Creating a Yankees' trade package: Cole Hamels

Last year Cashman acquired Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia, David Robertson, Tommy Khanle, and Todd Frazier before the July 31st deadline, which helped drive the Bombers to game seven of the ALCS, but they gave up some of their better prospect in the process. The team has its sights set on a championship, so GM Brian Cashman will undoubtedly upgrade the starting pitching at the deadline, but who and for what?

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The Yankees currently hold the best winning percentage in the league at .683 with an offense that is on pace to shatter the Mariners single-season home run record. While the team seems almost unbeatable, there are some big chinks in the armor, specifically in the rotation. The Yankees lost Jordan Montgomery to Tommy John surgery last week, and Masahiro Tanaka is out two months with two damaged hamstrings. Luis Severino is a strong candidate for the CY Young award, and CC Sabathia is still fighting off father time, but Sonny Gray is still unreliable. 

The tricky part on predicting who will be available for the Yankees come July is predicting which teams will throw in the towel. The shortlist of possible available pitchers are as follows:

Player	Hand	Team	Record as of 6/14/18
Madison Bumgarner	L	San Francisco Giants	34-35
Cole Hamels	L	Texas Rangers	27-43
Chris Archer	R	Tampa Bay Rays	32-36
Blake Snell	L	Tampa Bay Rays	32-36
Francisco Liriano	L	Detroit Tigers	33-37
Michael Fulmer	R	Detroit Tigers	33-37
Patrick Corbin	L	Arizona Diamondbacks	37-30
J.A. Happ	L	Toronto Blue Jays	30-38
Jacob deGrom	R	New York Mets	28-36
Noah Syndergaard	R	New York Mets	28-36

In this series of articles, we will look into various trade possibilities for the Yankees before the July 31st deadline.

Note: It is incredibly difficult to predict these trades exactly, as preferences of both teams involved are mostly unknown, so guessing prospects traded is not an exact science. What these articles provide is an entertaining exercise to get to know some possible trade targets and pieces. Enjoy!

Hamels may have the Yankees listed in his no-trade clause, but would likely choose to waive that if it means he gets to leave the abysmal Rangers for another chance at postseason glory. The 34-year old lefty fits well for the Yankees that is laden with righties, and his postseason prowess will help the Yankees come October. His stat line may not light up the sky (3-6, 3.86 ERA, 1.235 WHIP, 1.3 HR/GS, 2.72 K/BB), but his $20m price tag ($12m for rest of 2018), shorter years of control, and age will likely bring his price tag down. 

What doesn’t bode well for the Yankees is his home run propensity, as he leads the MLB in home runs for qualified players at 17, and that will likely get worse in the home run happy Bronx. All of this considered, how would a trade package look? His price will all depend on the demand for Hamels, which will rely on who else is available come July.

Hamels isn’t valuable enough for the Yankees to eat all his contract, which helps their goal of staying underneath the luxury tax, so likely they will eat a few million to help move along negotiations. The Yankees will need to give up a higher prospect and followed by one to two other prospects. 

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The headliner of the trade will likely be a pitcher, such as Chance Adams or Domingo Acevedo, followed by a position player and a lower level prospect. These other two pieces are a bit trickier as they likely rely on what the Rangers are looking for. If they want a position player who is MLB ready, someone like Brandon Drury and Tyler Wade are options but could affect the pitcher they could demand. After that its likely a throw-in player lower in the system rankings to round it out.

The Trade: Rangers send Cole Hamels LHP and $8m to the Yankees for Chance Adams RHP, Tyler Wade INF, Ben Heller RHP

The Yankees do very well in this trade, as Cashman avoids giving up an incredible amount for a rental. The team does like Tyler Wade, but his inability to produce on the major league level and the teams already talented farm system makes him expendable. Adams hurts to lose, but a price well worth it if Hamels helps the Yankees secure their 28th world series title. Heller is another player with MLB experience, but has not been stellar in his time in the Bronx and is coming off Tommy John surgery, possibly making him expendable in the Yankees eyes. 

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The Yankees lose a future contributor with Adams, a possible bullpen arm with Heller, and a Wade who probably doesn’t have a spot at the MLB level with Gleyber Torres and Didi Gregorius entrenched in their respective places.

Stay tuned for more trade possibilities, next up Giants postseason hero Madison Bumgarner!

Article by: Maxx Hotton

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