The New York Yankees presumably hope to address some of their needs this winter, looking to add a right-handed bat, some middle relief help and potentially a starter. If they do go after a starter, they aren't expect to target one of the big three that will hit the market this winter, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Zack Greinke, David Price and Johnny Cueto headline the field of free agent starting pitching, with a number of teams planning to be in the mix for the three. The Yankees appear to be less than enthusiastic about handing over $200 million dollars to one of these three, all on the wrong side of thirty. Instead they may target a second tier starter, like Jeff Samardzija who we can safely assume commands less than that.
It's a little shocking to see the Yankees not involved in some of these high-priced names at least in a historical perspective, but they have committed to getting themselves under the luxury tax threshold. And they do have a stable core of young pitchers to build around.
Michael Pineda, as long as he stays healthy, provides depth to the top of the rotation. The Yankees have their ace in Masahiro Tanaka. Young starters like Luis Severino and Nathan Eovaldi round out the rotation. And that doesn't include C.C. Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Adam Warren who they could turn to.
It was because of this depth that they chose to stand pat at the deadline, not adding any starter to their rotation. Based off of their needs, the Yankees would be wise to go after their bat and relief help first and circle back to the starters after to see what is left. If they have to go with the rotation they currently have, they should feel strong about their chances.