Back in Mid-December, I wrote an article about the New York Yankees trying to figure out who to extend between James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka. Paxton had injury concerns but looked to have such a high ceiling after the way he finished the 2019 season.
Masahiro Tanaka has always been relatively consistent, but there wasn’t a lot of star potential there moving forward. Paxton also had the advantage of being a power-lefty, which would help balance the Yankees rotation that would feature top right-handed arms like Gerrit Cole and Luis Severino.
Considering the ceiling for Paxton and the other benefits, I thought it would be smart if the Yankees tried to go ahead and extend James Paxton. Well, a couple of months after that article, James Paxton had to have surgery and will potentially miss the first two months of the season. Going right along with his biggest drawback, his health. There is no questioning the talent of a guy like James Paxton, but that talent can only take you so far if you can’t stay on the field. Now, as we sit here in March, have my feelings changed?
My feelings now
To a degree, yes, my feelings on this matter have changed. Tanaka has spent his entire career with the Yankees and has come up clutch when it really mattered. He’s also been relatively durable during his time with the Yankees. He would also be a lot cheaper to sign than James Paxton all things considered. If the Yankees were forced to pick either Paxton or Tanaka for an extension today, I think the Yankees would go with Tanaka, and I believe that would be the right decision. Now, could there be an alternative to both of them that we are not considering? Do the Yankees really need to bring back either of these guys after the 2020 season concludes?
There are options
The simple answer is no. The Yankees do not need to resign James Paxton or Masahiro Tanaka. Pitchers have shown the ability to come back from Tommy John and keeping that in mind, the Yankees will get Luis Severino back next year. They already have Gerrit Cole, and they have young guns like Jordan Montgomery, Clarke Schmidt, Domingo German, and Deivi Garcia, all vying for spots in the rotation. The Yankees are likely going to try to extend DJ LeMahieu after this season, which is going to tax their payroll. The Yankees will also be paying their young stars more money after the 2020 season. Maybe the best decision for the Yankees is to let both of them walk and let those young guys take over the back end of the rotation. Or perhaps some additional pitchers could prove to be alternatives.
Another lefty?
Robbie Ray is going to be the guy I keep an eye on this year when it comes to the Yankees. Ray is a guy the Yankees have tried to trade for in the past, and I think he’s going to be a target for them again this year. Ray has never pitched over 200 innings in his career, but his strikeout numbers can’t be ignored. If he’s available at the deadline, the Yankees might take a run at him. After the season’s over, the Yankees might explore his market along with feeling out the markets for Paxton and Tanaka. At the end of the day, the Yankees have a lot of options moving forward after the 2020 season. While we don’t know how the whole rotation will look moving forward, at least we can be confident who is going to be leading the rotation moving forward.