As December comes to an end, we've reached the halfway point in the offseason. Although things got off to a fairly quiet start, the Yankees have signed a couple players and made a handful of trades. How do things stand now and what else does the team need to do?
More than anything, it sure wouldn't hurt to add another starting pitcher. Max Scherzer and James Shields are both still on the market, though the Yankees have said countless times that they are not going to pursue any of the expensive options. Now that Hiroki Kuroda has decided to return to Japan and pitch for the Hiroshima Carp, the starting rotation is: CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Masahiro Tanaka, Chris Capuano and Nathan Eovaldi. CC's knee may feel great, and Tanaka's elbow might be fine, but you can never have enough pitchers, right? Ivan Nova will return in May or June and take one of those spots, but the rotation would be much stronger with another reliable pitcher in the mix.
As Jason pointed out, Brendan Ryan is an absolute waste of a roster spot now that Derek Jeter is gone, so it would make sense to cut him. What they need now is someone like Martin Prado who can play all over the field and hit for power. They acquired Garrett Jones who can play first base and outfield, but they lost someone who can shift over to the left side of the infield. Prior to that trade, it seemed like Prado was primed to be the starting second baseman, but now Brian Cashman plans to have Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela compete for the job during spring training. Even though this is the current plan, the Yankees always jump at the gun to sign an aging veteran, so it will be surprising if they really don't sign someone else to back up second base and shortstop. Also on the subject of dead weight, the Yankees are carrying four catchers on the 40-man roster. This number is down one since they traded Francisco Cervelli, but it might be one too many.
There also appears to be an empty spot in the bullpen that will need to be filled, though likely through internal options since Jason Grilli is off the market. Assuming that they go with a seven-man bullpen, then Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley, Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, Esmil Rogers and Justin Wilson seem to have six spots locked up. Maybe they'll have a spring training competition between Jacob Lindgren and some of the other prospects for seventh spot. Then there's the open coaching positions that need to be filled. The Yankees still need to hire a hitting coach and a first base coach, which they've said they'll resume looking for after the holidays come to an end, though they've been looking for well over two months now.
Do you think the Yankees have done enough at this point in the offseason? What else do they need to do?