The Yankees Should Trade for Bryan Reynolds or Cedric Mullins

No longer the biggest spender in the Big Apple, New York needs to address its hole in center field.

The Yankees are going to make another move, right? They entered this offseason with holes at first base, shortstop and center field. There were superstars available at both first base and shortstop, but New York didn’t sign any of them.

It’s becoming clearer and clearer with each year that Hal Steinbrenner is not his father. For the most part, he’s not going to break the bank to acquire one or two top free agents. The Yankees could have outspent the rest of the league for either Freddie Freeman or Carlos Correa. Freeman signed with the Dodgers for six years, $162 million, and Correa remains a free agent. George Steinbrenner might have gone all in for both stars, not to mention Corey Seager and Max Scherzer. It would’ve irked the hell out of George Steinbrenner to watch Scherzer sign with the Mets; George famously never wanted to lose anything—games, players, the back page—to the crosstown team, even though they play in different leagues. Also, can you imagine the chaos of George Steinbrenner and Steve Cohen trying to one up each other?! Alas.

Donaldson fielding grounders at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa :: Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

Sure, Josh Donaldson is a big improvement over Gio Urshela at third base, assuming Donaldson stays healthy, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa is a Gold Glove shortstop. But to get them, the Yankees had to trade Gary Sánchez and Urshela. Say what you want about Sánchez, but he’s a much, much better hitter than Ben Rortvedt, a 24-year-old catcher who was the third player New York received in the deal.

Two nights later, the Yankees re-signed Anthony Rizzo to a two-year, $32 million contract. No longer is he the feared slugger he was with the Cubs. His glove is still exceptional, and he provides a few things the Yankees’ offense needs: He’s a left-handed hitter who doesn’t strike out much, and he’s still good for 20 home runs per year. He’s just not the bat the Yankees needed to add to revamp an offense that had gone stale, especially when you consider they won’t be getting much offensive production from their catching tandem.

So now, where will they get that much-needed jolt? As we mentioned above, Correa is still available, but the Yankees seem committed to top prospect Anthony Volpe as their shortstop of the future. There are reports that Correa could sign a lucrative one-year contract. If that’s the case, the Yankees should be in play for him. But that specific situation seems like a long shot.

They could sign Trevor Story, with the idea that maybe they move him off shortstop when Volpe is ready. Remember the reports over the summer before the trade deadline that said the Yankees were considering Story as a center fielder? This also seems unlikely.

More of a possibility, then, is that GM Brian Cashman will turn to the trade market to address the roster, which has become the Yankees’ M.O. in recent years. Just look at the Roster Resource page for New York’s projected lineup vs. right-handed pitching.

FanGraphs/Roster Resource

That’s right, eight of the nine projected starters were acquired via trades. Most of the Baby Bombers have moved out, and the Evil Empire is in exile. That doesn’t necessarily portend doom for the Yankees, so long as they’re making the right trades.

The Reds and A’s are trying to ship away seemingly every good veteran player on their rosters. New York still could use some pitching help, and Cincinnati and Oakland have two quality starters each left to deal. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to trade for Reds righthanders Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle or A’s starters Frankie Montas or Sean Manaea. That said, the Yankees need at least one more bat way more than they need another starting pitcher.

Perhaps the best move would be to try and trade for a center fielder. Bryan Reynolds twice has rejected extension offers from the Pirates. Maybe the Orioles would trade Cedric Mullins. Both Reynolds and Mullins were the starting center fielders in the All-Star Game last year and both are 27 years old and under contract for four more seasons. Meanwhile, Aaron Hicks has dealt with injuries throughout his career; only twice has he played more than 100 games in a season. The Yankees can’t rely on him to stay healthy, and even when Hicks is in the lineup, he’s nowhere near as good as Reynolds and Mullins.

Using the trade simulator tool on the Baseball Trade Values website, I gamed out what potential deals for Reynolds or Mullins might look like.

(All prospect rankings via FanGraphs)

Reynolds

Deal 1

Yankees Acquire: CF Bryan Reynolds, RHP Bryse Wilson

Pirates Acquire: LHP Nestor Cortes Jr., SS Oswald Peraza (No. 2), OF Jasson Dominguez (No. 4), OF Everson Pereira (No. 8), SS Roderick Arias (No. 9), LHP Ken Waldichuk (No. 15)

Deal 2

Yankees Acquire: CF Bryan Reynolds, RHP Bryse Wilson

Pirates Acquire: SS Anthony Volpe (No. 1), LHP Nestor Cortes Jr., SS Roderick Arias, LHP Ken Waldichuk

Deal 3

Yankees Acquire: CF Bryan Reynolds, RHP Bryse Wilson

Pirates Acquire: SS Anthony Volpe, RHP Luis Gil (No. 12), OF Estevan Florial, LHP Ken Waldichuk

The Yankees’ return is the same in all three iterations of the deal. Wilson was once a top pitching prospect with the Braves, though he never lived up to that billing. After this deal, he’d slide in as the No. 5 starter in the Yankees’ rotation.

The difference here depends on what approach the Yankees want to take. Would they rather trade a greater number of top prospects (Peraza, Dominguez, Pereira) and keep Volpe, or hold on to more top prospects but trade Volpe?

Mullins diving into third base at Yankee Stadium :: Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports

Mullins

Deal 1

Yankees Acquire: CF Cedric Mullins, RHP Jordan Lyles, LHP Paul Fry

Orioles Acquire: SS Oswald Peraza, SS Roderick Arias, RHP Luis Gil, 2B Oswaldo Cabrera (No. 13), LHP Ken Waldichuk, OF Estevan Florial

Deal 2

Yankees Acquire: CF Cedric Mullins

Orioles Acquire: SS Anthony Volpe

The Yankees would have the same option here: Trade multiple top prospects (though not as many as they would for Reynolds) and keep Volpe, or keep the prospects and trade Volpe. The first deal is the one that makes the most sense to me. The Yankees wouldn’t have to deal Volpe, Dominguez or Pereira, and they’d also get two decent relief pitchers in Lyles and Fry.

Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

1. THE OPENER

“He’s simply never had a bad year. It’s as if he is constitutionally incapable of finishing a season with less than 3.0 WAR. … All of that is possible because he has been both unfailingly good and almost unfailingly healthy.”

That’s Emma Baccellieri writing about Freddie Freeman, who signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers on Wednesday. You can read her entire column below.

Freddie Freeman Makes Strongest Team in MLB Even Stronger by Emma Baccellieri
The most amazing thing about the new Dodgers first baseman is that he has never had a bad year, even by his standards. His consistency is a welcomed, if not needed, addition to L.A.’s lineup.

2. ICYMI

It’s been quite the eventful week for transactions! Here’s our coverage of some of the biggest moves since the lockout ended.

Twins’ Three Trades Signal They Aren’t Done Yet by Nick Selbe
After trading for Sonny Gray, Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela, and dealing Josh Donaldson, Minnesota is closer to contending than rebuilding.

The Braves Are Going to Miss Freddie Freeman by Tom Verducci
Matt Olson is a great player, but Atlanta made a mistake in choosing an aging curve over the face of its franchise.

Matt Olson’s Extension Signals a New Era for the Braves by Will Laws
They chose a younger, cheaper version of Freddie Freeman, from whom Atlanta is moving on, whether fans like it or not.

Here Come the Blue Jays, the AL’s Most Delightful Juggernaut by Emma Baccellieri
Matt Chapman, Toronto’s new third baseman, is a magical defender, a capable hitter and the latest upgrade for this fun, scary team.

Rockies Repeat History With Stunning Kris Bryant Signing by Nick Selbe
Colorado came out of nowhere Wednesday to sign Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract. But we’ve already seen this story.

Stephanie Apstein was at Mets and Red Sox spring training facilities this week. Here are her two dispatches from their camps.

Even With ‘Steve Cohen Tax,’ Mets Leaders Are Grateful to Be Back by Stephanie Apstein
Max Scherzer, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo each voted no on the owners’ proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, but the trio welcomed the start of spring training.

Inside the Red Sox’ Push to Vaccinate Their Players by Stephanie Apstein
Boston was one of the least-vaccinated teams last season. Here’s how and why they are trying to change that.

3. WORTH NOTING from Matt Martell

Rizzo’s return to the Yankees meant less playing time for Luke Voit, so today the Yankees traded him to the Padres for 20-year-old pitching prospect Justin Lange. Voit is the perfect addition to a San Diego lineup that will be without Fernando Tatis Jr. for the first three months of the season.

The Yankees acquired Voit just before the 2018 trade deadline. In the final 39 games of that season, he hit .333/.405/.689 with 14 home runs and proved that he was a capable middle-of-the-order bat if given a chance to play every day. He led the majors with 22 home runs during the pandemic-shortened ’20 season, and he finished his Yankee tenure with a 137 OPS+ across 281 games.

4. TRIVIA! from Matt Martell

Before we get into this week’s question, here is the answer to the one I asked last Friday.

Last Week’s Question: Who was the last pitcher to get a hit before the implementation of the universal DH?

Answer: Zack Greinke. He pinch-hit for Astros reliever Yimi García in Game 5 of the World Series and lined a single to right field off Jesse Chavez. Greinke, who just signed with the Royals, absolutely loves to hit, and he’s quite good at it, too. So much so that he told reporters this week that he would’ve signed with a National League team instead of returning to Kansas City—where he spent his first seven seasons—if the NL had not implemented the DH for this season.

This Week’s Question: Kris Bryant’s seven-year, $182 million deal with the Rockies is the largest free-agent contract in franchise history. Which player previously signed the largest free-agent deal with the Rockies?

(This question does not include contract extensions, such as the eight-year, $260 million deal Nolan Arenado signed with Colorado before the 2019 season.)

5. THE CLOSER from Emma Baccellieri

One of Freddie Freeman’s key strengths is his durability. With the first baseman reporting to Dodgers camp today, here’s a good way to look at it: The Braves have played 546 regular-season games since 2018. Freeman appeared in 539 of them. No one in baseball has played more over that time apart from Whit Merrifield (542). Curious about the only other players to appear in 535 games or more in the last four seasons? Carlos Santana (537), Marcus Semien (536) and Paul Goldschmidt (535). That’s it!

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox next Friday. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.