When it comes to the New York Yankees, fans have been complaining about the same thing since they last won a World Series in 2009. The knock on the team has been the lack of reliable starting pitching.
The Yankees did their best to correct that when they signed Gerrit Cole, arguably the best pitcher in baseball, in the off season. However, this season has proved that signing Cole was still not enough.
Granted, the Yankees are currently missing Domingo German (Suspension) and Luis Severino (Tommy John), but they do not have the pitching right now to win a World Series. Can you really depend on Masahiro Tanaka? What about Paxton? Well the Yankees might have just lost him too.
Earlier this year, I wrote about the extension debate between Paxton and Tanaka. I wanted the Yankees to resign Paxton, but it’s clear that wasn’t a good idea. Now, I think they should let both men walk after this year.
The Yankees need a Bauer Outage
There is one guy that I believe could not only fix the issues for the rest of this season, but he could be the missing piece to a dynasty moving forward. That player is Reds starting pitcher, Trevor Bauer.
Bauer is off to an incredible start this year at 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA and a WHIP of 0.570. Those are just silly numbers through his first four starts. Imagine if the Yankees were to go out right now and make a deal with the Reds for Bauer?
I know many people are going to point to the past issues with Gerrit Cole and his temperament, but I think at the end of the day, Bauer wants to compete for championships.
He’s a competitor just like the Yankees ace, Cole. I believe that the two are adult enough to set aside their differences. Also, I think he would thrive in a competitive environment like New York.
Moving forward, the Yankees have Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery, Clarke Schmidt, and Domingo German. Assuming Clarke pans out, that’s a pretty good rotation, but they need one more bonafide stud at the top.
While Severino definitely has the potential to be that guy, he’s had a difficult time staying healthy. Trevor Bauer is a guy who could fix a lot of issues for the Yankees. If I’m Brian Cashman, I’m calling the Reds now to try to make a deal. It would take a lot, but if it brings you one World Series and potentially more, it’s all worth it.