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New York Yankees: Team is open for business

By Israel Gonzalez

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For fans of the New York Yankees, this is the most wonderful time of the year, free agency. What moves are the Yankees expected to make this year?

The Major League Baseball off-season is like Christmastime. It is a time to anticipate what gifts, or in this case, free agents, are going to be given to us loyal, but inpatient fans. While more often than not, the Yankees deliver top flight free agents to their fans, there are also times when the most fans have to look forward to is how the bullpen is going to look.

For every C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira-like players signed, there are the trades that brought the team players like Nathan Eovaldi and Didi Gregorius, which happened in 2009 and 2014, respectively.

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Either way, Yankees fans have gotten used to this. They expect, above all else, perfection. It doesn’t matter if it’s on opening day. It doesn’t matter if it is during the dog days of summer. Heck, it doesn’t even matter if it’s November 20, 2015. Fans of the Yankees want the team to be just as dominate in the off-season as they expect them to be during the season.

Fans always want the team to improve. Even if the team is looking good, there is always room for improvement. This fact is something that isn’t lost on Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman.

“Even if we had five guys with pristine health and high-end performance, starting pitching — I come from a horse background — they’re like racehorses and they can go down anytime and normally they do,” said Cashman to the New York Daily News. “Any chance to improve that, you have to focus on it if you can.”

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So now talk turns to who, if anyone, do the Yankees have their eyes on? It could be David Price. It could be Yoenis Cespedes. It could even be Dan Uggla. That is the exciting thing about this time of the year. Like last year, fans should expect the unexpected. Who would have thought that we would get Nathan Eovaldi and that it would only cost the team Martin Prado and David Phelps? Also, who would have thought that the team would get Gregorius and that it would only cost them, Shane Greene?

“I entered (last) winter with no expectation of trading (Martin) Prado or Shane Greene, especially Shane Greene, who was an under-control, cheap starter at a high level for us, which is right up our alley,” said Cashman.

But sometimes you get an offer you can’t refuse. Such was the case for the Yankees last off-season.

“But because we were open-minded and listening on all fronts, we did deals where Prado netted us (Nathan) Eovaldi and Greene got (us) Didi Gregorius,” said Cashman.

The returns on those trades were spectacular, as Eovaldi and Gregorius performed as (or better than) expected. As of right now, there is no reason to believe that should the Yankees take this approach yet again, that they wouldn’t have the same success as last year.

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Yankees fans should forget about signing the big name free agents, and focus more on who the Yankees are going to bring in to emulate what Eovaldi and Gregorius did last season. For now, and for the foreseeable future, it appears as though that is how the Yankees are going to conduct business.

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