Yankees higher-ups, who gathered in Tampa, Fla., for meetings that started Thursday, are discussing just about all of the biggest names on the block. However, there are real impediments to most and no guarantees on any.
Let’s take the marquee trade candidates who’d fit position by position:
1. Ace starter Tarik Skubal
The Yankees checked on the Tigers left-hander. MLB’s best pitcher helps anyone, and a trade somewhere seems pretty likely now. However, the rotation already is the Yankees’ greatest strength. The Yankees, who hadn’t heard the price by early Thursday evening, might match up OK with Detroit since they have young pitching (Will Warren) and decent prospects (Dax Kilby, Elmer Rodríguez, Carlos Lagrange, etc., even assuming they wouldn’t trade George Lombard Jr. for a rental). But Cashman, an astute veteran trader, rarely gives up a haul. The prospect who turned into the best player he surrendered at the deadline probably was reliever Mark Melancon.
2. Frontline starters Clay Holmes, Logan Webb, Reid Detmers
They love Holmes, and a trade for him could enable them to move Warren or Ryan Weathers to the bullpen. Detmers is a big talent. To date, the Giants told teams Webb isn’t available.
