcher Carlos Rodon. The addition of Rodon gives New York arguably the best five-man rotation in all of baseball. At the top of the rotation, the Yankees have two legitimate aces.
With the addition of Rodon, the rotation goes as followed: Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino, Frankie Montas. Not too shabby. The rotation is set and now the Yankees have a surplus of arms and they need to make some decisions.
A couple of guys that they need to look at are Clarke Schmidt and Domingo German. Unless a big time trade materializes, I think they want to hold on to their former first round pick in Schmidt. I think the Yankees see him as a swing guy who can become a dominant force out of the bullpen or he can be their permanent long-arm out of the bullpen.
Luis Severino and Frankie Montas are free agents after this season so I could also see them wanting to keep Schmidt hoping he could be in the rotation in 2024. However, Domingo German could be a different story for the Yankees.
Will the Yankees shop Domingo German?
New York has to make some moves because they are set to be at 43 players on their 40-man roster. Either we are going to see some guys getting DFA’d or there are trades in the works. Given the current market and need for starting pitchers, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Yankees trade Domingo German.
German has proven himself to be a very solid starting pitcher when given the opportunity to start. Last season in 14 starts, German pitched to a 3.61 ERA with a WHIP of 1.161. Last season he pitched to a 4.58 ERA in 18 starts, and back in 2019 he went 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA.
He’s a very solid back-end of the rotation kind of arm. The world needs pitching and pitching has never been at a higher premium. For that reason, the Yankees should absolutely look at dealing German while the market is hot.
It’ll be interesting to see if he gets thrown into a package for an outfielder or perhaps there’s an even bigger trade that no one is thinking about just yet. Or, he could be dealt for prospects who could then be part of a deal for someone else. Lots of options, but don’t be shocked if you see the Yankees move on from German.