Ever since the Yankees elected to vend its two coveted closers for a slew of top prospects at last summer’s trade deadline, New York’s implemented strategy has been to assemble homegrown talent, and build around the youth with accomplished superstars.
With one of the best farm systems in baseball, the Yankees can travel down several avenues. Instead of waiting to discover whether or not each prospect’s abilities will translate to the major leagues, an option could be to make an even bigger trade, one which could be headlined by baseball’s wunderkind.
According to one MLB scout, New York may be preparing to deal a bevy of top-ranked prospects to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for 25-year-old outfielder Mike Trout, a conversation that occurred with Sweeney Murti of WFAN.
“You don’t accumulate all those prospects with the intent of keeping them all,” the scout told me. “They have value and it makes complete sense to spin off four of five of them for Trout. It’s very much a Yankees kind of move and makes too much sense for them.”
Two years separate the Yankees from a special 2018 free-agent class, which will include Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and Clayton Kerhsaw, to name a few. But the inclination to hold on to players such as Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier, and Gleyber Torres may be too strong.
The same feelings likely exist in Anaheim, as one anonymous general manager told Murti that the Angels can’t afford to move the best player in baseball, despite the franchise’s recent lack of success and the plausibility of a deal.
“All of that is true,” a GM said. “But that has zero percent chance of happening.” Talk about a killjoy. “Nobody wants to trade that guy,” the GM told me. “Billy can’t be the guy who traded Mike Trout. Arte Moreno (the Angels owner) can’t be that guy. It would be like the Bulls trading Michael Jordan in his prime. The only thing that team has going right now is Mike Trout. Without him they’d be a Triple-A team.”
Trout, who isn’t eligible for free-agency until the 2021 offseason, has a chance to finish in the top two of the American League MVP award vote for the fifth consecutive year, after hitting .315 with 29 home runs and 100 RBI in 2016. He has also accumulated a WAR of 48.5–the most of any player at that age in history.
