Palladino: Yankees' Descent Into Sellers' Desperation Would Make Cespedes-Type Trade Impossible
By Ernie Palladino
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The Yankees may have a little bit to go before they cross the line between discomfort and desperation.
They're getting awfully close, though. And with a killer stretch remaining in this 10-game homestand -- four games against the East-leading Orioles and three against baseball's top winner in the Giants -- that line could lie so distant by the end of the week that it will look like a mere sliver in Joe Girardi's rearview mirror.
Unless things turn around quickly, the Yankees will find themselves in full desperation mode. And as anyone who has followed baseball consistently knows, desperate times often lead to more desperate times down the road. Unless, of course, you're the Mets. They hit the desperation lottery last year when they shipped off a good-looking pitching prospect named Michael Fulmer to Detroit for a guy named Yoenis Cespedes at last year's trade deadline.
The effect Cespedes had on that season is part of baseball legend now. His contributions still remain vital. Sunday's end of his four-game absence with a strained quad with an 0-for-3 showing still holds promise that he'll revitalize Terry Collins' lineup as they chase the Nationals.
Cespedes is the exception, however. More often than not, desperation equals rebuilding, and that means leaving oneself open to the predators out there looking to grab a star for a marginal veteran, a handful of prospects and a year's refill on the soda machine.
It's called being a seller. As the Yanks approach that rather lousy state for the first time since 1995, they have already begun to feel the breath of the bargain-hunters.
It's not pretty. In fact, if the rebuilding philosophy takes firm route, the Yanks may well have to give up a true key to their shutdown bullpen in Andrew Miller.
The Cubs would love to see Miller at Wrigley Field, considering they need a closer and Miller, who still has two years at $9 million each on his Yankees contract, would be a far better proposition than a two-month rental of free agent Aroldis Chapman.
Losing Miller would hurt a lot worse than Chapman, considering the Yanks would probably have little interest in laying out the huge bucks Chapman might command on the open market. That would leave Dellin Betances as next year's closer, which wouldn't be a bad thing if the Yanks had better setup options than Chasen Shreve and Nick Goody.
But they don't. Not now, at least.
And, let's face it, neither Kris Bryant nor Anthony Rizzo are coming here in exchange for Miller, and certainly not for Chapman, to juice up an old lineup on life support.
It's not far-fetched to say that few chances exist for a turnaround trade in the manner of the Cespedes move. And in truth, the Mets were not sellers at the deadline. They were in contention, three games above .500 and two back of the Nationals.
There was still hope, though nobody with any realistic sense of Mets history thought that would last. Sandy Alderson's "buy" mentality changed that. They had to give up a good pitcher in Fulmer, who has since attained phenom status with a 9-2 record, 2.11 ERA and a franchise-record 33 1/3-inning rookie scoreless streak. But, with no idea about how injuries would hit their future, the Mets could afford the compensation.
The Yanks are a different story. After winning their only game of three against Boston on Sunday, they sit 8½ games behind Baltimore.
If they don't springboard that 3-1 win into a winning streak against the Orioles and Giants, the trade wolves undoubtedly will commence their scratching at general manager Brian Cashman's door.
A seller's lot is rarely a happy one. Making it sadder is the fact that the Yanks are not one slugger or one starting pitcher away from the pennant. They need bodies; young and healthy ones.
Unless they catch fire quickly, even a Cespedes type trade won't save them.
If it's even available.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
