Last night's AL Wild Card game featured one of the worst performances by the New York Yankees in their postseason history. The Houston Astros absolutely shut down the Yankees in the Bronx, and now rumors are circulating as to how general manager Brian Cashman will make changes this offseason.
Could soon-to-be free agents David Price, Zack Greinke, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes be on their radar?
If fans weren't alarmed by New York's stagnant performance down the stretch, then last night's 3-0 loss to a young and inexperienced Astros team should do the trick. The Yankees were held to just three hits (their total on the night) against starter Dallas Keuchel, who became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw 22 scoreless innings in the same season against the Bombers.
Both the pitching and offense could not get it done for New York. Masahiro Tanaka, who is supposed to be the team's ace, lasted just five innings and gave up two earned runs on four hits (two home runs) and three walks. Reliever Dellin Betances also gave up a run in the seventh inning, but he's been struggling as of late because of overuse (he led all relievers in innings pitched). Also, the team's veteran batters finished 1-for-21 with two walks. Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann and Brett Gardner all went 0-for-4.
And manager Joe Girardi benched Jacoby Ellsbury, who has a .301 batting average in the postseason and is making $21 million this year.
Cashman is defending his decision to stand pat at the trade deadline, and rightfully so. Many believed the Yankees needed to acquire another top-of-the-rotation starter and/or a second baseman to really make a run in the playoffs, but the costs were prohibitive. Cashman did not want to surrender prospects Luis Severino, Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and others, which is what other clubs were asking for, according to trade rumors before the deadline.
"There's a lot of frustration about how we ended the season," Cashman told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "We were not firing on all cylinders. It's frustrating...
"Except for Beltran, Bird and Didi, we went into a slump collectively."
The Yankees finished the regular season with the second most runs scored in the MLB, but anything resembling one-half of such run production was nowhere to be found over the past few weeks. Additionally, their starting rotation was in shambles, with Tanaka coming off another injury, Michael Pineda struggling, Nathan Eovaldi being shut down with elbow inflammation and CC Sabathia entering rehab for alcohol. Let's not forget Girardi overused almost every arm in the bullpen.
Both Heyman and ESPN Insider Jim Bowden believe Cashman needs to add another top starter this offseason.
"The real reason they need to take a look at the top starters, led by Cy Young candidates David Price and Zack Greinke -- the Yankees have liked AL East star Price in the past but wondered if New York was right for Greinke, who will use his opt out to improve his lot -- plus also Johnny Cueto if he can allay questions that came up after a so-so stint in Kansas City with a big postseason, is that those are the very difference-makers available now," Heyman writes.
"The Yankees need another top-of-rotation type of starter to go with Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino," Bowden adds. "The free-agent market will have many of them available, and considering this is the Yankees we're talking about here, they shouldn't be counted out when it comes to signing pitchers like David Price, Zack Greinke (if he opts out of his contract with the Dodgers), Jordan Zimmermann , Johnny Cueto (depending on the medicals and his post-season performance), John Lackey, Hisashi Iwakuma or Jeff Samardzija."
And as for a power hitter, Bowden specifically weighs in on this issue and said a "right-handed middle-of-the-lineup bat is an area of need" for the Yankees. That was evidenced last night, when Arod, Beltran, Headley, Chris Young and Rob Refsnyder went a combined 1-for-15 with two walks and failed to hit seven innings of left-handed pitching.
"Fortunately, the free-agent class will have a couple impact bats available, including Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes," Bowden suggests. "In terms of the trade market, possible targets could include Ryan Braun of the Brewers or J.D. Martinez of the Tigers."
But the question is, who will/can the Yankees get rid of if they were to sign a big bat or trade for one? Rodriguez isn't going anywhere; Ellsbury has multiple years and a ton of money left on his deal; it's unclear if they'd want to get rid of Gardner considering he had a breakout season in the first half of 2015; and Beltran is under contract for one more season and he's likely to serve as a stopgap for prospect Aaron Judge.
Whatever the case, something needs to be done because the team as a whole cannot be as inconsistent as they were this year. New York received excellent first-half campaigns from Gardner, Ellsbury, Rodriguez, McCann and Michael Pineda - all of whom who had bad/much less productive second halves. Same goes for those who had awful first halves and excellent second halves - Didi Gregorius, Nathan Eovaldi, Carlos Beltran and CC Sabathia.
Consistency is typically the key to success, and the Yankees emulated the exact opposite of that this season. It just so happened their offense was able to carry them for a large portion of the season, even when the starting pitching failed to produce quality outings. But down the stretch when both units struggled collectively, it showed how inept the club really was, and they'll have that to mull over after cleaning out their lockers last night.
