Around the Empire: Yankees news - 12/13/22

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: This is a story-through-another-story kind of link, but it’s the best way to discuss Joel Sherman’s latest report for The New York Post. It’s relatively common knowledge at this point that the Yankees are still on the hunt for a third outfielder to join the cohort with Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader, as Aaron Hicks is out of favor, Giancarlo Stanton is almost exclusively a DH, and Oswaldo Cabrera still isn’t the most experienced guy in left.

Free agent Andrew Benintendi is certainly a candidate to return to New York as the third member of the starting outfield for 2023, but GM Brian Cashman has apparently engaged the Twins and Diamondbacks in trade talks for some of their outfielders. The most obvious candidates from those clubs include Minnesota’s Max Kepler, and Arizona’s Daulton Varsho and Alek Thomas, but there are plenty of names in the mix. Expect PSA writers to cover some of these names in the coming days, as they were already on our minds!

Twitter | The Michael Kay Show: It’s a sparse news day, so we’re getting a report from a tweet. YES Network announcer Michael Kay told his ESPN radio show listeners yesterday that the Yankees “are not in” on shortstop Carlos Correa. Considering that the Yankees had every chance to sign Correa just last offseason and chose to trade for Isiah Kiner-Falefa instead, it would’ve honestly been a surprise to suddenly see New York in the hunt this time around. They’ve seemingly put their chips down on Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza, so we’ll see what comes of it (though as Esteban has argued, Correa would be a great fit).

MLB.com: Let’s go rapid-fire through the most notable MLB moves from yesterday, which chiefly involved the ol’ battery.

• Braves get Sean Murphy from Athletics: One of the last members of the most recent good A’s teams is now out of town as well, as the 2021 Gold Glover will join former teammate Matt Olson in Atlanta. This was a fun three-team trade that involved nine different players, including...
• William Contreras: Atlanta and Oakland got an assist on this one from the Brewers, who swooped in to pick up the more offensively oriented Contreras, who was an All-Star in 2022. He now joins his brother, Willson (who just moved from Chicago to St. Louis), in the NL Central. Milwaukee also picked up right-handed pitchers Joel Payamps and Justin Yeager, while Oakland got a rock.*
  *Okay fine, top Braves prospect Kyle Muller isn’t a rock and it’s not nice to say about his fellow additions, but whatever. It sucks to be an A’s fan right now. That much is true.
• Blue Jays sign Chris Bassitt: Toronto has been quiet this offseason outside of dumping Teoscar Hernández, but they picked up a useful starter in Bassitt (another former Athletic). The veteran came to terms with the Jays on a three-year, $63 million deal, giving John Schneider a pretty good top three of Kevin Gausman, Alek Manoah, and Bassitt. Who knows? Maybe José Berríos will remember that he’s good, too.
• Twins sign Christian Vázquez: How about a fourth* catcher on the move? The Twins replaced free agent and old friend Gary Sánchez with the much more well-rounded Vázquez, who is fresh off winning his second World Series title after being dealt in midseason 2022 from Boston to Houston. He’ll share time with Ryan Jeffers during a three-year, $30 million contract.
  *Braves backup Manny Piña was the third, as he’s now in Oakland. Huzzah?

Lastly, there was a new article from Jon Heyman about the Yankees preparing an offer for Carlos Rodón, but considering that he reported the exact same thing just a couple days ago, I am treating this as non-news. But make of it what you will, I suppose. The dialogue continues.