Last season, when the Yankees got their butts kicked by the Red Sox in the playoffs, it was pretty apparent that their starting pitching was a huge weakness. So much of a weakness in fact that it was the number one issue they addressed during the offseason. They traded for James Paxton and re-signed both J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia, who were going to join with Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka to make for a much stronger rotation that should at least be good enough to get to that outstanding bullpen without overtaxing it.
The 2019 season is only two weeks old, but that hasn't been the case so far. Injuries are the biggest reason for the Yankees' early struggles. They have more players on the DL than any other team in the Majors, with big pieces in the lineup (Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar) and bullpen (Dellin Betances) missing. But the most glaring impact of the injuries has been in the one area they tried to desperately to address during the winter--the starting rotation.
Severino and Sabathia both started the season on the DL, and neither one has thrown a pitch all season. CC will be back this weekend, but Severino, who started with a shoulder injury and is now shut down for six weeks with a lat strain suffered during his rehab. That puts the Yankees' ace on the shelf until mid-June at the earliest. And suddenly this improved rotation doesn't look nearly as formidable.
There's an easy way to address this problem. And it's the same solution that's been available to them for months now--Dallas Keuchel, the former Cy Young winner who's incredibly still unemployed and would be a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium (where he threw a three-hit shutout in the 2015 Wild Card Game).
During the offseason, the Yankees didn't really show much interest in Keuchel. Their main goal was Patrick Corbin. Then, after he decided to sign with Washington, they turned their attention to the Paxton trade and re-signing Happ. Even during Spring Training, when knew Severino and Sabathia would miss the start of the season, they signed Gio Gonzalez for rotation depth instead of making a run at Keuchel.
I get the initial thought process. They didn't want to spend big on a free agent who would only be a temporary stopgap, especially when they consider both Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga capable of doing the job. German was a deer-in-the headlights for much of last season, but has been good so far this year. And Severino's spot in the rotation appears to be his for the time being. But should it?
Keuchel's price tag is probably the biggest reason why he's still an unsigned free agent two weeks into the season. He turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from Houston, which means he's presumably either looking for more than that for one year or a multi-year deal. If the Astros weren't willing to go more than two years, I can see why other teams would be hesitant to do that. And $18 million (plus the luxury tax hit) does seem like a lot for five months of a No. 3 starter.
But, it might be worth reaching out to see if Keuchel has backed off that salary demand at all. Because he has to know he's not getting $18 million. If someone was willing to give him that, he'd be pitching for them already. Which leaves him with two options--take whatever money a some team is willing to give you or don't pitch at all and continue to receive no salary. Especially since it's pretty clear that more teams think his value is closer to $0 than $18 million.
Let's assume for a second that Keuchel brings his salary demand down to a reasonable level. Say $10 million (which would be $2 million a month). Is $10 million worth it for a veteran arm in the middle of the rotation, even if it brings you over the luxury tax? Absolutely!
Why wait until the trade deadline to get a veteran starter when you can get one now? You know that it'll likely still be a priority in July. By addressing it now and signing Keuchel, they can strike first while also preventing another team from getting him. And all it'll cost is a few million dollars. Getting a starter in a trade, meanwhile, will likely cost them prospects. They'd be willing to do that. But why would you if you don't need to?
Despite what the Tampa Bay Rays might want you to believe, you can never have enough starting pitching. It's the most valuable asset in the game. The Yankees currently don't have enough starting pitching. Signing Dallas Keuchel would go a long way towards remedying that problem.
Can they survive until Severino gets back with the rotation they currently have? Probably. Are they still favored to make the playoffs? Yes. But, for as talented as the offense and bullpen are, the starting rotation has once again proven to be this team's weakness. I'm not saying Dallas Keuchel is THE answer. He might be, though. And if it costs $10 million to find that out, so be it.
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