(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees finally went to work.
As the MLB Winter Meetings got to an end, they finally agreed with the San Diego Padres on a trade that sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Bronx and catcher Kyle Higashioka and pitchers Drew Thorpe, Michael King, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vazquez to California.
That happened just a few hours after they traded three arms for Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo.
What was a weakness entering the offseason is now a strength considering they have former MVP Aaron Judge, and Jasson Dominguez could return in the summer months.
Now, onto other areas of the field.
Yankees insider Bryan Hoch explained in a recent tweet how the Yanks will now shift their focus to the pitching staff.
“The Yankees consider their outfield to be set with Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham. Brian Cashman said that he is open-minded but isn’t looking to add anything more there. Pitching is the focus now,” Hoch tweeted.
The Yankees consider their outfield to be set with Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham. Brian Cashman said that he is open-minded but isn’t looking to add anything more there. Pitching is the focus now.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) December 7, 2023
What Cashman probably means is that there will probably not be a pursuit for Cody Bellinger or even second-tier outfielders such as Kevin Kiermaier.
Even Jung-Hoo Lee is a longshot at this point.
With Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt as the only sure things in the rotation, it’s clearly an area in which the Yankees need to add.
Whether they go to the trade market again or, instead, focus on the pool of available free agents is secondary: they need to add multiple arms.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the Yankees’ primary target at this point, but Blake Snell, Marcus Stroman, Shota Imanaga, Michael Wacha, and many other stars remain on the market, too.
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