The New York Yankees and Trevor Bauer rumors persist. We are now in the MLB Winter Meeting that will last until December 10th. Until Trevor Bauer signs with a team, the talk of him landing with the Yankees won’t go away. It’s no secret that the Yankees need a true number two starter to fill out the rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole. With Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and J. A. Happ all free agents, the Yankees will have to patch a rotation up for the coming season. Many industry experts feel the Yankees will make some deal to re-sign Masahiro Tanaka.
Although the Yankees have plenty of arms to fill the fourth and five spots in the rotation, they need help above that. The Yankees have a bevy of young talent. With the number of quality pitchers in free agency dwindling quickly, the Yankees should make some move this week. Although Bauer is not the perfect fit for the Yankees because of previous friction between him and Cole dating back to their college days, Cole and the Yankees can put that aside. Going into the postseason with Cole and Bauer as a one-two punch certainly is imposing.
There is a nightmare attached to this story. Other industry no-it-alls say that if Bauer doesn’t end up with the Yankees, his next likely landing place is the Boston Red Sox which would be terrible news for the Yankees.
Gary Sanchez up and down in Winter Ball
With all the interest in Gary Sanchez, you will want to get used to near-constant news coming out of the Dominican Republic on every strikeout and homer that takes place. He had a single but struck out three times in his league debut, going 1 for 5. Sanchez, who turned 28 years old last week and now sports a thick beard, is playing winter ball to improve his game before next season.
On Saturday night, he hit a monster home run out of the Toros Del Este’s ballpark; his second in as many days.
Bestial el HR de @ElGarySanchez pic.twitter.com/eZ624o77A7
— Toros Del Este (@TorosdelEste) December 5, 2020
Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman are now repellers
The New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is known for taking part in charity events. A week ago, he spent the night sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground at Yankees Stadium to draw attention to the homeless youth.
On Friday, Cashman repelled down the Landmark building, a 22 story building in Stamford, Connecticut, in preparation for the Heights & Lights program to support downtown merchants and events. This is not the first time Cashman has participated in the scary repel. This year a terrified Yankee manager Aaron Boone accompanied the in the dangerous feat.
Archie Bradley, Marcell Ozuna, or Michael Brantley to the Yankees?
With this being Winter Meetings week, all the buzz is who will end up with the New York Yankees for the 2021 season. There are many names attached to rumors for landing stops for this year’s class of free agents.
With Tommy Kahnle gone for the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, the Yankees need to bolster their bullpen. One target might be Archie Bradley, a free agent from the Cincinnati Reds. He is a veteran reliever that is still in his prime. At 28 years old, he is one of the best relievers on the market. Like with the starting pitching, he needs to at least kick the tires on Bradley before he is gone.
If the Yankees wanted to add an active bat to the lineup, they would definitely want to take a look at Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna leads the National League in home runs with 18. He is one of the best hitters in free agency. The Yankees’ Luke Voit lead all of baseball with his 22 home runs. Imagine the two most productive home run hitters in the same lineup. The Only problem with Ozuna is that the Yankees have plenty of outfielders. The Yankees with greater need will mostly let Ozuna go with another club.
If the Yankees fail to put together a deal for DJ LeMahieu, there is a suitable replacement in free agency. Michael Brantley is a free agency that has done damage to the Yankees while with the Houston Astros. They failed to give him a qualifying offer making him available to the Yankees. Brantley is a good fit for the short porch at right in Yankees Stadium; he is one of the best lefty hitters on the market. Another attractive thing with Brantley is he would be somewhat cheaper than LeMahieu.
New York Yankees need to act sooner than later
These virtual Winter Meetings are supposed to be quieter than normal. But for the Yankees, time is slipping away the prime free agents already signing even before this week. Should these meetings be more productive than expected, the Yankees could find themselves with their pants down.
The Yankees were very interested in Charlie Morton on a short term contract. Morton is a good pitcher with great postseason experience. The Rays wouldn’t exercise his $15 million option, so he signed for that amount with the Atlanta Braves within days. Gausman and Stroman have also signed. Teams didn’t have much money after bad losses last season, but at the same time, they will pick up any bargains they can find and will do it quickly.