The other day I was saying how the Yankees may be looking into signing Starlin Castro, as he was sitting on the market just waiting to be signed. However, the Washington Nationals ended up signing him to the tune of a two-year deal worth roughly $12,000,000. I was also slightly mistaken by my estimate on how much Castro was to be paid by the Marlins, as apparently, the club chose to decline his $16,000,000 option to return this season, which makes all the more sense if you’re Miami to let him walk — they ultimately ended up using that money instead to bring in Corey Dickerson for two years at $17,500,000. Don’t look now, but the Jeter led Marlins are making solid offseason moves, as they’ve now acquired Jesus Aguilar from Tampa, Jonathan Villar from Baltimore, signed Francisco Cervelli for pennies on the dollar, and now have brought in Dickerson.
Castro was, in my opinion, one of the few infield options that I like to believe Cashman and Steinbrenner were looking at bringing in for depth. What that says to me is that hopefully, they have faith in Tyler Wade and even Thairo Estrada to be competent backup infielders and utility options. Castro, as mentioned, is very consistent and is an excellent pure hitter, but the other dimensions of his game are lacking, or average at best. With Wade, there are numerous facets of his game I love and believe he can improve on. With Estrada, there are the tools there to make a quality backup infielder — solid speed, decent peripherals, above-average defense. Castro joins a Nats team that’s, of course, coming off their first World Series title in their club’s history.
The RP market — and potential trade candidates for the New York Yankees
The demand for Free Agents, as of now, is starting to dry up. While everyone still awaits Josh Donaldson’s decision — which apparently, DEFINITELY won’t be the Twins, as he so kindly said he’d not like to be a part of their team — one of the main topics for the Yankees these past few weeks has been the bullpen. On the market currently, the best bullpen options that are available would have to be: Jeremy Jeffress, Sam Dyson, and Steve Cishek — in my opinion.
With all three of those names, none of them are lefties, thus seemingly negating the genuine need for any of them. The Yankees bullpen right now features only three lefties, with one not even being guaranteed on the Opening Day roster — Stephen Tarpley. The other two are, of course, Zack Britton, who I am a big fan of and recently did a piece on, and also Aroldis Chapman. I think out of those three names, the most enticing one is Steve Cishek, as his numbers are excellent, and it is surprising to me that he is on the market still. I imagine it is because of his arm slot and the fact that he’s a submarine pitcher, and he is also 33 years old. However, over the past four seasons, his ERA is sub 3.00, and his LOB% has never dipped below 83%. With that being said, since he has that low arm slot, and is a groundball inducing pitcher, his FIP and general peripherals are average, at best.
The other option for Relief Pitcher help is, of course, via trade. Everyone has been following with eyes taped open, the rumors and speculation around Josh Hader. However, I have my worries about trading away such a large package for him. After reading my colleague Daniel Cunnigham’s piece on the “Deal or No Deal” for Hader, I further reinstate my idea that trading for Hader may not be the best option. Especially with other lefty arms being available on the trade market, I imagine, like potentially even Brad Hand, should Cleveland flounder in the first half of this season. The Indians have already traded away their former ace, Corey Kluber. They have made no effort in bringing in any offensive help, but instead showing the door to various players and have been actively shopping Francisco Lindor. I believe Hand would come at a far lower price, and the Yankees wouldn’t have to give up Deivi Garcia to get him.
Keep your eyes open in the coming weeks for potential RP news and trade rumors as well.
“The Backstop Boys”
One of the more significant questions heading into 2020 is what the Yankees plan to do in regards to the Catcher position. I am a firm believer in Gary Sanchez, as, despite his struggles with health and consistency, he still is one of the best in baseball. Since 2016, in only 370 games, Gary Sanchez ranks fifth in the entire league for Catcher fWAR (11.5), first for wRC+ (123), and first for OPS (.847 — a significant gap ahead of second-place Willson Contreras at .821). The point is that while Gary is subject to a massive amount of criticism and sometimes overly harsh at points, he is still one of the — if not the –Â best catcher in the league, at least from an offensive standpoint.
The backup options for Gary, as of today, are Erik Kratz and Kyle Higashioka. Longtime backup, Austin Romine departed to Detroit and will be vying for playtime with James McCann there. For Kratz, the odds of him ever seeing MLB time this year are low, as the 39-year-old doesn’t provide much aside from decent defensive peripherals, and overall veteran experience — however, despite his age and being in and out of the show for nearly a decade, he only has amassed 921 PAs. I think the Yankees should run with Higgy behind the plate as the backup this year, but ultimately the catching position is the one that every fan will nitpick and not be satisfied with until Gary Sanchez slashes .350/.450/.600 — and the backup is also a sure thing.
For New York, ultimately, the only questions about this team are whether or not they can put together a healthy season. Depth is a critical facet to every great team’s success, and while the Yankees have some solid depth as of now, there are most definitely question marks along with those players.
Look for New York to continue monitoring various FA’s and keeping tabs on trade options as well.