Around the Empire: Yankees news - 12/15/17

New York Post | George A. King III: The Winter Meetings have come and gone. The Yankees did okay. Slightly. Brian Cashman acquired Giancarlo Stanton for Starlin Castro and friends. Cashman then got the Padres to take Chase Headley and Chase Headley’s contract because they really really wanted Bryan Mitchell. He still wants to acquire pitching and Gerrit Cole is on his radar. Rumor has it that the Yankees are still in talks with the Pirates for this reason. The Bucs are looking at both Clint Frazier and Chance Adams. One would be replacing Cole while the other might be replacing Andrew McCutchen, whom the Pirates are looking to unload. Would you make this deal? Let us know in the comments.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Acquiring Gerrit Cole is just one item on Cashman’s “dominate baseball” agenda. The Yankees have also been in contact with the Diamondbacks about LHP Patrick Corbin and INF Brandon Drury. They’ve discussed Michael Fulmer with the Tigers. Cashman asked Pinstripe Alley about acquiring Kunj Shah for Justus Sheffield. One of those moves could determine whether or not they re-sign CC Sabathia. The good thing is that if none of that happens, Cashman says that they have backup plans from their farm. Miguel Andujar, Chance Adams, Tyler Wade, and so on. It’s really nice to have a stacked system from top to bottom.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Rule 5 Draft was yesterday morning and the Yankees’ minor league system was ripe for the plucking. Four of the Yankees’ players were selected in the Major League portion of the draft:

• Mike Ford was selected by the Seattle Mariners
• Anyelo Gomez was selected by the Atlanta Braves
• Nestor Cortez and Jose Mesa Jr. were selected by the Baltimore Orioles

In the Triple-A portion of the draft:

• Yancarlos Baez was selected by the Minnesota Twins
• Sharif Othman was selected by the Miami Marlins

The only player the Yankees selected was Junior Soto from Cleveland. Cashman announced earlier this week that the Yankees weren’t planning to be too involved with the draft.

New York Daily News | Mike Mazzeo: Giancarlo Stanton is a New York Yankee. I love typing that so much. I am a fan of that fact. Aaron Judge is a fan of fact. That means Aaron Judge and I are best friends. Judge says that he is looking forward to learning from the NL MVP. Here, just listen:

Such excite. Much tall.