The New York Yankees roster has been decimated by injuries this spring with Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu sidelined first, followed by Gerrit Cole. With the ace of the Yankees rotation sidelined for the remainder of the year by Tommy John surgery, the club has explored a blockbuster trade to fill the void.
New York is a bit hamstrung right now by its farm system, which is generally viewed as one of the worst in baseball once outfielder Jasson Dominguez graduates from prospect status this season. While there are some internal options to fill the void left by Stanton’s injury to the Yankees lineup, it’s a different story with the starting rotation.
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New York already needed to move Marcus Stroman back into the five-man rotation following the Luis Gil injury. Cole’s elbow surgery then made Will Warren the early favorite to be the No. 5 starter. However, Opening Day starter Carlos Rodón is a major durability risk and New York only has two playoff-caliber starters currently.
As a result, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Yankees have spoken with the San Diego Padres about a trade for starting pitcher Dylan Cease. The two-time All-Star selection first popped up in MLB rumors this winter when San Diego explored ways to shed payroll, but president of baseball operations A.J. Preller stated before spring training that the club wants to keep its ace.
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While that could just be public gesturing by the Padres front office, some around the league believe it’s legitimate. One MLB executive told Heyman that he thinks Cease “isn’t going anywhere”, though, another anonymous executive said he thinks there’s a 50-50 chance at a trade.
- Dylan Cease stats (ESPN): 3.47 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 224 strikeouts, .200 batting average allowed, .601 OPS allowed in 189.1 innings pitched
However, even starting a conversation with San Diego would likely have to start with infielder George Lombard Jr., who is rated second by MLB.com among the Yankees top prospects. New York has been very reluctant to move its top prospects before in deals and that’s even likelier to be the case with Cease on a one-year deal.
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It puts the Yankees in a difficult position ahead of Opening Day. While some projections still have the club sneaking into the MLB playoffs, analysts don’t believe New York has the playoff rotation to make a deep run. With an aging roster in a closing contention window, the Yankees front office will have to make a decision by the summer about whether or not it wants to sacrifice its future to remain a contender in 2025.