The New York Yankees have their top outfield target and that’s Pittsburg Brian Reynolds. New York has been engaged with the Pirates on Reynolds pretty much since the offseason began. Bryan Reynolds requested a trade from the Pirates and they’ve been fielding calls.
The Yankees had a lot of interest in Reynolds from the jump for multiple reasons. If they lost Aaron Judge, he was their target to be their replacement in right field. If they brought Judge back, Reynolds was still their top target to field the left field vacancy. Regardless of what happened with Judge, New York has wanted Bryan Reynolds in the fold.
MLB.com’s JP Morosi reported this morning that the Yankees have remained in active talks with the Pirates on a potential deal for Bryan Reynolds. However, Morosi noted something that is currently standing in the way of New York getting a deal done.
Yankees problem in Reynolds’ talks
Morosi reported that the Pirates are wanting pitching to headline a deal for Bryan Reynolds. The problem for the Yankees is that they dealt a vast majority of their top arms in the trade deadline last year. They still have quality arms in the system, but there’s not a top of the line arm amongst the bunch.
There are three guys who would likely be the best the Yankees can offer. Clarke Schmidt, Domingo German, and Luis Gil are all guys you could see in conversations. Schmidt has long-been New York’s top pitching prospect. The former first-round pick has never really had the opportunity to start in New York. He’s been more of a swing-guy in the majors.
Domingo German has been a very serviceable and quality arm. Luis Gil showed a ton of promise before having Tommy John. If the Yankees want to get a deal done with the Pirates, they might have to go the quantity over quality approach.
The fear right now from talking to folks is there might be other teams with pitching that Pittsburg covets. If that’s the case, there might not be much New York can do to get a deal done. It’s clear the Yankees want Reynolds, but there’s a ways to go here.