Cashman does the expected, trading Beltran to Rangers for solid return including Dillon Tate

Brian Cashman, fully embracing Hal Steinbrenner’s endorsement to sell off on the 2016 Yankees and begin preparing for a Yankee rebuild, while remaining competitive made a two blockbuster deals headlined by top prospects, and he continued his pursuit of young talent during today’s trade deadline. Cashman reached a deal with the Texas Rangers parting ways with the heart and soul of the offense, Carlos Beltran, in return for the Rangers fifth ranked prospect, RHP Dillion Tate, as well as two other right-handers Erik Swanson and Nick Green.

Photo Credit: Adam Hunger | USA TODAY Sports

Dillion Tate:

Dillion Tate was a highly touted arm coming out of UC Santa Barbara in 2015. Tate was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, signing for $4.2 million. The current 6’2”, 165-pound right-hander has a slender build but he has a lively fastball that can reach as high as 98 MPH. In MLB Pipeline’s preseason rankings, Tate wa the eighth ranked right-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball, and the 36th ranked prospect overall. Unfortunately, he’s dealt with some leg injuries this season that have negatively affected his delivering causing a velocity drop into the lower 90’s. However, at 22-years-old, there is still plenty of time for him to regain that life on his fastball before being called up as he has an ETA of 2017. Tate has struggled this year and that has caused him to fall out of the top 100 prospect list, but he still has ample time to rebuild his stuff. He was the Rangers’ fifth ranked prospect and will now become the Yankees 11th ranked prospect, notably behind Domingo Acevedo and James Kaprielian.

Photo Via MiLB.com

Erik Swanson and Nick Green:

Although these two are not the prizes of this deal, the added value makes the return for the Yankees that much greater. Erik Swanson was an eighth round pick out of Iowa Western Community College in the 2014 MLB Draft. He stands at 6’3”, 220-pounds and he is 22-years-old. He has reached as high as Triple-A (in 2015) where he pitched just one inning. In 44 career minor league appearances including 15 starts (all this season), Swanson claims a 3.98 ERA with a 1.21 WHIP and .237 BAA. The final guy the Yankees acquired was righty Nick Green. Green, 21, was the Rangers seventh round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft. Ironically, Green was taken by the Yankees in the 35th round of the 2013 draft but chose to not sign with the club. Green has a 6-8 record with a 5.15 ERA in 31 minor league appearances including 21 starts. He has a 1.34 WHIP and .243 BAA. It is unclear whether these two have big league futures, but they are solid throw-ins.

Photo Credit: Tracy Proffitt

Photo Via MiLB.com

Carlos Beltran

As expected, the Yankees dealt their All-Star outfielder and designated hitter, Carlos Beltran. Beltran, 38, is in a contract year and will likely test the free agent market this winter as he is having one of the best years of his career hitting to a .304/.344/.546 aslash line with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs in 99 games. His resurgence propelled him to San Diego for the All-Star game, and also made his name in trade talks possible. For the Yankees to get the type of return that they did for an aging player like Beltran is something that should be applauded on the part of Cashman and company. The loss of Beltran hurts the Yankees in 2016, but it will help the team in the future. And if there’s any silver lining to the die-hard Beltran fans out there, Beltran said almost immediately that he’d be more than happy to resign with the Yankees this offseason, as he will not be retiring after his strong campaign. However, the only way I personally see the Yankees bringing Beltran back on a one-year deal or so, is if they completely cut Alex Rodriguez this offseason, which is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Photo Credit: Tom Szczerbowski | Getty Images

Conclusion:

In the Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller deals, the top prizes of those two packages were headlined by position players, SS Gleyber Torres, and OF Clint Frazier. Thinking logically, Cashman made the right call here targeting a buy-low prospect with major upside for his aging veteran in Beltran, who at this point in the season, was not useful for the Yankees quite frankly. Many are making an early case that the New York Yankees won the 2016 trade deadline, completing restructuring their now elite farm system. This is unfamiliar territory for the Yankees. Before the sell-off, the most recent Yankees trade deadline sale was in 1989 when they traded Rickey Henderson. However, many fans were calling for this fire sale, as the Yankees now have a strong argument for the top farm system in baseball, and the brightest future of any ball club in Major League Baseball.

Article by: Chad Raines

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