Wednesday is the big day. Wednesday is when pitchers and catchers officially report to spring training for the Yankees (though many of the Yankees are already in Tampa and have started their spring training). There’s still more than six weeks until Opening Day and real, meaningful baseball, but spring training is here.

This week’s questions and comments are related to the current roster and if the Yankees did enough this offseason to improve it.

Email your questions to KeefeToTheCity@gmail.com or engage on the Keefe To The City Facebook page or on Twitter to be included in the next Monday Mail.

We need another bonafide starting pitcher. – Mario

Last week in the blog Spring Cleaning: A Fresh Start for Giancarlo Stanton, regarding J.A. Happ, I wrote:

I understand you can never have enough pitching, except when you’re talking about a 37-year-old coming off the worst season of his career and set to earn $17 million.

What felt like minutes after writing those words, it was announced that James Paxton will be out for the next three to four months after undergoing a back procedure. It was almost as if the Baseball Gods were upset with me mocking the idea that you can never have enough pitching.

The Paxton news certainly isn’t ideal, but it’s not the worst thing ever either. Paxton has never pitched a full season in the majors. Not one. His career-high innings came in 2018 when he threw 160 1/3. In his first season with the Yankees, he only managed 150 2/3 when he missed nearly four weeks and then admittedly pitched with a knee problem for most of the season before being shut down in his final start of the regular season with a back problem, which he eventually needed this recent surgery for.

The Yankees won’t have Paxton for at least the first month of the season and I would expect him to miss at least the first two months of the season. So now, instead of having Happ as the team’s fifth starter in what needs to be a bounceback season, Happ moves up to the No. 4 spot and Jordan Montgomery, most likely, becomes the No. 5 starter.

There isn’t really an available free-agent starting pitcher the Yankees could go out and sign at this point like the comment suggests. If Happ sucks again and Montgomery proves to be not ready as he separates himself from his Tommy John surgery, I would rather see what Deivi Garcia or Mike King or someone else within the organizatio can before giving an opportunity to the scrap heap.

So it’s true, you can never have enough pitching, even when you’re talking about a 37-year-old coming off the worst season of his career and set to earn $17 million.

Nolan Arenado is the best third baseman in baseball. You get the best when you can. No need to be concerned with costs. If they don’t mind paying the luxury tax, I’m not complaining. – Vinny

I couldn’t agree more, Vinny. I wrote about this extensively in the blog If the Yankees Can Get Nolan Arenado, Go Get Him.

The problem is while we aren’t worried about the luxury tax, Yankees ownership certainly is. It’s why they held back the last few years on free agency. The Yankees are the best team in baseball right now and good enough to win the World Series as currently constructed and ownership likely looks at Arenado as a luxury and not a necessity. They know they can win with a third base combination of Gio Urshela at $2.5 million and Miguel Andujar at somewhere around the league minimum, so there’s no need for them to go take on another nine-figure contract.

The franchise can more than afford to take on Arenado’s contract, but they know they can win with a third base making $32 million less.

I don’t get this obsession with Nolan Arenado, what the Yankees actually need is to lock up and secure our infield with Francisco Lindor. The kid makes perfect sense across the table. We need left-handed punch and to fill the hole that Didi Gregorious left at short. Gleyber Torres with all due respect is a much better second baseman than he is a shortstop. – El

The obsession with Arenado is that he’s the best all-around third baseman in baseball. As for Lindor, if the Yankees could somehow trade for him I would also be all for it. The difference is Arenado would cost only money as the Rockies are looking at moving him in a straight salary dump the way the Marlins moved Giancarlo Stanton, while Lindor will cost actual players.

As for the knock on Torres, I disagree. I would expect Torres to be a better second baseman than shortstop the same way I would expect any major leaguer to be a better second baseman than shortstop since it’s an easier position to play. But Torres came up as a shortstop (except for the brief time he playing third base in the minors before a season-ending injury in 2017, so the Yankees could stop playing Chase Headley), and he was only playing second because of Gregorius. Gregorius is gone, so Torres is the shortstop the way he was before Gregorius came back last season, and he’s going to be playing shortstop for a long, long time … unless the Yankees do something like acquire Lindor.

I’d like to have the best player in baseball at every position, but there are financial implications. They got in trouble chasing every free agent and came back to prominence developing their farm system. They laid out big money with Gerrit Cole, and huge payouts lie ahead for Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Luis Severino. – Michael

There are financial implications to signing big-name free agents, but the Yankees are the Yankees and have more financial resources than any other team in the sport and should use that to their advantage. It was disgusting when they came one win away from the World Series in 2017 and then cut payroll by nearly $50 million for 2018, and their decision to sit out on every free-agent pitcher not named J.A. Happ for 2019 cost them the AL pennant once again.

The Yankees have returned to prominence by building up their farm system, but when you have a young core making the league minimum or in arbitration years, that’s when you should add free agents to the roster before the young core needs to be paid. Judge and Sanchez both got significant raises this season and Severino got a four-year, $40 million contract last season. Those numbers are only going to continue to go up, and that’s why it’s more important than ever for the Yankees to win a championship as soon as possible before ownership decides to go back into a signing freeze due to an increasing payroll they can more than afford.

I predict Giancarlo Stanton will have a banner year. Hope he has a great year and opts out. – Jack

Last week, I wrote that I’m going to give a clean slate to Stanton for 2020. No sarcasm to start the season, no snarky comments, no “Ladies and gentlemen” tweets on Opening Day. I’m going to be positive when it comes to Stanton for as long as he lets me be positive.

The response to that blog hasn’t been great. Either people don’t believe me, saying I won’t be able to last through the fourth inning of Opening Day, or they despise Stanton so much that they’re appalled that I’m willing to be positive when it comes to him.

I really do believe Stanton is a luxury for the Yankees. He was a luxury when the Yankees were able to acquire him for nothing and he’s become even more of a luxury with the team proving it can win without him. They don’t need him to be his pre-Yankee self to win. Last season, they were able to win 103 regular-season games and get to within two wins of the World Series without him. But even though he’s a luxury, I would very much welcome him returning to his pre-Yankee self and being an MVP candidate, especially with Aaron Hicks out for most of the season and the unpredictability of what Brett Gardner, Mike Tauchman and Clint Frazier will provide.

When it comes to his opt-out clase though, you can forget about that. Even without a 2017-like season, on the open market, Stanton wouldn’t come close to getting what he’s owed as a 31-year-old who will obviously spend his later years as a DH. Even if he thought he was worth more and could get more, who would pay him? The Yankees would be out on him. The now small-market-operating Red Sox would be out on him. The Astros? No. Unless the NL adopts the DH, I can’t see any NL team wanting him. He will be three years removed from his historic season with one good season (2018), one nine-game season (2019) and whatever he does in 2020 since his MVP campaign. Stanton isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to be a Yankee.

Want to be included in the next Monday Mail? Email your questions to KeefeToTheCity@gmail.com or engage on the Keefe To The City Facebook page or on Twitter.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Early in the 2018 season, David Price was scheduled to start against the Yankees before being mysteriously scratched. The reasons for the surprise missed scheduled start varied from wrist tightness to hand numbness to tenderness, but when Price was able to return to the mound and start just a few days later, it was obvious what the reason for him being scratched was: the Yankees.

Not even a month prior to his scratch on April 11, Price lasted only an inning against the Yankees, and not even two months after the scratch, Price would have his worst performance against the Yankees on July 1 on Sunday Night Baseball. Price’s line from that July 1 start: 3.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 5 HR. The Yankees produced five home runs without Gary Sanchez, who has hit Price better than any other major leaguer. Price would pick up a no-decision against the Yankees on Aug. 5 and then was embarrassed once more by them on Sept. 19 (5.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 3 HR).

That season, his miserable history against the Yankees culminated in Game 2 of the ALDS when he was once again lit up. Ten pitches into the game Aaron Judge sent a 1-2 pitch high over the Green Monster in left-center where few have ever hit a ball, and then leading off the second, Sanchez crushed the third pitch of the inning over the Monster as well. Price didn’t make it through the second inning as he was pulled after recording only five outs (1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 2 HR), leaving the game with two runners. After his departure, Judge barreled up Joe Kelly, but the 109.8 mph line drive was hit directly at Betts otherwise Price’s final line would have been much worse than it already was.

The last time the Yankees got to face Price as a Red Sox was on Aug. 4 of this past season, and he put together his usual performance, unable to last three innings at Yankee Stadium (2.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 HR).

Price leaves Boston and the American League with the current Yankees roster having a .317/.383/.639 line against him in 231 plate appearances. That’s a 1.022 OPS. Within the overall performance are some memorable individual performances:

Gary Sanchez (21 plate appeances): .500/.619/.1625, 6 HR, 12 RBIs
Aaron Judge (16 plate appearances): .308/.438/1.000, 3 HR, 3 RBIs
Luke Voit (10 plate appearances): .444/.500/1.444, 3 HR, 4 RBIs

(Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres, Gio Urshela Miguela Andujar and Kyle Higashioka have also homered off Price.)

Unfortunately, the Yankees will no longer have the luxury of seeing Price multiple times during the regular season. There won’t be anymore video game-related injury excuses or last-minute scratches or early exits for the $217 million pitcher against the Yankees.

The Yankees won’t have a chance to see him until 2022 — in the last year of his contract — when the Yankees next play the NL West in the regular season, unless the Yankees and Dodgers meet in the World Series. If they do finally meet in the World Series, the Dodgers will want to begin whichever game he starts with their bullpen up.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Deivi Garcia? Goodbye. Miguel Andujar? See ya. Gio Urshela? Good luck. Clint Frazier? So long. Any young, major-league ready Yankee not named Gleyber Torres? Take care. If it means acquiring Nolan Arenado, it doesn’t matter which prospect goes. It might not be good for baseball that Arenado signed an eight-year, $260 million extension with the Rockies not even a year ago (Feb. 26, 2019) and they’re already trying to get out from under the contract, but it’s good for the Yankees.

A trade for Arenado makes all the sense in the world for the Yankees since they are already close to exceeding the third luxury-tax threshold in their quest to reach the World Series in more than a decade. Yes, they are already the World Series favorite with Urshela at third base coming off the only above-average offensive season of his career and with Andujar returning from season-ending shoulder surgery. But they would be adding the best all-around third baseman in the game in Arenado, for essentially only money, which incase you forgot because the Yankees sometimes forget, is the organization’s greatest resource. Any player or prospect the Yankees would have to add would either be blocked for playing time by the trade, no longer part of the team’s plans anyway, far enough away from the majors to know if they will actually reach the majors or they would be Garcia. And for as excited as I am to see Garcia either in the rotation or in the bullpen, if it means getting Arenado then I’m more than fine with seeing Garcia in the Rockies’ rotation or bullpen.

In Arenado, the Yankees would be getting a career .295/.351/.546 hitter who averages 40 doubles, 36 home runs and 115 RBIs a year, and a defensive third baseman who has never not won the Gold Glove during his seven years in the majors. If you thought Urshela was a breath of fresh air from Andujar with his fielding, Arenado makes Urshela look like Andujar. (Maybe that was a little mean.) Arenado might have inferior career numbers away from Coors Field though it’s hard to find a Rockies hitter who hasn’t experienced similar issues. There was a fear DJ LeMahieu would sink in the American League and away from Coors, and he went out and had a career year playing half his games in Yankee Stadium, finishing fourth for the AL MVP.

As for the Opening Day lineup with Arenado in it, please only keep reading if you have access to a cold shower in the next few minutes:

1. DJ LeMahieu, 2B
2. Aaron Judge, RF
3. Nolan Arenado, 3B
4. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5. Gleyber Torres, SS
6. Gary Sanchez, C
7. Mike Tauchman, LF
8. Luke Voit, 1B
9. Brett Gardner, CF

(Yes, Aaron Boone would bat Voit behind Tauchman to break up the lefties, so he could have some sort of input on the lineup.)

That lineup features a 23-year-old superstar coming off a 38-home run, .871 OPS season batting fifth. It has the best power-hitting hitting catcher who hit 34 home runs in only 106 games last year batting sixth. It has last season’s Opening Day 3-hitter who had a .901 OPS through June 29 before suffering a season-crushing abdomen injury batting eighth. It has Boone’s choice to bat third in the postseason batting ninth. Yes, the last one was a joke, but in reality, anything Gardner gives you, and I mean anything, is a bonus in this order. And whenever Aaron Hicks returns (don’t count on an early return from his surgery rehab timeline), the lineup will be even deeper, which seems impossible. Sure, it’s right-handed heavy, but it’s going to be that way whether Arenado is in it or Urshela or Andujar, so it might as well be with the perennial MVP candidate, All-Star and Silver Slugger.

I can’t help but think the Yankees aren’t done this offseason. Signing Gerrit Cole and re-signing Gardner can’t be all they are going to do to improve, even if signing Cole was the equivalent of signing two front-end starters since it takes him away from their biggest competition in the Astros. I do believe Cole is enough to get the Yankees back to the World Series, but enough has never been enough for the Yankees. Having David Cone and Andy Pettitte didn’t stop them from trading for Roger Clemens, and getting Clemens didn’t stop them from signing Mike Mussina. When they had Pettitte, Clemens and Mussina, it didn’t stop them from bringing David Wells back. A lineup with Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano wasn’t enough to prevent them from acquiring Bobby Abreu. Signing CC Sabathia didn’t keep them from also signing A.J. Burnett and then Mark Teixeira, and none of those signings kept them from offering Cliff Lee the most money a couple offseasons later. Two months after the Baby Bombers went to Game 7 of the ALCS and Aaron Judge finished second for AL MVP as a right fielder, they still went out and acquired the NL MVP in Giancarlo Stanton who also plays right field. The Yankees have (nearly) always used their embarrassment of riches in their favor. Have two aces? Go get another one. Have too many bats for not enough lineup spots? Teach one of them to play first base. Have a 6-foot-7, 25-year-old, MVP-candidate right fielder? Trade for a 6-foot-6, 28-year-old, MVP-winning right fielder.

This October will be 11 years since the Yankees last reached the World Series, let alone won it. Their core is entering their prime just as the Red Sox are holding an Everything Must Go! sale, the Rays’ ceiling still isn’t enough, the Blue Jays are a few years away and the Orioles are … well, they’re the Orioles. The division is the Yankees once again and it’s their’s for the foreseeable future. The regular season has become the formality it was from 1995 through 2012, serving as a six-month rehearsal to win 11 games in October. October still might be a crapshoot where nothing is guaranteed and the only thing you can do is put the best possible roster together and hope to get a few timely hits and big outs, but a trade for Arenado would add a few percentage points in the Yankees’ favor before they roll.

When a player like Arenado is made available, you don’t let him go somewhere else. And when a player like Arenado is made available and you’re the odds-on favorite to win the World Series in the middle of a championship window in the middle of a championship drought, you make sure he doesn’t go anywhere else.

The Yankees have the pieces and finances to have a Number 28 batting third and playing third for them on Opening Day as they go for Number 28. Enough isn’t enough.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!