The Yankees should go for it — beginning with the trade of Aroldis Chapman. Sounds counterintuitive, I know.
General manager Brian Cashman said dealing Chapman to the Cubs was “an easy call and the right call” because they traded a free-agent-to-be from an area of strength for a package, headed by elite-shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, that the Yankees loved.
This is what non-contenders do, and Fangraphs had the Yankees with an 8 percent chance to make the playoffs before the Chapman swap. It was wholly logical.
Yet, Cashman said “this isn’t a white flag.”
Having Adam Warren included in the deal was vital to getting Hal Steinbrenner’s blessing because it provided in return a bullpen piece that Joe Girardi trusts. The Yankees still have Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, who formed the bullpen backbone of a wild-card team last year, and now Warren, who helped get them the ball.
Steinbrenner has told his troops there will be no fire sale. But he will watch how the team plays in the days leading to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, and if the Yankees tank, then Miller, Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner and others could go.
However, Steinbrenner is saying he wants to try for the playoffs. It is not in his DNA to surrender. Plus, Yankees TV ratings are down, the ballpark is dead and the Mets are in contention. And the Yankees have gone 10-5 against four first-place teams (Rangers, Indians, Orioles, Giants) in the last month.
Cashman is looking into selling and buying, just in case, and it would not surprise me if the Yankees tried for a big move — at least seeing, for example, if they could land White Sox lefty ace Chris Sale.
Late last July, the Blue Jays and Rangers were third-place teams — Toronto was seven games out, Texas eight — when they each obtained a lefty ace. Both rallied to win their divisions. Toronto, though, had a plus-100 run differential at the time, which suggested it was performing better than its record indicated, and obtained free-agent-to-be David Price.
These Yankees were minus-25 in run differential coming into Monday’s game in Houston, making the Rangers’ add of Cole Hamels the more apt comparison. Texas was minus-44. But Rangers officials felt the Astros and Angels in front of them were vulnerable — as Yankees officials see imperfect teams ahead of them now. Plus, Hamels had four years at $96 million left, so if the Rangers missed the playoffs in 2015, they still had Hamels for years to come, making the trade of big prospects more palatable.
Sale is signed from 2017-19 for $38 million (including his two team options). So an acquiring team would not get him just for one pennant race. It is why the White Sox have set the bar so high — five prospects, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman.
Is Sale worth it?
Well, there is only one Clayton Kershaw, but Sale is on the short list for baseball’s next-best starter. Since joining Chicago’s rotation in 2012, Sale has the majors’ fourth-best ERA-plus (minimum 800 innings), third-best opponents’ OPS-plus and fourth-best rate of strikeouts per nine innings. He is just 27 — younger than Michael Pineda or Masahiro Tanaka.
The White Sox suspended Sale five days for cutting up throwback uniforms in a clubhouse incident Saturday, and he was at the center of the player revolt involving Adam LaRoche and his son, Drake, during the spring. The White Sox have gone for it the past two years, seemingly to no avail. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf is 80 and said to have no desire to rebuild, so the likelihood is Sale is staying. But can Reinsdorf be convinced this roster is not working and a redo is necessary, and Sale gets the most in return?
If so, the Yankees might find that teams such as the Red Sox and Dodgers have more prospects. But does offering the White Sox a package headed by the newly obtained Torres or Jorge Mateo, Gary Sanchez or Aaron Judge and Luis Severino or James Kaprielian at least get them in the game?
No matter which trio you pick, that is three top-100-type prospects (if Severino had not lost his rookie eligibility) — and the Yankees system is not stripped because they still retain the other three, plus Greg Bird returns next year.
Sale would better protect a Chapman-less pen, form a strong 1-2 with Tanaka should the Yankees sneak into the playoffs and provide a hedge if Tanaka opts out of his contract after next season.
The most likely scenario remains they will make that logical move of Chapman and maybe not much else. But could the Yankees go from overt sellers to trying to get in on a covert Sale?