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New York Yankees Make Poor Move Trading Justin Wilson To Detroit Tigers

By Kenneth Teape

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The New York Yankees trade of left-handed relief pitcher Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers is a head scratching and poor move.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days for the New York Yankees at the Winter Meetings. They kicked things off by acquiring Starlin Castro from the Chicago Cubs in a three-player deal to shore up second base. They were back at it tonight, making another trade, this time with the Detroit Tigers.

The Yankees sent left-handed relief pitcher Justin Wilson to the Tigers for two minor players, right-handed Luis Cessa and right-handed Chad Green.

While the Yankees were shopping a left-handed reliever, it was always thought to be closer Andrew Miller on the block, not seventh inning man Wilson. This is a head scratching move to say the least, and from the looks of it one that will turn out poorly.

First off, the Yankees bullpen was not very strong in 2015. They fell apart by the end of the season, as Wilson, Miller, Adam Warren and Dellin Betances were the only pitchers Joe Girardi had any confidence in. It was an area of concern for the Yankees, and would explain why they were at least in the discussion for top flight closers such as Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman.

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Neither of those players were acquired, but instead of adding more depth to the bullpen the Yankees are trading it away. Yes Miller was on the trade block, but the haul he would have commanded after seeing what Kimbrel cost the Boston Red Sox it made sense to play the market and see what they could get. With Betances in the wings, they had a reliable replacement, and Wilson could have just moved into the eighth inning with Warren taking over the seventh.

Now Warren and Wilson are both off the team, as Warren was part of the Castro trade and is heading to the Cubs, and Wilson is on his way to the Tigers. This is a trade that makes little sense for the Yankees, and Brian Cashman’s explaination of it doesn’t clear up much.

“We are getting back two starting pitchers that will go straight to Triple A at 12 years under out control between them; they can compete for opporutnities in the pen or starting rotation, and that is an area of weakness for us. This had a lot to do with getting starting pitching depth.”

As Cashman mentions, the bullpen is an area of weakness, so why trade an established commodity in Wilson for two unknowns in Cessa and Green? It makes very little sense at this point in time, but could it be a sign of more moves to come?

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With the acquisition of Castro, the Yankees do have a pretty attractive trade piece in Rob Refsnyder. Do they have something in the works that will net them a relief pitcher in exchange for him? We will have to wait and see as the Yankees are making a lot of moves that give off the impression they are nowhere near done making changes and are only getting started.

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