Will there be a Fire Sale in the Bronx? by Jared McCabe
Entering todays game against the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees was one win away from a 4 game series sweep against the O’s in the Bronx. They ended up losing 4-1, which ended their 4 game winning streak. It was a great start by Orioles starting pitcher Chris Tillman, and it was a subpar start by the birthday boy CC Sabathia. Could this loss mean that this was the last start for Sabathia in a Yankees uniform? We’ll wait and see.
The chatter around the Bronx and the MLB is the question everyone is asking; will the Yankees be buyers or sellers? Well from multiple “sources” there is a split in the Yankees front office because Brian Cashman (GM) and others think its time to start a dumpster fire and start to rebuilding and start planning for the future. Well Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and CEO Randy Levine are saying that they haven’t given up on the season just yet and that the Yankees have never been known to just give up in the middle of the year and sell off players. That’s because they haven’t had to do that in their long history, and also with the addition of the second wild card it makes it tougher for an owner and general manager to decide if your out of the race or not. But Brian Cashman has clearly said that the Yankees had to define themselves and start winning games. This current home stand will tell you what kind of team the Yankees are because they won 2/3 against the East leading Red Sox and they took ¾ to the Orioles. The weekend series won’t get any easier because the West leading San Francisco Giants come into play and their “Big Three” are on the mound for each game. (Bumgarner, Samardzija, and Cueto.) So after this home stand and the first 3 road games against Houston will also be huge.
If the Yankees decide to become sellers they have big assets to unload because lots of teams want free agent to be Aroldis Chapman and a controllable pitcher in Andrew Miller who has two more years left on current deal. Cashman could even look to trade a veteran hitter in Carlos Beltran who has been the Yankees MVP so far and he could help a contending team make the next step. There are so many other players that could get traded. but those three key players are the players that are most “likely” to get traded or the most “wanted” player by other teams. The key to trading these great relievers is you want to get multiple big league ready prospects because you want them for your future and your trading away two great relievers in the game. So Cashman has to make sure that he works the phones and comes up with the “BEST” deal possible.
I think you will eventually find out what the Yankees do because the next six games will define what kind of team the Yankees are. In the end I think the Yankees could do both and buy and sell. Trade some assets and acquire some other assets. Brian Cashman and the Yankees have work to do the next couple of weeks until the Trade Deadline on August 1st arrives.
Jared McCabe
