For starters, Yankees eye several pitchers

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — At the press conference Monday to introduce Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees officials already were not only talking about what’s next, but working toward acquiring it. This is the organizational DNA: When the Yanks sense they can win, they increase their aggression.

The goal now is to add a starter or starters while staying under the $197 million luxury-tax threshold, which became easier to do Tuesday when the Yankees traded Chase Headley and his $13 million contract to the Padres, along with Bryan Mitchell, for Jabari Blash in what amounted to a salary dump.

In their ideal scenario, the Yankees would obtain a starter in the trade market who is due less than $10 million — perhaps shedding a player who makes some money in the deal to make falling under the threshold easier — and then re-sign CC Sabathia for something in the $10 million range.

Let’s say that acquired starter is Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole, which would give the Yanks him, Sabathia, Sonny Gray, Jordan Montgomery, Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, with prospects Albert Abreu, Chance Adams and Justus Sheffield getting close to the majors. That would provide the Yankees a strong, deep rotation to go along with a top lineup that now has Stanton, plus one of the game’s

best bullpens. So here are some thoughts on where I think the Yankees are looking and what it might cost to find that starter on the trade market: 1. Gerrit Cole, Pirates: The Yankees have done plenty of deals with the Pirates, even while finding it difficult to find common ground. But there already is a framework for this deal. Cole and Gray came up the same year (2013), they both are free agents after the 2019 campaign and they have somewhat similar track records.

Last July the Yankees sent Dustin Fowler, James Kaprielian and Jorge Mateo for Gray — and Fowler and Kaprielian were out with season-ending injuries at the time.

Clint Frazier has become more expendable with Stanton acquired. Are Frazier, Adams and Tyler Wade close to the Gray package? Could it be sweetened further with the addition of another arm such as Luis Cessa? Cole is guesstimated to make $7.5 million in arbitration (all arbitration forecasts come from MLB Trade Rumors).

2. Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks: Arizona is in an interesting spot. It made the playoffs last year. But it also is about to have key turnover with Corbin and A.J. Pollock looming as free agents after 2018 and Paul Goldschmidt following 2019, while Zack Greinke’s weighty contract makes it difficult to keep others.

The Yankees like groundballs and strikeouts, and Corbin — an athletic lefty — is an extreme groundball pitcher with good strikeout numbers. Once his slider locked in, he pitched well last year, with a 3.28 ERA in his final 21 games (20 starts). I keep wondering if the Yankees can use Dellin Betances ($4.4 million and a free agent after the 2019 season) as the main piece for teams looking for high-end relief help. Corbin is predicted for $8.3 million in his final arbitration year.

I also wonder if Alex Wood of the Dodgers could be obtained in the same way, with Betances fronting a package. 3. Michael Fulmer, Tigers: Detroit is rebuilding, and Fulmer is a big talent who is not even arbitration eligible. But should a rebuilding team turn one future piece into three or four? The Yankees have a deep farm system, and again I wonder about a four-player package that begins with Frazier and either Adams, Abreu or Sheffield. 4. Kendall Graveman/Sean Manaea, Athletics: Obviously, the A’s know the Yankees’ system well from the Gray trade. Graveman is intriguing, but there is worry about his shoulder and how poorly he pitched away from Oakland. Manaea is a lefty comparable to perhaps Montgomery. That might not be enough for the Yankees to give up Frazier. But what if the deal expanded, so the Yankees also got a strong left-on-left reliever such as Daniel Coulombe, who held lefties to a .596 OPS last year?

5. Jeff Samardzija, Giants: He has a lot of similarities with Michael Pineda — results that are not as good as his stuff and strikeout/walk numbers suggest. The difference is he is a massive innings-eater at a time when the Yanks need some sturdiness. Only Samardzija and Max Scherzer have topped 200 innings in each of the past five years.

The only way this works for the Yankees is if the Giants take Jacoby Ellsbury, who also would have to waive his notrade clause. Ellsbury has three years and $68.4 million left on his deal, Samardzija three years at $54 million. If this needed to be a complete salary wash, Denard Span has one year at $13 million left. So Samardzija plus Span equals $67 million compared to Ellsbury’s $68.4 million.

The Giants need power, particularly righty power, and Frazier projects to have it. The Yanks got rid of Headley’s contract by attaching Mitchell’s upside arm in the deal, and in this way the Yankees would be attaching Frazier to Ellsbury. Could Frazier, Domingo Acevedo and Tyler Wade in conjunction with Ellsbury get Samardzija?

6. Danny Duffy, Royals: Kansas City is thinking more and more of a full rebuild and knows its ace would get a strong return. He has four years at $60 million left and would count $13 million against the 2018 luxury-tax payroll. He did have an elbow impingement late last season (from which he returned to make three starts), plus was arrested and charged with DUI. Like with the A’s and Coulombe, if the Royals include quality lefty Scott Alexander, I can imagine the Yankees giving more in talent.