Yankees’ Aaron Judge predicts active free agency for GM Brian Cashman

The hot stove months this off-season for the MLB will likely develop slowly, but the New York Yankees will surely be in the middle of it as they try to add starting pitching and relief arms.

With three starters hitting free agency, the Yankees will need to go out and find another talented player to add to the rotation. Whether it be former Rays’ Charlie Morton or Cincinnati Reds’ star Trevor Bauer, we should expect to see some movement in the market in that specific category.

One Yankee player, slugger Aaron Judge, believes that GM Brian Cashman will be active this off-season, adding several players to help bolster the team for the 2021 campaign.

“We’ve got a good young core of players,” Judge said to fans via an appearance on Fanatics.com Thursday. “I think we’re going to be adding a couple of guys free agent-wise that are going to help give us that boost to get to the next step.”

Youth has been an essential factor for the Yankees the past few years, relying on homegrown talent and prospects to carry the load when injuries have struck.

Specifically, the Yankees elevated starting pitcher Deivi Garcia from the minors this past season, and he performed well over 41.2 innings. He struck out 54 batters and allowed 16 runs, finishing with a 3.46 ERA. I believe he will be an integral part of the rotation in 2021, sliding in behind Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, and a free agent signing.

“I know every year that I’ve played, we’ve been in the playoffs, and we’ve had an OK run here and there,” Judge stated. “But it’s not our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is to bring a championship home back to New York and I think we’re going to be making some changes.”

The Yankees haven’t reached the World Series in over a decade, and it hasn’t been because of their lack of spending. Tampa Bay just recently made the big series and had a minor fraction of the salary cap expenditures that the Yankees did. That suggests that the model is simply broken, and the Bombers must change their mentality toward success on the field.

“The guys we’ve got in our farm system — we’ve got something special,” Judge added. “I think not only next year, but the next couple of years, we’re going to be doing something special in New York.”

There is no doubt that the Yankees are capable of being an extremely successful team that pushes for a World Series every year. While they do make the playoffs, they have lost in the ALCS multiple seasons in a row, failing to get over the hump.

Most of their faults land in the pitching category, and Brian Cashman didn’t hesitate to attack the best arm in baseball with Cole during the 2019 FA period. They need a bit more continuity in their bullpen and a bolstering of the backend of the starting rotation.