5 targets for the New York Yankees this winter

It's November and the MLB trade window is open. Yankees, as usual, are looking for free agents and trades that can make the team compete with the Red Sox for the championship in 2019. The Yankees management did an excellent job to keep the 2018 payroll below the luxury tax limit and are now free to the spend that money in the Winter.

Yankees will be looking to improve their rotation and add more firepower to the already mighty batting lineup. Here I analyse 5 players that the Yankees have to target this off-season.

For simplicity sake, I'll write briefly about the two biggest names in free agency ie., Manny Machado and Bryce Harper and not dive into the details.

Manny Machado is arguably the most notable name in the free agency. The short stop played for the Baltimore Orioles before being traded to the Dodgers in the second half of last season. With Didi Gregorius set to miss the majority of the next season due to a Tommy John surgery, expect the Yankees to make a serious attempt to land Manny Machado.

The team from the Bronx clearly showed interest in Manny last July when he was being traded. Somehow he ended up with the Dodgers. It's not very often a 26-year-old, four-time golden glove winner is a free agent. Yankees even have enough cap space to sign Machado for the next season. His contract is expected to be around 10 years and 350 million.

Bryce Harper is the other big name in free agency. The 2018 homerun derby winner and former first overall pick is expected to go for top-buck. His agent Scott Boras has requested a contract of 10 years and bidding is set to start at around 310 million dollars. Even though Bryce Harper is a strong presence offensively, his defence is definitely a concern.

The current outfield in NY looks crowded, but don't count them out yet. Yankees currently have only two lefty hitters ie., Brett Gardner and Greg Bird with the latter most likely to lose his place to Luke Voit. Bryce Harper is a southpaw and that will just be one of the reasons why the Yankees might make a move for Harper.

#1 J.A Happ

Re-signing Happ should be a top priority for the Yankees. The lefty who was traded from Toronto to New York last season has had a fantastic regular season donning the pinstripes. With a record of 7-0 starting for the Yankees and an impressive ERA of 2.69, there's no doubt that Happ is a fine fit in the Bronx.

With Severino and Tanaka confirmed to return in 2019, JA Happ is an ideal 3rd or 4th pitcher depending on who the team signs in free agency. Also, Happer has already played in the Bronx and finding a player who doesn't need time to adjust to the new team is a matter of millions in the player market and hence this should be a no-brainer.

The only problem is his age. The former Blue Jay is 36 years old and it's quite a possibility that his performance can't remain the same and starts to worsen. That being said, a two-year contract with a good financial commitment should be good enough to bring back Happ to the Bronx.

Patrick Corbin

With CC Sabathia very unlikely to be given an extension, the Yankees will be looking to add a quality player to the starting rotation alongside Severino and Tanaka. Patrick Corbin being a free agent can be the player who can fulfil all the requirements that the Yankees are looking for in an SP.

Corbin, who is coming off a career year with the Diamondbacks is an NY native and would be looking forward to moving back to NY to play for the team he always dreamt of. Corbin did a magnificent job to increase his value over the past year.

The southpaw threw 200 innings for the D-Backs with an ERA of 3.15 and averaged 11 K's per nine innings. Those are some very impressive figures and matches what the Yankees are looking for. There have been concerns about his Tommy John surgery back in 2014 and when his throw velocity fell last season. But in the second half of the season, he got his fastball velocity back up to around 92 mph and upped his slider usage percentage effectively.

All this being said, Yankees should go after Corbin among others in the free agency.

J.T Realmuto

As many have suggested, Yankees can make a one-on-one trade to swap Gary Sanchez for J.T Realmuto. This move is more complicated than it looks and is sure to stir some controversies with the management and the fan bases of both teams.

At first sight, why would Marlins give away an all-star for a player with a huge upside and huge risk? The Marlins are going through a rebuild and retaining Realmuto through the rebuild is not advisable. Sanchez, on the other hand, is two years younger than J.T and has played fewer games.

A move away from the Bronx can prove to be decisive for Gary as he won't be subject to the same amount of fan pressure and expectations in Miami. Miami's vice-president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo is said to have been a fan of the 'Kraken' since the former's days in NY.

Yankees will receive Realmuto, a player who leads catchers in WAR (12.3) and will help reduce the Yanks' reliance on the long ball offensively. This can be proven by the fact that Sanchez has had more home runs compared to J.T playing lesser games but Realmuto (21 HRs) almost has the same number of runs in 2018 as Sanchez (18 HRs) and Romine (10 HRs) combined.

In this deal, Yankees give away a young player with enormous upsides for a player with experience and one who can provide the team with certainty and helps their cause of contending for the title next year.

Madison Bumgarner

The Yankees are one ace away from winning the championship and that ace could easily be Madison Bumgarner. With the Giants on the verge of a rebuild, it might be the right time for them to deal Bumgarner who has one year and 12 million left on his contract.

Yankees will have to make a lucrative offer to the Giants including top prospects like Justus Sheffield, Estevan Florial and maybe even rookie sensation Miguel Andujar. Going into the postseason, the Yankees' only bug was their starting rotation and it proved to be too huge a bug in the series against Boston.

The only starting pitcher to pitch more than 5 innings was Tanaka while none of the others went past 3. That's really bad for a team with a bullpen that one can boast of and an offense that set a league record of most homeruns in a single season (267).

Bumgarner has historically dominated the regular season (career 3.03 ERA). Come October, there are not really many pitchers out there who can brag of a postseason report card like MadBum. He's played 16 postseason games, pitching 102.1 innings with an outstanding ERA of 2.11 and a WHIP of 0.90. After all, he's a Worldseries MVP (2014). It shouldn't be very surprising if a vastly successful franchise like Yankees make a move for Bumgarner even if it's a one-year rental.

Giants also seem to be interested in Sonny Gray. Should the Yankees center a deal around Sonny Gray, this should be a blockbuster trade.

David Robertson

Robertson is another veteran who will give the Yankees' front office a hard time this winter. Robertson has been highly efficient with his production. David pitched 69.2 innings in 2018, playing 69 games and posting an ERA of 3.23 and a WHIP of 1.03. These stats are too good to let him walk away.

The issue with signing Robertson back will be the amount of competition involved. Many teams will see Robertson as a closer and obviously offer him more money. Robertson is certainly better than many pitchers on various teams designated to pitch the ninth inning and this might result in those teams paying him that extra value of a closer.

The question still remains if David Robertson would move away from the Bronx for better money like earlier in his career. The recent firing of his agent is somewhat of a clue that he doesn't intend to go anywhere else.

Edited by Arvind Sriram