The NY Yankees are leaving the winter meetings with a new second baseman in Starlin Castro after making a trade with the Cubs and he is in position to start over Rob Refsnyder and Dustin Ackley in 2016. General manager Brian Cashman said that the team is not done dealing and that the team is still looking to add pitching this offseason.
The Castro deal gives the Yankees a new option at second base, which was the weakest position on the field for the team last season. Cashman said that the team liked how Castro made the transition to second from shortstop and that they see him as a player with a lot of room to grow despite previously making three All-Star teams. The Cubs signed Ben Zobrist to play second base and that made Castro expendable.
Cashman said the team has been interested in Castro for a while and that the team tried to trade for him at the trading deadline this year. Castro is still a very young player despite playing for the Cubs for six years, as he will be 26 on Opening Day next season. Castro is an offensively strong player and he has not been injury prone, averaging 150 games played per season in his career. Castro had solid numbers last season, hitting .265 with 11 home runs and 69 RBIs for the Cubs. The Yankees gave up Brendan Ryan and Adam Warren in the deal.
Cashman spoke about the Yankees moves to ESPN and said that the team is planning on making more deals moving forward. Cashman said that the team is "intending to do more" and that could include trade deals with Brett Gardner and/or Andrew Miller. Both players have been connected to deals this offseason and Cashman reportedly is looking for starting pitching in trades over making big free agent deals with Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake or another player in free agency.
"It is still incomplete," Cashman said to Andrew Marchand at ESPN. "We are addressing areas of need, without a doubt. There are still steps in the process that I would like to take."
Cashman added Castro in a deal during the winter meetings and he also brought in starters Luis Cessa and Chad Green in a deal with the Tigers for Justin Wilson. Those players will add minor league depth for the team and also could step up if the team deals with injuries in the pitching rotation. The Yankees also lost outfielder Jake Cave and reliever Evan Rutckyj in the Rule 5 draft, but added Julian Aybar and Yefrey Ramirez along with Santiago Nessy.
