The Winds of Change are Starting to Blow Part 3

The Winds of Change are Starting to Blow Part 3

 

Welcome back everyone to part 3 of our trade deadline preview. Today we will be taking a look at two teams on different sides of the spectrum as far as the playoffs are concerned. Those two teams are the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals. Washington is trending upward while the Yankees are trending downward, but not all hope is lost in the Bronx. Washington is sitting 1.5 games back of the suddenly hot again Atlanta Braves, but because of the Braves streakiness they should like their current chances at a division title. Let’s take a look at what these teams will need to do.

New York Yankees

Positives- Brett Gardner. Mark Teixeira. Future Closer Dellin Betances. New found ace Masahiro Tanaka.

Negatives- Injuries. Terrible infield. No Depth. Kelly Johnson’s defense.

The New York Yankees are perhaps the biggest enigma of the 2014 baseball season. They sit one game over .500 at 43-42 and three games back of division leading Toronto, but truthfully, they have no business being in this race. The way they’ve played, including having a -33 run differential, they should be making offseason golfing plans. This isn’t an injury plagued team overachieving, this is a bad team that is lucky everyone else in the division is just as bad.

The Yankees definitely need starting pitching but their main targets came off the board last night as the Oakland A’s pushed all in and acquired Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs. David Price is still potentially available but even if Tampa chooses to deal him I don’t see a situation where they would be willing to help the Yankees and end up having to face Price. There is also the issue of facial hair. Yes, it sounds crazy but Price had gone on record as saying he would never want to play for the Yankees because of their facial hair policy and his unwillingness to shave. Lately however, Price, like everyone else who will not stand by original statements, has flip flopped on the issue and said if he did wind up on the Yankees he would shave and abide by team rules.

There is one team out there with the pieces to fit both of the Yankees needs, and if I’m the Yankees and Brian Cashman I’m calling this team nonstop and doing whatever I have to do in order to get a deal done. That team is the San Diego Padres. Ian Kennedy and Chase Headley should be Yankees come August 1^st. Kennedy of course would be on his second stint in the Bronx after his first didn’t go well at all but he is a different pitcher now than he was then. He can eat up innings and be an anchor in the rotation for the second half to go along with Masahiro Tanaka. As far as Headley is concerned, there have been rumblings about him and the Bronx for a while. The time though is now to pull the trigger. Despite the pinched nerve Headley is dealing with causing pain in his leg he is still a massive upgrade over the entire current infield with the exception of Teixeira. Also, being a switch hitter, that short porch in right will do wonders for his power numbers. I’m not even going to list other options to consider here because this is the deal the team needs to get done.

Washington Nationals

Positives- Pitching. Anthony Rendon emerging as a future star. Production and veteran leadership of Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche. Tanner Roark solidifying his spot in an already excellent rotation.

Negatives- Health. Bench production. Having to find playing time for all the talent.

The biggest issue that faced the Washington Nationals this season was health. Too many key players missed chunks of time not allowing them to field their complete team until just recently. The problem with that is the double edged sword nature of the issue. The team’s glad to have everyone back and playing but is forced to do a lot of shifting and have to sit a good player. Anthony Rendon who is naturally a third baseman was playing extremely well at the hot corner while Ryan Zimmerman was doing a good job in left field as he feels he is no longer able to play an effective third base due to his shoulder problem. Now with franchise cornerstone Bryce Harper healthy, he slides back into left field and shifts Zimmerman to third and Rendon to second. With this lineup, Danny Espinosa, who is a far superior defender than Rendon is forced to sit on the bench. Keeping everyone at their positions they were playing and shifting Harper to center forces Denard Span to the bench, and with the season he is having this year, the Nationals cannot afford to do that. Having too much talent is a luxury usually and that is how Matt Williams is playing off in the media but I do not envy the decisions he has to make on an everyday basis.

Due to their excellent pitching and great starting talent there isn’t much that the Nats have to do besides stay healthy. They could certainly look for a utility bench player to help bolster their bench production as Nate McLouth, Kevin Frandsen, and Scott Hairston haven’t been able to do a good enough job. Some guys that the Nats can look to acquire would be Marc Krauss of Houston, Emilio Bonifacio of Chicago, or Alexi Amarista of San Diego. Any one of those guys would help add to their depth and help Matt Williams throw a versatile player in the lineup on days where multiple guys need days off.

That’s it for part 3 of our series, we will be back tomorrow with part 4 as we continue to analyze the needs of contenders as the season goes on. Tomorrow we will take a look at the St. Louis Cardinals and the Seattle Mariners and who they should be looking at to cement their playoff chances.