Bronx Bomber Ball

Greg Bird will be looking to bounce back from a season-ending injury, as he heads into 2017 with high hopes as the potential starting first baseman. Bird had some clutch hits in a memorable 2015 season before being beaten by the Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card game. Look for Bird to build off of that season and turn into one of the game’s better young players. Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

We’re almost there Yankee fans! There is less than a month until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa for the start of spring training and I bet you’re all looking forward to it just like we are. At this point in the offseason free agency has generally slowed to a crawl, with very little news coming in daily and very little notable free agents left on the market. Brian Cashman said recently that he believes the team is done spending for the winter and as is usually the case with him, we have no way of knowing if he’s just playing it cool or if he has actually packed it in. If he has in fact called it an offseason and the Yankees will enter the season with their roster as is, although it has been on the quieter side, Cashman did accomplish a few primary goals. He brought in Matt Holiday to fill the DH role and landed Aroldis Chapman as their big fish. But perhaps Cashman can continue bolstering the bullpen with another free agent who has yet to sign. Photo Credit: Rob Carr | Getty...

It was not long ago I remember Doug Fister shutting down the Yankees in the fifth game of the 2011 Divisional Series. Fister’s outing seemed like it was the coming out party for the tall, lanky right-hander from California.   I also remember being shocked when the Tigers declared him on the trading block following the 2013 season, in which Fister finished with a 3.67 ERA and shined throughout the postseason. Detroit had decided to prioritize other pitchers ahead of the 27 year-old Fister and concluded they would not be able to sign him long term once his contract expired.   It seemed too good to be true that the Yankees had a chance to land a young impact starter on the rise, without shelling out a mega deal. Well, due to the drained farm system we were accustomed to at the time, it was. Fister was soon shipped off to the Washington Nationals. Photo Credit: Getty Images/Rick Yeatts

When most Yankees fans envision a trade with the White Sox these days, one name comes to mind: Jose Quintana. Maybe David Robertson as well. However, Brian Cashman has stated that he is not looking to upgrade the rotation, or add payroll (unless the Yankees trade Brett Gardner). This makes trades for both Quintana and Robertson unlikely, no matter how much sense both of them make for the team. I do still feel that the Yankees will add a starter, just no one that noteworthy; someone like Jorge De la Rosa or Brett Anderson on a cheap, one-year deal. However, one area that I feel like the Yankees would definitely upgrade if they got the chance would be the bullpen, and one trade is another White Sox reliever, Nate Jones. Photo Credit: Jason Miller | Getty Images

Photo Credit: AP Recently, there have been rumors about a potential three-way trade between the Yankees, Pirates, and White Sox, that would send Pittsburgh’s star outfielder Andrew McCutchen to the Yanks, White Sox star pitcher Jose Quintana to the Pirates, and prospects to Chicago. The prospects, specifically, are listed   in a tweet from Brian Bilek, and rumors were also confirmed by Dave Williams of Barstool. Outside of Glasnow, #WhiteSox would receive some combo of Mitch Keller, Blake Rutherford, Kevin Newman, Miguel Andujar & Elias Diaz. — Brian Bilek (@BrianBilek_) December 23, 2016 Many people probably don’t like the idea of trading for McCutchen, especially after his down year in 2016. However, I’m sure there will be a boatload of Yankees fans clamoring for the team to trade from its immense prospect depth and acquire the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player, which is why I will review both sides of the trade.

I’m going to preface this article by saying that I’m aware that it doesn’t make much sense to sign any slugger heading toward the wrong side of 30 to a big money deal. This is especially true for the Yankees since they seem to be shying away from lengthy contracts for older players and because they just brought in Matt Holliday whose best fit for the team is at the designated hitter position. In spite of those reasons, I think they should sign Edwin Encarnacion anyway.   My reasoning for this is that simply put, even at the age of 33 and even though he’s pretty much only a DH just like Holliday, he’s still a hitter to be feared at this point in his career. Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton | USA TODAY Sports