The New York Yankees sorely need to add starting pitchers to their major league roster. They are without two of their best arms, Luis Gil and Gerrit Cole, and may struggle with their current pitching rotation. The biggest name supposedly on the market is former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins, but bringing him would need a significant prospect haul.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield recently made the bold prediction that the Yankees would deal former top prospect and big league pitcher Will Warren if the Marlins signed Alcántara.
“No, Gerrit Cole. Luis Gil is slowly recovering from a lat strain. Carlos Carrasco and Marcus Stroman aren’t exactly getting the job done,” Schoenfield wrote.
“The Yankees did just get Clarke Schmidt back, but they could certainly use a rotation upgrade. ” It’s hard to envision them dealing top prospect George Lombard Jr., but Spencer Jones’ worth has plummeted, so let’s include a couple of pitchers here. Warren has got some major league time and would give the Marlins an MLB-ready starter.” Trading Warren for Alcántara does not make sense to me. When people talk about the Yankees’ starting rotation, Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco are the two weakest links, not Warren.
Trading Warren and some other elite prospects for Alcántara might work, but what happens next? This would leave Carrasco and Stroman in the rotation.Alcántara is an improvement over Warren, but there are still significant gaps in the rotation. The issue for New York is depth, not top-tier skill. Trading for Alcántara would be fantastic, but it wouldn’t make much sense to move Warren to get him.
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