The NY Yankees are dealing with some injuries in the pitching rotation and now a trade could be an option to get over losing CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova and names like Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel, David Price, Max Scherzer, AJ Burnett, Cliff Lee and Bronson Arroyo could be in the mix if the Yanks are willing to part with Gary Sanchez, Dellin Betances or Jose Ramirez and New York GM Brian Cashman now has some major decisions to make.
The Yankees spent half a billion dollars this offseason on names like Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann to ensure that the team doesn't miss the playoffs for a second straight season and now with Sabathia injured, all that is up in the air. The team signed Masahiro Tanaka in the offseason to a massive deal and now that looks genius, as he has been by far the best pitcher for the team and is 6-1 with a sub 3.00 ERA and now he is the ace with Sabathia, Nova and Michael Pineda all on the DL. The Yankees have been skating along with Chase Whitley, David Phelps and Vidal Nuno, but that likely won't last through the season.
The team will get Pineda back soon, but Nova is done for the year with Tommy John surgery and now Sabathia will be out until the summer at least and that is a long couple months for the Yankees. According to ESPN.com, Brian Cashman said that Sabathia will be out until July at the earliest and Joe Girardi made comments that could scare fans, as he wondered if Sabathia would even return this season, but that is just speculation. Sabathia had his knee locked at by Dr. James Andrews and they found some cartilage breakdown issues and now he is healing up.
The team is hoping that the latest stint on the DL will take care of Sabathia fully and this extends back to last season when he wasn't quite his usual self and also had a DL stint. Sabathia was 3-4 on the season with a 5.28 ERA and his fastball was not looking as sharp as in the past and this is a big injury, as the Yankees still have three years left on the deal and way over $50 million and they need Sabathia to return to form when he comes back. The team may not want to give up players like Sanchez, Ramirez or Betances, but they may not have another choice if they want to contend this season.
The AL East is not having any team run away with it yet, so the Yankees are right there for now, but if they don't get Sabathia back healthy and some of the other young pitchers falter, it could be a long season in the Bronx. Phelps has pitched well and he now is 1-0 with a 3.33 ERA and a save this season and he has been the most consistent starter of the young trio so far. Cliff Lee was an option before he hit the DL and while the Yankees may not make a move until the deadline, they have some major decisions to look at regarding trades. The Yankees want to make the playoffs in the final year for Derek Jeter and Hal Steinbrenner could be willing to spend to do it.