During the offseason general manager Brian Cashman needed to find a successor for Derek Jeter. He went out and acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius from the Arizona Diamondbacks, but was forced to surrender a starting pitcher in the deal.
That pitcher, Shane Greene, was sent to Detroit in the three-team trade, while the Tigers shipped two prospects to Arizona. Greene is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.50 WHIP in two starts with Detroit after going 5-4 with a 3.78 ERA and 1.398 WHIP in 15 games (14 starts) in his rookie season with the Yankees last year.
On the other hand, Gregorius is batting .172/.219/.172 with two runs scored, two RBIs and one stolen base in nine games after a mediocre spring training. Granted, the 25-year-old shortstop has only 200 MLB games under his belt, but perhaps Greene's potential wasn't worth trading because his success came after he played in only 15 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Additionally, the Yankees knew what they were getting into with their ailing starting rotation.
By the way, their starters are a combined 2-4 with a 5.07 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in the team's first nine games. Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia have not been impressive in each of their first two starts and the recently acquired Nathan Eovaldi, who Cashman may have thought would be a solid replacement for Greene, has a 4.35 ERA and 1.935 WHIP and the team lost both games he pitched.
"The Tigers are the very early winners in this trade," writes Justin Terranova of the New York Post.
"Things are not going quite as smoothly for Gregorius. The 25-year-old has four hits in 26 at-bats, has made a few mistakes on the base paths and, while known for his slick fielding, has not looked sharp at shortstop - including an error in Tuesday night's loss to the Orioles."
And not to mention, ESPN's David Schoenfield ranked Greene No. 5 on his list of "Five sleeper 2015 Cy Young contenders."
"He's the longest shot on the board. A marginal prospect entering 2014 -- Baseball America rated him as the Yankees' No. 16 prospect -- injuries in the rotation gave Greene a chance, and he performed well. His fastball averaged 93 mph, his slider was a swing-and-miss offering and he showcased a good cutter. His walk rate was a little high, and Derek Jeter didn't help his BABIP any, but if he improves his command and continues developing his changeup, breakout potential is there -- and the Tigers may have stolen a good starter from the Yankees."
It's still way too early to judge who came out on top of the offseason trade, especially since the performances from both Gregorius and Greene at this point are perhaps aberrations, but right now it appears as if the Yankees could have used Greene in their starting rotation.
We'll see how both youngsters perform as the year progresses and then we can come to a definitive conclusion.
