The New York Yankees may no longer be interested in spending a ton of money on free agents but they are willing to make some deals to sure up not only the present but the future of the club at the same time.
The Yankees made a deal to acquire infielder Starlin Castro from the Chicago Cubs. Castro was immediately made expendable when the Cubs locked up Ben Zobrist and the Yankees swooped right in to secure the young infielder.
Following from Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
The Yankees connected on another young position player Tuesday, upgrading at second base by acquiring Starlin Castro from the Cubs in exchange for right-hander Adam Warren and a player to be named.
New York and Chicago completed their swap immediately following news of the Cubs’ signing of free agent Ben Zobrist, who agreed to a four-year, $56 million deal on Tuesday evening. The player to be named is expected to be infielder Brendan Ryan.
“He really looked like a different player over at second,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “I like that he’s athletic, I like his age. Between the youth, the flexibility, the right-handed bat, he’s got a history of hitting left-handers. Clearly that’s an area that we needed to better improve our balance in the lineup. It kind of checks off a lot of the boxes here.”
“It isn’t part of our DNA to accept that full-blown commitment to a rebuild,” Cashman said. “Ownership’s comfort level is walking that tightrope, rather than tearing it down and living to fight another day. The public stated goal is to get younger and compete for the championship every year. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Yankees have been linked to Castro at various times over the past several weeks. Cashman revealed that he tried to obtain Castro at the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline without success, then renewed those discussions with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein when the Winter Meetings kicked off in Nashville.
In 2015, Castro batted .265 with 52 runs, 23 doubles, 11 home runs and 69 RBIs in 151 games. He follows in the footsteps of young stars like shortstop Didi Gregorius, infielder Dustin Ackley and outfielder Aaron Hicks as position players that the Yankees have obtained in the past two years. The Yanks are prioritizing flexibility and youth while still attempting to contend in the American League and the are avoiding going out and spending big money on free agents.
Castro will turn 26 in March and was moved from original position of shortstop to second base this past summer with the emergence of Addison Russell and Javier Baez at the shortstop position. The Yankees are still rebuilding their infield after the departures of longtime middle infielders Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter after the 2013 season. Cano joined the Mariners and in 2014 Jeter was relegated to mostly a designated hitter role. The Yankees must be having dreams of Castro and Gregorius turning double plays for years to come.
Castro is owed $38 million through the 2019 season, and the Yankees will assume the entire remainder of that deal, which pays the infielder $7 million in 2016.
