With Masahiro Tanaka, JA Happ and James Paxton all deciding to exercise their autonomy rights, New York Yankees officials must now find a way to replace 40% of the team’s mound departures in 2020.
The three men totaled 24 of the Yankees’ 60 starts last year, while maintaining a 4.05 earned-run average. This last statistic is still interesting considering that the average of the starters in the American was 4.52.
No matter how the Yankees come to back up their ace Gerrit Cole, they sure will do it at a discount, as the trio were making a cumulative salary of $ 52.5 million before the pandemic struck in the spring.
In the free agent market there is a certain Trevor Bauer. The latter says he made peace with Cole, but he alone could not compensate for the loss of three pitchers.
In the entourage of the team, it is said that Tanaka could resign with the Yankees and that the chances of seeing Luis Severino (Operation Tommy John) back in the 2021 season are realistic, but concrete actions are needed because the opposing hitters will be real when the new season gets underway.
Options internally and elsewhere
At 37, Charlie Morton becomes a prime target for the Yankees. For the Rays, the veteran started nine games in 2020 and went 2-2 with an earned-run average of 4.74. Over the past two seasons at Tampa Bay, he’s made a total of $ 30 million.
In either case, the New York organization will have to be very attractive because Morton says he likes Florida, while Tanaka’s family has returned to Japan due to COVID-19.
Otherwise, the changes will have to come from within. Will team president Hal Steinbrenner pass the sponge on Domingo German’s actions following his suspension for domestic violence?
Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt and Michael King are interesting options, not to mention Jordan Montgomery, who started 10 games in 2020.
One thing is certain, Gerrit Cole will have new colleagues at the heart of the rotation in 2021 and for now he must be feeling good on his own.
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