IT'S PAX TO THE FUTURE!

Yankees trade for Seattle ace, send back top prospect Sheffield

The Yankees made the first major move of the off-season on Monday, acquiring lefthanded starter James Paxton from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield and two minor leaguers.

Paxton, who went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts in 2018, represents a significant upgrade for the Yankees starting rotation, a weakness on a team that won 100 games and finished eight games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.

But Paxton may not be the last addition to the Yankees starting pitching staff; as the Bombers are expected to bid on free-agent lefthander Patrick Corbin, who went 11-7 for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, as well as inquire about two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and his teammate Carlos Carrasco, both of whom are reportedly being shopped by the Cleveland Indians.

The Yankees have also expressed interest in signing freeagent left J.A. Happ, who went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts after being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline.

And they are expected to enter the bidding for this winter’s two premier free agents, outfielder Bryce Harper and third baseman/shortstop Manny Machado, who could fill a vacancy created by Didi Gregorius’ elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and will cost him at least half of the 2019 season.

Previously, the Yankees had re-signed Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia, two holdovers from their 2009 World Championship team, to one-year deals for 2019. But even after adding Paxton to a rotation that includes Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, GM Brian Cashman said the Yankees were still in the market for starting pitching.

“After the CC signing I said we were looking to add multiple starters,’’ Cashman said on a conference call. “Obviously we’ve got one in the fold and at the very least we’re looking to add another. The defending World Champions reside in our division and starting pitching is a key area for us.’’

Cashman said he had been talking to Mariners GM Jerry DiPoto for about a month about dealing for Paxton, who has been injury-plagued throughout his six-year career but is remarkably effective when healthy. Paxton has spent time on the disabled list in four of the past five seasons with back, chest and forearm injuries but in 2018, he made 28 starts and pitched 160-1/3 innings, both career highs, and struck out 208 batters, an average of 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He also pitched a no-hitter, the first of his career, against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 8.

“We went through all his medicals and we feel he is trending in the right direction,’’ Cashman said. “There’s a risk always with any starting pitching, but we feel everything he’s experienced has been manageable and he is recovering from. There’s nothing that stood out other than that he is a pitcher.’’

Paxton avoided arbitration last year, signing a 1-year, $4.9M contract, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The Yankees should be able to get an affordable deal on Paxton in arbitration, considering his 2018 deal was relatively inexpensive. He won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2020 season.

Cashman said it was difficult to part with Sheffield, a 22year-old lefty acquired in 2016 as part of the multi-player deal that sent reliever Andrew Miller to the Indians. Sheffield, who projects as a middle-ofthe-rotation starter, appeared in three games as a September call-up, allowing three runs in 2-2/3 innings for a 10.12 ERA.

“It’s hard to give up someone you value a great deal,’’ Cashman said of Sheffield. “He’s knocking on the door, but we felt forced to go to the marketplace to import starters, and in order to do that you have to spend some currency. Sheff was one of the tough choices we had to make.’’

Also included in the deal were Erik Swanson, a 25-yearold righty who went 3-2 for Triple A Scranton in 2018, and outfielder Dom ThompsonWilliams, who hit .299 with 22 home runs and 74 RBI for the Yankees Single A affiliates in Charleston and Tampa last season.

“Hopefully, both clubs will get what they’re looking for out of this deal,’’ said Cashman, who is also trying to trade Sonny Gray. “I think I’ve been very open about what we’re looking to do. We had multiple starters on our wish list and Paxton was one of those starters. But I still got a lot of heavy lifting to do.’’