The New York Yankees are trying to shore up outfield as the Winter Meetings draw near

admin | November 27, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Next week, the winter meetings begin in Nashville, where a sizable portion of the transactions are anticipated to close.

For teams, the week prior is like the calm before the storm as they hold preliminary talks to set the stage for potential trades and signings that could be made public at the historic event that is coming back to Nashville for the first time since 2015.

The Yankees had been gone for two years from the expenditure that brought in free agents Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brian McCann from Japan, along with Masahiro Tanaka. During those meetings in 2015, the Yankees acquired Luis Cessa from the Tigers, Starlin Castro from the Cubs, and an unidentified Chad Green.

The fan base that saw an 82-win season that was more boring to watch than 2021 but took less time to finish because of the pitch clock is expecting—or at least hoping for—bigger moves this year.

In addition to the obvious of chasing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whose contract is probably worth more than Tanaka’s $155 million, there’s the potential addition of a moderately skilled outfielder to play left field as well as center field.

Given his surge from the previous season, when he inked a one-year “prove it” contract with the Cubs, Cody Bellinger appears to be the front-runner. He ultimately achieved a career-high.307 to go along with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs; those numbers were his highest since he had hit 47 home runs and 115 RBIs with the Dodgers in 2019.

Even though those numbers point to a clear fit for the Yankees, the front office’s opinion of some of his advanced numbers may prevent a mutually beneficial relationship.

Setting aside the notion that his advanced stats are insufficient, the Yankees might not be comfortable with another figure: his prospective salary. After demonstrating his worth using conventional metrics, Bellinger, who was paid $17 million in the previous season, could see an increase in pay to roughly $25 million.

There are currently four players on the Yankee roster with an average annual value of about 25 million. In the second year of his six-year contract, Aaron Judge will make $40 million; Gerrit Cole, who has the option to opt out and renegotiate, will make $36 million; Carlos Rodon, coming off of his worst and most frustrating season, will make approximately $28 million; and Giancarlo Stanton, who will make nearly $25 million, will receive nearly $25 million.

The Yankees would probably lose some of their best prospects if the Padres decide to deal Soto because San Diego would want to get back some of the prospects they sent to Washington in July 2022. The fact that Soto is approaching free agency and teams might not want to give up their best player for a player who might not sign a new contract with them is what might be working against the Padres.

In addition to Bellinger and Soto, left-handed defender Kevin Kiermaier is seen as a good fit because of his extensive AL East experience with both Toronto and Tampa Bay.

Charlie Blackmon is another name that has been brought up; SNY recently mentioned him. While Kiermaier recovered from hitting, Blackmon, who is 37 years old and also left-handed, is four years older.228 for the batting order.Throughout his 11-year career, 265 is his second-best average.

Despite having a fractured left hand, Blackmon managed to bat a solid.279 and finish with 40 RBIs in 96 games. Blackmon made $18 million in compensation last year, but given his advanced age and history of injuries, it appears that amount may decrease.

Though there’s always a chance for a surprise name, it appears that the Yankees are using this week to set the stage for the winter meetings by selecting an outfield combination that works best for them and steers clear of some of the outfield production issues from the previous campaign, particularly in left field.