The New York Yankees need to find a number two pitcher whether they like it or not, and general manager Brian Cashman will have to find ways to open up money to spend. Considering the Yankees have the highest payroll in Major League Baseball routinely, the fact they can’t even make the World Series, let alone get past the second round of the postseason, is quite disappointing.
Pitching seems to be their issue every season since they have plenty of offensive weapons to produce runs. Ranging from Giancarlo Stanton to Aaron Judge, injuries have taken a toll on the offense’s capabilities, but if these players can play a full season or at least the majority, the Yankees will be just fine.
Again, pitching is the major factor here, and the Yankees don’t have much depth in the starting rotation behind Gerrit Cole. Teams around the league are beginning to trade prospects in a win-now mode, and the Yankees can’t wait until Aaron Judge’s contract expectations arrive to sell the farm.
One blockbuster trade the New York Yankees could make:
One stellar option Cashman should target is Cincinnati Reds’ star, Luis Castillo. He is set to be a free agent in 2020 for his arbitration-eligible in 2022, so the team will have plenty of control over him if they want to utilize prospects to acquire his services.
Last season, Castillo earned 70 innings of work, logging a 3.21 ERA with 11.44 strikeouts per nine. He accumulated a 58.4 ground ball percentage, which would be extremely beneficial for Yankee Stadium and the high HR rates. To accompany those statistics, he only allowed five homers and walked 24 batters.
At just 28 years old, Castillo is in the middle of his prime, and his pitch diversity is attractive. He utilizes his fastball 27%, changeup to 30%, sinker 25%, and slider 18%. A very diverse array of options he can use to dominate batters.
Adding Castillo to a rotation that has Cole, Jordan Montgomery, and are expected to get back Luis Severino and Domingo German will give the Yankees a formidable group. Ultimately, the Yankees have sold on prospects before, and they have plenty they could utilize in a trade right now for an elite arm set to earn $4.4 million in 2021. Talk about a cost-efficient move.