Yankees have some tough calls to make
THERE is the long view and there is the prism of the non-waiver trade deadline, which arrives on Monday. At this moment, both appear to be converging for the Yankees as general manager Brian Cashman is tasked with the balancing act of safeguarding the future while giving this year’s team its best shot at making the playoffs.
The key question for Cashman and the front office deciders is whether Masahiro Tanaka’s eight-inning, twohit, 14-strikeout gem in Friday’s 6-1 victory over the Rays makes it more or less palatable to sacrifice a bit more than what may consider ideal in order to acquire Oakland’s top of the food chain starter, Sonny Gray.
For after passing the Red Sox and taking sole possession of the division lead for the first time since June 21, having made up a full five games on Boston within nine days off a 7-1 rush that includes five straight victories, the Yankees can dream what would have been deemed the impossible back in April by lining up a starting rotation featuring Gray, Tanaka, Luis Severino and CC Sabathia one-through-four with Jordan Montgomery in the five hole.
It would make for a formidable staff, especially with all the high-end power arms in the bullpen Joe Girardi has been gifted to manage by Cashman. You would think a hypothetical top four of that ilk could get the requisite 15-18 outs per game before turning the ball over to a permutation of Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Warren, David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman.
Tanaka, who was projected to be the ace, has been maddeningly inconsistent through a season in which he has at times reached the heights, but has also crashed and burned, and more than once. In 14 starts since May 14 that led into this one, Tanaka had pitched to a 5.97 ERA while allowing 82 hits in 72 ¹/3 innings, even while striking out 86 as opposed to walking only 16 over that stretch.
But the right-hander dominated right from the get-go in this one, striking out Tampa Bay’s first five batters and seven of the first eight on his way to retiring the first 17 men he faced before Aediny Hechavarria stroked a ground single into left field with two out in the sixth inning.
“I realized after the fifth inning that I hadn’t given up a hit,” Tanaka said. “That’s when I realized it. Then I gave up a hit in the sixth.”
The fans gave Tanaka an ovation following the hit and then another one when he left the field after striking out the side in the eighth.
“Loud and clear,” he said through an interpreter when asked if he had heard the crowd. “Hopefully I was able to entertain everybody.”
Tanaka did more than entertain. He saved the bullpen, save for the three ninth-inning outs on six pitches delivered by Robertson, for Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay in which Caleb Smith is set to make his second big league start.
The first one, Sunday in Seattle, did not go well. The 26year-old right-hander lasted just 3 2/3 while allowing four runs to the Mariners. Hence, Girardi more likely than not will have to rely on his phalanx of power arms in the bullpen to keep the ball rolling.
In that context, you can credit a save to Tanaka, as well as a victory.
“Our starters have straightened themselves out,” Girardi said. “And the bullpen has been dominant.”
The Yankees appear to be a couple of weeks away from being forced into returning Clint Frazier to Triple-A once Aaron Hicks returns to the active roster. Frazier clubbed a fifth-inning 455-foot threerun homer into the bleachers in left-center to extend the lead to 5-0 in this one.
“He’s given us a little jolt,” Girardi said.
But, roster and payroll realities loom and Frazier could be gone for a stretch preceding the September roster expansion unless, perhaps, Matt Holliday somehow finds his way back onto the DL.
There are tough choices ahead on and off the field, the most significant of which concerns just how far the Yankees will be willing to go in order to front their rotation with Gray.