The New York Yankees are set to lose Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and J.A. Happ to free agency. They might bring one of the first two back, but the chances of that happening are diminishing with each passing day.
The Yankees, for now at least, are prioritizing the return of DJ LeMahieu, and according to reports, that may leave the club with little money to maneuver and re-sign another high-profile free agent, like Tanaka or Paxton.
Only time will tell about the concrete New York Yankees’ actions in the offseason. However, general manager Brian Cashman implied that he is happy with the current rotation construction, and also confirmed that the team will welcome back Domingo German after his ugly domestic violence episode and the subsequent suspension.
“(Luis) Severino is coming back from Tommy John at some point this 2021 season. He’ll return God willing, as long as there are no setbacks. And then German comes back from his suspension. So we’ll kind of combine them both as one player because clearly how do you handle German after not pitching for as long as he hadn’t pitched. He’s pitching winter ball right now. Severino coming out of the gate in the middle of the season will have maybe some safeties on, so to speak, until we get a chance to get a feel for where he’s at,” Cashman said in the latest episode of YES Network’s Yankees Hot Stove.
The Yankees’ GM would like to add to the rotation but only “if we can”
He feels happy with his current group. “You’ve got (Gerrit) Cole at the number one spot. You got arguably guys that are easy in theory number two’s at worst in Severino and German when they’re firing all cylinders. They will be back with us. We’re really high on (Jordan) Montgomery and I think he’ll continue to take his next steps. I think Deivi Garcia at the end what he did last year was something that gives us great optimism. The limited experience and exposure that he got should serve him well moving forward,” he explained.
After that, Cashman discussed some depth options that could make appearances in 2021, mostly prospects. “Then you got (young arms) Michael King, (Clarke) Schmidt, (Nick) Nelson and (Miguel) Yajure, among others. Would I like to add to it? The answer is yes, if we can. I think it’s best served to do so, but at worst you could certainly daydream just to believe that you might actually have everything that you need there.”