Restored Hope in the New York Yankees future

Of course the fun kicked off by the trade of Alroids Chapman to the Cubs. I will let others moralize over Chapman(though if you look for an athlete to be a model citizen than you take sports way too seriously). But on a pure baseball move the Yankees couldn't have done better. You see, not to be too self indulgent, but I had called the Chapman move two weeks ago. Not necessarily to the Cubs, but to a team with a top 10 farm system. The Yankees did just that when they traded Champman. In exchange for Chapman the Yankees received shortstop Gleyber Torres, outfielder Billy McKinney, and outfielder Rashad Crawford. Crawford and McKinney are throw always in the deal, though McKinney could potentially be a 4th or 5th outfielder if he develops power. The prize in the deal was Torres. Torres was a prized possession within the Cubs farm system. According to fangraphs he is listed already as the Yankees best prospect in some circles. In terms of skill set he needs to improve his ability to hit for contact as fangraphs list that ability as 20/50 meaning below average. But his power is rated as a 45/50, his speed rates as a 50/50, fielding is at 50/55. Oh and he is only 19. With the prospect of Mateo(who will probably switch to second base) and Torres on the same infield in 2018/19 that will be one of the best infields the Yankees have ever had.

The next big move that was made was trading Andrew Miller(another move that I had called for. Insert pat on back gif). In return for shipping Miller to the Indians, the Yankees got top 10 Indians Prospect outfielder Clint Frazier, pitcher Justus Sheffield and two relief prospects in Brad Heller and JP Feyeresian. Heller looks to be the most pro ready and will probably be called up at some point this season. Sheffield has the potential to be a Ivan Nova type of starter in the future. In High A ball last year, Sheffield struck out 9 per 9 innings which is impressive for the young lefty.  He might be the steal of any of the Yankees trades this deadline.  But the biggest prize is Clint Frazier. Frazier is the Bryce Harper type of player that the Yankees have long coveted. Last season he had 16 homeruns and between double and triple A this season he has 13 homeruns. Oh and has 28 stolen bases the last 2 seasons. Yes, his strikeout rate is a concern, but as someone like Kris Bryant has shown, high strikeout rate in the minors does not necessarily translate to high strikeout rates in the pros. Frazier also has one of the fastest recorded swings for a minor league player. His bat speed and the co pact nature of said swing is arguably his biggest strength, which will only fast track his move to the pros. If Frazier impresses in the minor leagues, expect a Judge/Gamel/Frazier outfield. That is something that was a pipe dream a few months ago. 

The Yankees would then trade Carlos Beltran to the Rangers for essentially former 4th overall pick pitcher Dillon Tate. While Tate has struggled in low A(record at .500 ERA above 5), the breakout potential is still there. Tate has shown flashes of being the player he was at UC Santa Barbara. Worst case scenario, the Yankees can move Tate to the bullpen, where some feel that he will be most comfortable. So Cashman may have just found another potential hard throwing reliever. 

The Yankees needed to completely overhaul a team that was a mess. The team was not going to make the playoffs and was relying more on old players than a young core of players. Sure the Yankees brass had talked about the future, yet their actions had shown that they were playing for now rather than the future. Well now after the deadline that has changed. For the first time in several years the New York Yankees were sellers and the fans loved it. You see the fans knew that the Yankees needed to restock the core. Build for the future. To the Yankees credit they have done just that. Many have called Cashman's trades a fleecing of other team's farm systems. It is nice to see the Yankees being the ones fleecing farm systems instead of the other way around.