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Yankees Trade Partners: Identifying Teams Most Likely to Shop Starting Pitchers

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees need a starting pitcher and the Edwin Encarnacion trade, if anything, proves the team is still well in the hunt for one. Though there are fewer major-league-ready prospects in the farm system than in the past few years, the talent is far from depleted. Players like Deivi Garcia and Estevan Florial have shown a lot of promise, but are fairly unproven as minor leaguers.

The other factor for Brian Cashman, as he tries to upgrade the Yankees’ rotation, will be finding a team that matches up well for a trade. With more than a month to go until the trade deadline, the market for starters is not fully formed. There may be teams that aren’t competing now, but will in a few weeks, and vice versa.

However, a few teams are known to be rebuilding and will look to get a return on players close to free agency. Let’s take a look at the teams who will be shopping their starters and those who may or may not, depending how the season plays out.

Definite sellers

Blue Jays: One of the top prizes on the trade market will be the Blue Jays' Marcus Stroman. Stroman is 28 and on track for possibly his best season yet. What’s more is he’s under contract for $7.4 million this year, has one more year of arbitration and, you’re bound to hear it constantly anyway, he’s from New York. All these factors will make him expensive in terms of prospects, and it’s moderately terrifying to imagine Clint Frazier (if he is indeed on the trading block) in the same lineup as Vladimir Guerrero Jr for years to come.

Giants: Madison Bumgarner wouldn’t be as costly, but the risk/reward isn’t quite as appealing as Stroman’s. In his column for the New York Post, Joel Sherman pointed out that Bumgarner doesn’t fit the bill when compared to starters Cashman has acquired in the past few years. However, Sherman opined that the big game pedigree and the fear of missing out on this year’s Verlander could be "swaying" if a deal can’t be reached for a more appealing player.

Tigers: Matthew Boyd is an interesting name to watch if the Tigers make him available and the asking price could creep up past Stroman’s if the Tigers feel like there is enough interest in him. In the midst of a breakout season, Boyd is among the best pitchers in the majors and only time can tell if he really is that good. He’s improved almost across the board every year since his debut in 2016, so there’s reason to believe he’s at least pretty good. Boyd has three more years of arbitration and is under contract for just $2.6 million this season, so if the Tigers choose to strike while the iron is hot, he’ll be among the top gets on the trade market.

Maybe-maybe-not sellers

Mets: If the Mets are sellers, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler are easily their best trade assets. Neither is at his best this season, but both have a huge upside. However, the Mets have quietly built an exciting, young offense, led by rookie sensation Pete Alonso. If they feel like they can compete for the NL East in the coming years, they will most likely want to hold onto their starters and see what they have.

Indians: Famously stingy when it comes to locking up their own, the Indians are widely believed to be shopping Trevor Bauer, despite their contention for the AL Wild Card. Bauer was one of the best pitchers in the AL last season and he has one more year of arbitration, so the asking price will likely be high.

While Florial and Garcia are exciting, if raw, prospects, it’s Frazier that rebuilding teams will probably want a trade built around. Frazier was in the midst of a breakout season at just 24 years old and figures to be blocked by Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks going forward.

It stinks to see Frazier miss out on an opportunity in the Bronx after fighting back from a concussion that cut his season short last year, especially given how well he has been playing in Stanton and Judge’s absence. It’s unclear if Cashman actually plans to trade Frazier, but what has endeared him to Yankees fans this season is exactly what has made him such an obvious trade piece.

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