Five starter Yankees can target the trade market to increase turnover and stay below the luxury tax limit

For much of the off-season, the New York Yankees were quiet and continued their search for field player DJ LeMahieu. LeMahieu rehired the Yankees always seemed the most likely outcome, although it took longer than I think most people expected. Last week, the two sides met in the middle on a $ 90 million six-year contract.

The Yankees did not wait long to make their next move. A few hours later, they agreed to a $ 11 million one-year contract with Corey Kluber. Kluber played for scouts last week and received several $ 10 million offers, reports Andy Martino of SNY. Martino says the Yankees didn’t make the best offer, but Kluber wanted to play in New York, so a deal was struck.

Not long after the Yankees struck a deal with Kluber, unfounded rumors circulated that New York was chasing the right-handed Luis Castillo of the Reds, and Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar would head the commercial package. These rumors were quickly dispelled. The Reds’ president of baseball operations, Nick Krall, called them an invention.

“(The rumors) are completely false,” Krall told reporters over the weekend. “We intend to have (Castillo) as a member of our rotation for 2021.”

The word “intend” leaves little room for maneuver – I’m sure there was a point where Rays could say they “intended” to have Blake Snell in the rotation this season – although a Castillo switch is unlikely. The Yankees actually checked in, as did many other teams. Castillo is young, excellent, accessible and has been in control for a long time. Each team would love to have you.

The Yankees plan to stay below the $ 210 million luxury tax threshold next season and the Kluber and LeMahieu deals leave them with $ 6 million or more in quarter spending. It’s not much, and according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Yankees want to add more throwing depth and find a way to rehire Brett Gardner. Someone (Adam Ottavino?) May be leaving to clean up the money.

The New York rotation behind Gerrit Cole remains unstable, with Kluber (one entry in 2020) joining Domingo German (suspension for domestic violence in 2020), young Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt (both will have workload restrictions on 2021) and southpaw Jordan Montgomery. Luis Severino is expected to return from Tommy John’s surgery in the middle of the season. It is no surprise that they want more releases.

Now that Castillo’s rumor is down, here are five pitchers that the Yankees could chase in the trade market to increase their rotation before spring training. The jars are listed in alphabetical order.