Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Chase Headley and Bryan Mitchell Traded to San Diego

The Yankees have traded Chase Headley back to the San Diego Padres, along with Bryan Mitchell. In return the Yankees will receive outfielder Jabari Blash. Also, the Padres will be taking on all of Headley's salary, which is $13 million. Making it clear that Brian Cashman is not done spending this offseason.

While Blash put up an impressive batting line of .285/.419/.617, with 20 home runs, last year at AAA El Paso, I don't see him as a regular in Major League Baseball. Jabari is 28 years old, and did appear in 61 games for the Padres last season, so he isn't a "nobody".

But another outfielder?

It's already been speculated that Jabari will be designated for assignment, but I can't help but wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes. Was Blash taken to keep outfield depth since Cashman has something in place to ship out Brett Gardner and/or Jacoby Ellsbury?

We shall see what's to come in what looks to be a very interesting offseason for the Yankees.

Solving The Logjam In The Outfield

There are a lot of ways Aaron Boone can fill the outfield and designated hitter spots in the lineup in 2018.

Mind you, I'm sure some of these guys could play the other positions. For example, Judge or Stanton may be able to pick up left field just fine. I'm just listing guys in those places based on where they've played recently, and fairly often.

When it comes to left field we have Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, or Aaron Hicks.

In center field there's Jacoby Ellsbury (did you know he hasn't played any other outfield position besides center field since 2010?), Brett Gardner, or Aaron Hicks.

And in right field there's Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Clint Frazier, or Aaron Hicks.

Furthermore, with his injury history, Boone will probably slot Stanton into the DH spot at least a couple of times a week. We'll also likely see Aaron Judge batting out of the DH spot at times, too, as this not only allows Judge to get a half day of rest, but it also allows Stanton to play right field (his normal position).

Having options when filling out a lineup card is great, but there is such a thing as too many.

First of all, it would leave Boone to constantly second guess himself, and be second guessed by others. He's already a first-time manager, so there's no need to make his job tougher. Every single day he'd hear something along the lines of "why didn't you start (insert name) instead of (insert name)?"

Secondly, the Yankees are not going to carry six outfielders on their active roster. With only three or four bench spots available to them, usually depending on bullpen needs at the time, chances are only one of them will go to somebody that exclusively plays in the outfield.

We've been hearing about ways the Yankees could trade Jacoby Ellsbury for a long time, but I just don't see it happening. Ellsbury has already said he doesn't want to leave the Yankees (damn that no-trade clause), and with three straight years of being a below average hitter, I don't see why anybody would want him... no matter how much of his contract the Yankees pay.

There's also been talk of trading Brett Gardner. I think the possibility of this is better than with Ellsbury, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for news of a deal to happen. Brett's OPS+ the last three years is exactly 100, which means he's an average hitter. His ability to not only play a strong left field, but center field as well, is great. However, with only one more year on his contract, he doesn't come off as a guy teams are looking to "rent".

Aaron Hicks would draw some interest, but I don't think the return would be enough that Cashman would seriously consider this possibility. Don't get me wrong, I like Hicks, as I believe what we saw in 2017 is more like the hitter he can be. And this Aaron can play any outfield position, and play them well. But would you trade anything significant for him? I don't think so. Perhaps if he has another season with the bat like he just had, but you can't forget 77 OPS+ he hit overall in his previous 1289 plate appearances.

That leaves Clint Frazier.

No... I'm not going to bother saying why neither Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge would be traded.

Clint didn't blow anybody away in his first taste of the Majors, but we're talking about a very good prospect (Keith Law ranked him 20th back in April). Frazier was actually the centerpiece of the group of players the Yankees received when they dealt Andrew Miller to Cleveland. At 22 years old he has plenty of prime years in front of him, and five of them will be under team control.

So there's no doubt that a large handful of teams would try and get him from Cashman.

To be clear, Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury are not what makes me say the following. The fact that Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Aaron Hicks should play regularly, coupled with the fact that Clint Frazier is better than a fourth outfielder, is why I say this...

Trade Clint Frazier.

The Yankees starting rotation currently includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Montgomery. Severino looked like an ace last season, and isn't set to be a free agent until the 2022 offseason. Masahiro Tanaka had an up and down 2017, but he's closer to the 2016 guy we saw (when he finished 7th in Cy Young voting) than the one we saw last year, and he won't be a free agent until after the 2020 season. Sonny Gray is pretty darn good, especially when he gets some run support, and he's signed through the 2019 season. And while Jordan Montgomery would be one of the better pitchers on pretty much every other MLB team, he's currently the fourth best with the Yankees, and will not be a free agent until after the 2023 season.

So the Yankees do not need another starter. They could easily just sign CC Sabathia, sit back, and smile at a pretty awesome starting rotation. But why do that when you can do something better? Why "settle" for Sabathia as the team's final piece to the rotation? Trade a nice asset, at a position overflowing with possibilities, and get another good to great young starter.

Recently Gerrit Cole's name has popped up as a trade target. The Diamondbacks could use some offensive help, and have pitching to spare. The Brewers and Rockies also have some good starters but lack a bit offensively.

The fact of the matter is Clint Frazier is more valuable to the team as a trade chip than he is as a player. If Clint could play center field then we are not having this conversation. And if Stanton or Judge were not any good in the field, and thus should be relegated to DH, then we're not having this conversation.

In fact, the only reason I can see holding onto Frazier is if the Yankees either can not get a good return in a trade, or they are convinced neither Judge nor Stanton can play left field. I don't believe that first part, but if that second part is true then hold onto Frazier to take over left regularly either this year after Gardner is traded or next year when Gardy's contract is up.