Before the offseason began for the New York Yankees and Gerrit Cole was signed to a nine-year, $324 million deal, owner Hal Steinbrenner made a conservative statement that indicated the Bombers wouldn’t be active in free agency. Aside from Cole, GM Brian Cashman has remained rather quiet in his signings.
“If the 2020 season was to start tomorrow, I would feel considerably more confident than I did a year ago at this time,’’ Steinbrenner said. “We will have both Severino and Montgomery back. We now know that [Domingo] German can pitch effectively at this level. And we know [James] Paxton can be the guy that we were hoping for when we made that trade. We have [Masahiro] Tanaka, [J.A.] Happ, [Jonathan] Loaisiga, and perhaps [Deivi] Garcia at some point. A very good rotation.’’
Steinbrenner wasn’t wrong when he made the statement — Severino and Montgomery’s return will be impactful for the starting pitching rotation. Still, the loss of Domingo German for 63 games in 2020 would have forced them through some tumultuous times.
Nonetheless, the Yankees addressed their pitching in a big way, adding arguably the best pitcher in baseball, a player who logged a 2.50 ERA and 326 strikeouts in 2019.
Several weeks after the Yankees’ owner expressed his confidence in the team, he changed his point of view, stating:
“All options are open.”
“Anything that rolls across my desk I’m gonna be looking at real seriously.”
At this point in the offseason, plenty of options have rolled across Steinbrenner’s desk, despite having only executed on Cole. The potential for a Josh Hader trade has floated around in the media for several weeks, but nothing has materialized, as their price has been too high.
The New York Yankees aren’t done yet, and they shouldn’t be:
The Yankees do have several holes to fill, though, as the infield is weak at certain positions. With Tyler Wade, Mike Ford, Thairo Estrada, and Miguel Andujar available to play in the infield, the Bombers have a decent foundation of depth players, but relying on them for significant playing time could be turbulent. Andujar remains a defensive liability at third base, Wade is a solid defender but has lacked in his offensive production, and Ford has minimal experience at the top level and struggled at times in 2019.
Adding another reliable utility player might give the Yankees an added assurance, but they’re running out of time and options. Factor in the lack of depth at the catcher position, and you could make the argument that the Yanks aren’t locked down. However, they did make sweeping changes across their strength and conditioning department in an attempt to lessen a record-setting year for injuries last season. The transformation of the program will hopefully mitigate significant damages to a degree.