New York Yankees’ 8 Most Tradable Assets for the 2014-15 Offseason
October 29, 2014 · Peter F. Richman · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
With the disappointing 2014 season behind them, the New York Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman are now a mere day from the start of the Major League Baseball offseason.
Though it’s fairly doubtful the Bombers will embark on another half-billion dollar shopping spree, they’ll most certainly exhaust any options to snap their playoff drought at two years and make a serious push for October in 2015.
Heading into the winter, the Yankees have an obvious need in their infield, where they could conceivably add up to two pieces, in their starting rotation, where at least one more durable arm would add some insurance and for a productive bat—they just completed a historically poor year offensively.
Last week, we looked at several of the Yankees’ own impending free agents and played a little “keep him or dump him.” But, of course, much of the talk this month has centered on making improvements with external premier free agents, and the Yankees have a rich, rich history of throwing money at marquee names.
Among infielders, there will be Ben Zobrist, Jed Lowrie, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Asdrubal Cabrera; among the aces, Max Scherzer, Jon Lester and James Shields.
But Cashman could also look to package one or more assets for a blockbuster trade in the coming months, and top-tier guys like Cole Hamels (per CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman), Chris Sale (per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin), Giancarlo Stanton (per Peter Gammons) and, most recently, Yoenis Cespedes (per the Daily News‘ Bill Madden) have caused some chatter.
And though recent hauls were nothing to write home about, the Yankees were certainly no strangers to trading away young talent in 2014: They shipped out power-hitting prospect Peter O’Brien at the deadline to acquire Martin Prado, and they gave up a potential future star pitcher in Rafael De Paula as part of the deal for Chase Headley in late July.
This week we’ll discuss four big leaguers and four prospects in the Yankees organization who could generate serious interest on the market.
These eight players aren’t ranked according to who is most likely to get traded—or according to who should be dealt. Rather, they represent pieces who (1) would be the most coveted by potential trade partners looking to fill their own needs this offseason, and (2) whose absences—for the right price—would not leave New York with insurmountable holes for next season.
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