The news that Luis Severino will miss the 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery was a devastating blow for the Yankees — one that already has many fans debating which pitchers can be acquired in exchange for prospects. General manager Brian Cashman, however, downplayed the possibility of adding an arm from outside the organization.
“You rely on your depth,” Cashman said in aftermath of the Severino announcement (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “I wouldn’t expect any domino effect or cause and effect in terms of us being able to go to marketplace. The winter marketplace this time of year, it doesn’t exist.”
To Cashman’s point, it’s difficult to imagine a club trading off a significant rotation piece at this juncture of the offseason. The GM did acknowledge that he’s always on the lookout for means to improve the club, regardless of circumstances, so it’s likely he’ll at least explore the trade market to some extent. But most teams have set their rosters at this point. And even rebuilding clubs with some assets to sell off might still hold out for a godfather offer that the Yankees simply won’t pay.
Perhaps the Yankees could look to a few of the yet-unsigned veterans on the market — Jason Vargas, Clay Buchholz and Clayton Richard are still free agents — but it’s not clear that any are clear upgrades over what the Yankees have in house. With Severino and James Paxton IL-bound to open the season, it’s likely that southpaw Jordan Montgomery will step into the fourth spot in the rotation behind Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ. In-house candidates for the fifth spot include Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga, Mike King and prospect Deivi Garcia. Non-roster right-handers Chad Bettis and Nick Tropeano may also see their odds of cracking the Opening Day roster in the wake of the Severino news.
As Spring Training progresses, it’ll be interesting to see if the Yankees inquire on any other veterans who signed non-roster deals with other clubs. Most veterans who agree to minor league pacts have spring opt-out dates baked into the deals. It’s possible that some familiar names could return to the market and become options for New York.
Yankees usually figure it out. Definitely not as scary on paper now though, get well soon to Sevy.
This is partial smoke in my opinion. They don’t want to tip their hand in negotiations for a starter but you can bet they’ll be aggressive even if they don’t go crazy. It may not be a tit for tat replacement but I see them getting a quality arm they are too good not to
Enough with the excuses, Cashman. Circle back to Robbie Ray or similar, get something done!
Do they have the pieces to get Ray? Assuming Garcia is off the table, I doubt it.
Yeah, I agree. They have the pieces for Ray and he’s a solid replacement. Good call on that
Ray won’t be available til mid season at the earliest, if at all.
Why would AZ trade Ray when they will be un the playoff hunt all year?
Because AZ would like to get more young talent and cut payroll. I don’t think anyone said they would definitely do it though, just that the Yankees should try. Maybe they wouldn’t consider it for that very reason, it’s a valid point.
Pirates have Archer on the table
Probably not even the best NY team anymore.. and if you guys believe you would have won 100+ games last year in the NL east your delusional.
Prayers for sevy
Lmao. Not the best team in NY
Maybe he’s talking about the Islanders.
No I was talking about the Knicks!
Just wait until Dolan buys the Mets, it’s going to be awesome.
Man, I can’t wait for Cashman to pick Matt Harvey off
the scrap heap and have him win 15 games!
Lol
Y’all think you’re better than you are..I don’t care about injuries it’s easy to win 100 games in that division last year.. Mets would have too… you guys would have been a Wild Card team behind the Braves if you played in the NL east.. at best!!
Just shut up, man. You’re a prime example of, better to stay silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.
SMH i am not even a yank fan and think most of you guys have not watched baseball in years. Yank team is solid and if they need another starter they have plenty of pieces to trade for 1. They still have several prospects that can easily bring back a good starter.
MetsFan
In case you lack all self-awareness (which seems likely), let me just say you are just about the most clueless, most obnoxious person on this site. Is that what you’re aiming for?
I remember your analysis of the NYM lineup where the NYM players all had imaginary OPS’s. Bwahahaha.
Mo, eh, Strike Four is grossly, nauseatingly obnoxious. You sure about your assessment?
Strike Four has his ups and downs. MetsFan is pretty consistent.
Mets22 – ya went off track a bit there by saying we think we are better than we are when we proved it the last three years, consistently, but then You went to the hypothetical for how well the Mets would have done if x,y, & z happened instead of reality? Ouch, probably not one of your better ones
Not the best? They’re so much better than the Mets that they may as well be considered the only team in New York.
Horrible comment
Lol
Yankees are much better than the Mets it’s not close. Don’t really feel much more has to be said on the subject.
LMAO you Mets fans that talk about how much tougher the NL East is than the AL East crack me up, as if the Phillies and the Mets are real contenders. Meanwhile the Braves and Nats both lost their best hitter and the Marlins are still floundering. The ALE may have the abysmal O’s but every other team is easily capable of winning as many games as the Mets.
He’s trolling. Nobody’s that delusional.
Ha
Did he get an elbow injection instead of surgery? I knew he was hurt last season but don’t follow the Yankees close enough to know the full skinny…if so I’d say that the guys that delay the surgery are only delaying the inevitable at this point and they might as well go under the knife ASAP if they want to at least somewhat recover in a timely fashion
Tanaka has had a partially torn UCL for years and he’s dealt with it without getting surgery. But IIRC Severino’s problem last year was his shoulder, and that ended up causing a problem with his lat.
Some seem to have a super elbow that goes forever with partial tear. Andrews said David price had 1 of those. some of course have multiple surgeries (eovaldi).
be thankful Tanaka can keep going with that tear. he’s racked up how man innings in both Japan and the US?
Tanaka also came over throwing 98 and because he doesnt want the surgery hes reduced to living at 91 and throwing a lot of offspeed stuff. If he got the surgery right away he’d be a legit ace
This is working out about as well as the last time they signed a right-hander to a 4-year, $40MM contract.
Of course, I don’t think Severino is going to crash his car because Alyssa Milano was… riding with him like that other guy did, but still.
Wouldn’t you crash your car too?
OMAHGAWD that’s Sterling Hitchcock’s music!
See, it would be way more ironic if they re-signed Pavano.
Jeff Samardzjia!!!
Giants are better off waiting a month or two…if the Shark shows ANYTHING, he’ll bring back some serious capital…..now? meh stuff…..
Everyone knows wide rcvrs are well past their prime at 35.
Samardzija. Lol. The human Dinger machine.
Guy led the AL in HRs allowed in ‘15 and the San Francisco Giants rewarded him with a 90 Million contract. If Cashman adds, it certainly won’t be this scrub
No way. He isn’t even a 500 pitcher. 80 wins vs 109 losses career wise.
Do you want Jake Arrieta??? Asking for a friend.
Not like Severino was a big part of last year’s 103 win campaign
They wanted to go further than last year. They’re still good but this is a big blow
The thing about last year is that overcoming that many injuries so successfully is something that it would be really difficult to duplicate. A lot of it came from good scouting and analytics, but a lot of it was luck, too. They already have to get over losing Severino, Paxton, Hicks, and German for big chunks of the season (or the whole season in Severino’s case) and it’s highly unlikely those are the only injuries they’ll have.
Betances was out too in the pen. CC was also a liability and I think Chad Green would’ve been a better #5. I don’t think losing Severino is as big as hit as many make it out too. They still have a lot of depth.
Take Carlos Martinez from the Cardinals. Please.
Wow, fans gave up on Martinez already?
It’s ok they will get the popcorn guy at Yankee stadium to pitch and he will win 20 games with a sub 3 era
Like every team, the Yanks are trying to develop the guys they have in camp but are closely watching everybody else. I’m sure is an opportunity to add a guy becomes available they’ll be interested.
Yep, it’s the smart play… operate under the assumption that the guys you have in camp are the best that are going to be available, and if you can get somebody better consider it good fortune.
Bartolo Colon…
I’d rather go young than ancient.
they probably have the options to be fine for now, but theyre already down 2 starters and will probably lose more at points during this year. i previously stood by the point of not trading Frazier just to do it, but this may be a trade worth making if they can get someone of value. (i.e. Stripling, Chase Anderson, etc)(i also recognize that those guys are probably worth less than Frazier, im just throwing options out there)
Yanks need to fire their trainer, this is silly
They did in off season!
Obviously spend more money
Cardinals have lots of pitching depth, send them a bat
Give us something for Reynaldo Lopez.
As a Mets fan, I understand this scenario all too well. Speedy and complete recovery, Mr. Severino!
Frazier +? for Matty Boyd. That’s gonna happen pretty early in the season methinks
There’s gonna be a ton of good outfielders to not make their opening day rosters without options. Yanks best to hang on to Frazier to up his value.
Boyd not good enough. They should of signed Wheeler and MadBum instead of one Cole.
Yankees staff is a c- at best
I assume you mean [pitching] staff, but c-? That’s a bit harsh, no?
The sensible solution would be to see what Pittsburg would want for Chris Archer.
He desperately needs a change of scenery, and Pittsburg isn’t going anywhere.
Ray isn’t going anywhere now that Arizona aims to compete.
Pass on Boyd.
Archer at Yankee Stadium? Lol
It’s not like he had his best years in the AL East or anything..
Those best years were several years ago though. His last 2 seasons with the rays were nothing special.
No way on Archer. He’s never going back to his 2014 performance. I don’t see them going outside with a bunch of guys at the cusp of breaking into the majors. They just need one to have a breakout year and they’re good to go
Yanks are going to be short in the rotation for up to 2 months, but at that point Paxton and perhaps German – who everyone’s forgotten but filled a big hole in the rotation last year. – come back. We’ll see how it plays out..
So it was okay to drag Roberto Osuna but German coming back is A-OK?
Boston maybe wishes they kept Betts m Price.
This is the same guy that’s going to get a shot to stick in the rotation with Paxton on the IL, right?
Boyd, Musgrove, Archer, and Gray all seem like good options.
No Archer, but I could see the other three being solid.
Joe Musgrove+ for Clint and Roansy?
That’d give the Pirates an OF of Frazier, Reynolds, Polanco along with Bell, Newman, Hayes, Tucker. That’s not awful.
I hoe they sign Buchholz and pitch him every other day.
Tyler Chatwood is available
Lefty Danny Duffy would kill it in Yankee Stadium. just sayin
Injury might be a good reason to overpay on Matt Boyd. Sure hate to see these good pitchers end up with injuries. I hope he is back ASP, sad ending to his 2020 season outlook.
Might be a good Idea to grab Stripling and Joc from the Dodgers for a prospect.
Internal options are trash. Old man Happ is the third starter! Bullpen will be gassed and useless again down the stretch. Tired pen, susceptible lineup to playoff caliber pitching, injuries, defense, weak rotation. Yanks are built for the AL regular season only. They’ll be flicked away like an annoying mosquito in October.