Yankees trade for James Paxton

[notin]

No, he hasn’t been. He’s had all sorts of ailments. The hope is he can stay healthy. He’s a dominant left handed arm when he’s out there

 

 

There seems to be a trend among Canadian pitchers that they have a significant history of arm troubles. I’ve read one important factor might be the shortened baseball season they experience growing up...

[Bellhorn04]

Didn't ask you what was better, I asked if it made you a powerhouse........

 

As of now, the Red Sox are obviously a powerhouse.

[notin]

Does winning a couple of WS while also coming in last place 3 times over that same time period make one a "powerhouse"?

 

Absolutely. Everyone remembers the champions. Last place is only remembered by people looking to gloat...

[notin]

My concerns on Paxton:

 

Fly ball rate last year jumped from 32.7% to 41.1%, more than doubling his HR rate.

 

In an interview on Tuesday, Paxton attributed this to being "distracted". That (IMO) doesn't bode well for someone coming from the obscurity of seattle to the bright lights of Broadway.

 

Last season he had a home ERA of 3.35 with a WHIP of .988 in 14 starts while having a 4.24 ERA and a 1.224 WHIP in the same amount of starts away from the pitcher friendly confines of safeco.

 

I obviously hope I am wrong, but with his inability to stay healthy combined with the above numbers, I would have gone in another direction.

 

Kluber would have been a better move, but maybe the Guardians didn’t want Sheffield. Or they wanted a ton more on top of him.

 

I have to think Cashman asked about Kluber before going out to get Paxton...

[Carpin]

Kluber would have been a better move, but maybe the Guardians didn’t want Sheffield. Or they wanted a ton more on top of him.

 

I have to think Cashman asked about Kluber before going out to get Paxton...

 

I don't think we get Kluber without including Andujar in the deal.

[notin]

At least we've been able to stay out of the basement!!

 

Remember the late 1990’s when Yankees’ fans bragged any season that didn’t end with a trophy was a wastefd season.

 

And now we have this. How much farther can the trash talk fall?

[notin]

I don't think we get Kluber without including Andujar in the deal.

 

That might have been the case. Probably why you moved on to Paxton.

 

Although 3 years of Kluber at his current AAV might have been worth Andujar...

[BillyWilliams]

Kluber would have been a better move, but maybe the Guardians didn’t want Sheffield. Or they wanted a ton more on top of him.

 

I have to think Cashman asked about Kluber before going out to get Paxton...

 

I agree

[BillyWilliams]

I don't think we get Kluber without including Andujar in the deal.

 

Cleveland doesn't need a 3rd baseman

[BillyWilliams]

Absolutely. Everyone remembers the champions. Last place is only remembered by people looking to gloat...

 

It's not about remembering, powerhouses typically don't come in last place last I checked.

[Bellhorn04]

It's not about remembering, powerhouses typically don't come in last place last I checked.

 

They weren't a powerhouse in the seasons they finished last, obviously.

[notin]

Cleveland doesn't need a 3rd baseman

 

Then why did they trade for Josh Donaldson last year?

[BillyWilliams]

Then why did they trade for Josh Donaldson last year?

 

Because they slid ramirez over to cover 2nd.

[notin]

Because they slid ramirez over to cover 2nd.

 

Which they could do again if the acquired Andujar.

 

Or they could flip Andujar, whose appeal would not be limited to high-spending teams, for a player or players that fit other specific needs. You know, if only they could get around those tortuous MLB rules about trading newly acquired players. ( Oh wait. Those don’t exist.)

 

Any trade of Kluber will involve getting back the best players possible regardless of position. But if they wanted Andujar - and they probably did. - they would probably just do exactly what they did before when they acquired Donaldson..

[bkzwhitestrican]

There seems to be a trend among Canadian pitchers that they have a significant history of arm troubles. I’ve read one important factor might be the shortened baseball season they experience growing up...

 

Must be the maple syrup diet. It has virtually no protein.

[notin]

Must be the maple syrup diet. It has virtually no protein.

 

 

That would also explain why UVM alum and Vermont native Kirk McCaskill had arm troubles throughout his career...

[Carpin]

Cleveland doesn't need a 3rd baseman

 

Maybe they don't see him as a 3B guy

[BillyWilliams]

Which they could do again if the acquired Andujar.

 

Or they could flip Andujar, whose appeal would not be limited to high-spending teams, for a player or players that fit other specific needs. You know, if only they could get around those tortuous MLB rules about trading newly acquired players. ( Oh wait. Those don’t exist.)

 

Any trade of Kluber will involve getting back the best players possible regardless of position. But if they wanted Andujar - and they probably did. - they would probably just do exactly what they did before when they acquired Donaldson..

 

certainly possible.

[jacksonianmarch]

So the winter meetings start in a week. To this point, no major FA dominos have fallen for the most part except for Kershaw re-signing and Donaldson betting on himself in Atlanta. Corbin has done his national tour. Machado’s chatter has been non existent as has Harper’s. I anticipate deals will be made soon. That being said, with the unprecedented amount of trades being made and more players seemingly available by the minute, the winter meetings are likely to stir the trade market even further.

 

Taking the above point into consideration, I’d be very surprised if the Yanks move Andujar. I know he’s an easy name to throw out there with Machado available, but it’s not gonna happen. Here’s why. Machado is likely to sign later this month or even drag into January. Deals for pitching will occur likely around the meetings. There’s no way the Yanks would deal the ROY runner up and leave open the chance that we fill in 3b with garbage should Machado spurn us and go somewhere else. Also, with Didi set to miss maybe the first half of 2019, moving Andujar without first acquiring a suitable replacement would be asinine. I’d anticipate we may be in the market for Machado at SS with Andujar keeping 3b. When Didi returns, we’d have an embarrassment of riches in the IF and make it far more suitable to move Andujar next offseason. The other thing one must consider is our 1b spot. If Voit doesn’t show he can hang beyond a raucous debut in 2018 and Greg Bird ends up flopping again, we could see Andujar take 1b where he’d be a plus defensively. Right now Andujar is a solution to some unsettled positional needs and not a guy who’s entirely expendable.

 

My guess is we sign Corbin and make the Andujar for pitching argument moot. The rotation would look like

 

1. Severino

2. Corbin

3. Tanaka

4. Paxton

5. CC

 

If we sign Machado following this, our lineup would look like this by the ASB

 

1. Torres 2B

2. Judge RF

3. Machado 3B

4. Gregorius SS

5. Stanton LF

6. Andujar DH

7. Hicks CF

8. Sanchez C

9. Voit 1B

 

That’s a dominant team right there with depth behind it. Shifting focus to the pen, there’s a rumor we are in on Ottavino. His 2018 numbers were stupid, but I’d be fine with a KRob reunion. Either way, 2019 might be a banner year if we follow this path

[bkzwhitestrican]

Or the Yankees say "f*** the luxury tax limit" and sign Corbin, Kikuchi, Machado, Harper, and Robertson.