New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has been active in fairly minor ways this offseason despite all of the speculation surrounding the futures of Andrew Miller and Brett Gardner. However, another veteran Yankee is now subject to those same trade rumors.
Starting pitcher Ivan Nova is reportedly on the trading block.
"Nova, who'll turn 29 next month, will likely command in the area of $4.5 million for this upcoming season, his last before free agency, the Yankees have let teams know he is available after a woeful 2015," writes George A. King III of the New York Post.
"'They are offering him out there, but I don't know if there's any takers,' [a baseball] executive said of the right-hander, who was shopped at the July's trading deadline and whose name surfaced in talks with the Reds when they were looking to deal Johnny Cueto."
However, if you recall the rumors and reports earlier this offseason, this is nothing new. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported back in November that the Yankees have "let teams know" Nova was available. He said they were planning to sell him as "stronger and healthier" in his second season removed from Tommy John surgery along with the fact that he'll be "motivated" in his contract year.
King also noted his source said the Yankees are "looking for a starter."
It was said Nova would likely be included in a package of players that would help New York acquire a cost-controlled starter. However, the Yanks are reportedly unwilling to part ways with prospects Luis Severino, Greg Bird, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Jorge Mateo, so it's hard to envision them working out a scenario with other prospects or pieces on their MLB roster.
Nova was demoted to the bullpen for a short time this past season, but then Masahiro Tanaka suffered an injury and the Yankees had to move him back. However, as of right now, Nova does not fit into their plans for 2016 with Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia and Luis Severino projected to make up the cast of starters. Youngster Bryan Mitchell is also an option if he can get it together.
Still, the Yankees need to figure something out. Nearly all of those pitchers have suffered a significant injury within the past two seasons or are regarded as injury-prone. With the way the MLB values pitching nowadays, New York cannot risk heading into 2016 with a flimsy rotation.
"The main issue [for the Yankees] is a rotation that remains full of question marks," added Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "GM Brian Cashman is often able to make things work in winters where they don't have the budget. But they look like they need to do more, especially to the rotation, and especially with the rival Red Sox improving so much."
We'll see how Cashman decides to bolster that unit with plenty of time left in the offseason.
