Yankees Trade Rumors: MLB insider believes NY could deal away Clarke Schmidt after record $218M Max Fried signing

The New York Yankees made their first significant offseason splash on Tuesday. The club landed one of the top pitching names on the open market by securing former Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal, the largest in the MLB for a left-handed pitcher.

After missing out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and the front office wasted little time landing another big fish. Now, the club finds itself with one of the best rotations in baseball with the combination of Fried, Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman and Clarke Schmidt.

That being said, it's clear that the club has a bit of a logjam at the position, which could lead to some pitchers being on the outside looking in. On Wednesday, MLB insider Mark Feinsand reported that Schmidt could be on the trade block as the team could leverage its pitching abundance into positions of need.

Schmidt was solid yet again this season for the Yankees, which should help increase his value on the trade market. In 85.1 innings, he posted a 5-5 record with a 2.85 ERA and 93 strikeouts. Given the desire for a starting pitcher on the open market, the Yankees should have plenty of suitors for Schmidt.

New York Yankees could use Clarke Schmidt to fill voids left by several free agents

It would make sense for New York to try and use their plethora of quality starting pitchers in a trade to fill voids left by free agents such as Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo. If Clarke Schmidt were to be dealt with, he should draw considerable interest from teams looking to bolster their rotations.

The club has been linked to a number of different players on the trade market, including Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker. It will be interesting to see what kind of deal they will be able to make. However, they could even package two of their pitchers mentioned above to make an even more impactful deal.

After missing out on re-signing Soto, the Yankees will need to make a significant addition to their lineup to ease the loss of the AL MVP finalist. Even after adding Max Fried, it's clear that the team's offseason is far from over.