Yesterday, Bryan Hoch tweeted a poll that got the gears in the ol’ noggin churning.
#Yankees poll: Would you have traded Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and two other prospects to the White Sox for Chris Sale?
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) January 24, 2017
I thought it was odd that Hoch would tweet such a specific trade proposal for Sale, a player who the Red Sox acquired nearly two months ago. As it turns out, there was something to the tweet.
Is this what was on the table? https://t.co/mePrxejorX
— Andrew (@Andrew_Rotondi) January 24, 2017
@Anacott4 It’s what Cashman said would have been the starting point to get Sale.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) January 24, 2017
Last week, I speculated that Cashman was referring to Jose Quintana when he said that nobody wanted to do the trade business he was proposing this offseason. He was actually referencing a different White Sox pitcher — Chris Sale.
I, along with 95% of people who voted in the poll, agree that would have been a dumb move for the Yankees. Gary Sanchez, even if we are overhyping expectations for him this season, is currently the cornerstone of the Yankees future plans. If everything goes the way we want it to, El Kraken will be front-and-center the next time the Yankees parade the World Series trophy through the Canyon of Heroes.
As for Severino and the two mystery prospects Hoch mentioned? That makes sense, assuming those other two prospects are not named Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier — which I think is fair to assume or else Hoch would have said them by name. The deal-breaker in this, and any other deal (with the exception of trading for Mike Trout), is Gary Sanchez.
It’s unknown if Cashman countered with a different centerpiece to the Sale trade, but it seems about in-line with what the White Sox eventually accepted from Boston — Yoan Moncada, the number one prospect in MLB.
Sale was a great pickup for Boston (hot take, I know…). He makes sense for what they are doing now. The Yankees, on the other hand, still have plenty of building to do, and adding Chris Sale but subtracting Gary Sanchez is not a step in the right direction.
