The times they are a changin' under Hal Steinbrenner. The New York Yankees are not focused on significantly adding to their payroll every offseason anymore, which was the case in previous years under Hal's father, George.
Instead, rumors suggest the Yankees will look to fill some voids - particularly in the starting rotation - in another manner this offseason.
"Here's betting that, if the Yankees do add a starting pitcher, it'll be via trade, just like when general manager Brian Cashman acquired Eovaldi from Miami last December," writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
That's a good bet considering the top free agent starters - David Price, Zack Greinke, Jordan Zimmermann and Johnny Cueto - are expected to command $100 million contracts and some of those players may also cost New York a first-round draft pick after rejecting the qualifying offer.
Instead, the trade market looks to be a place Cashman will capitalize. He's already made two trades this offseason with the San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins, acquiring prospect Ronald Herrera and outfielder Aaron Hicks for infielder Jose Pirela and catcher John Ryan Murphy. Those moves helped free up some logjams and address other needs on the roster and in the farm system.
"I've always said we need a good balance," Steinbrenner told Richard Justice of MLB.com. "This is New York; we need marquee players. We know that. But we also need the veterans, and we need the kids. We need the veterans to be mentors. A lot of older guys really helped guys like [shortstop] Didi [Gregorius] this year. Alex [Rodriguez] was helpful with Didi when he was struggling at first. We need that mix."
Now, as the Yankees prepare for the Winter Meetings and all the chaos that is bound to result in a few weeks, the trade market will continue to be their preference. Rumors have already linked them to trade talks with the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians regarding starting pitchers, with outfielder Brett Gardner being the piece New York would part ways with. (The Mariners just acquired center fielder Leonys Martin from the Texas Rangers, but they could still use a left fielder.)
Seattle's James Paxton as well as Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar (among others) seemingly interest the Yankees. However, there could be more pitchers that begin to emerge on the trade market.
Atlanta Braves' starter Shelby Miller has entered trade rumors as ESPN's Buster Olney reported the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have inquired about the right-hander shortly after the Braves' talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks stalled.
However, Miller could cost a lot in a trade due to a number of factors: age, performance last season and the fact he's entering just his first year of arbitration eligibility.
But fear not! There will be other options.
Here's another thought: what if the Chicago White Sox shift their thinking for 2016? Yesterday vice president Kenny Williams told Scott Merkin of MLB.com that the club hasn't decided on a "definitive direction" yet, meaning they could still be in limbo over whether to buy or sell this offseason. Would they consider moving Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Carlos Rodon or Erik Johnson in the right deal? They're reportedly taking offers on outfielder Avisail Garcia, so perhaps.
One must also consider the fact that New York may not be willing to deal from their trio of top shelf prospects/young players: Luis Severino, Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. At this point it's not very clear how a trade scenario where they'd be getting a formidable starting pitcher in return would unfold.
But that will change in the coming weeks as trade talks begin to materialize and possibly come to fruition at the Winter Meetings.
