“I don’t even know what that means.”
“No one knows what it means. But it’s provocative.”
“No, it’s not —”
“It gets the people goin’!”
— “Blades of Glory,” 2007
Get ready for some exciting changes, Yankees fans! The last time New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner spoke with reporters on Nov. 7 during the GM meetings, he said there would be “some big changes” this offseason.
“There’s going to be changes some people might not consider significant, but (Aaron) Judge and I may because we’re doing this every day,” he added.
While we’re still not sure what that means, it is early in the offseason. The Yankees don’t seem to have made any big changes, and it’s unclear whether any are coming. But the roster seems headed for upgrades after the team missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016. With a free-agent market considered thin by many, the Yankees could look toward trades for help.
Here are four players who seem most likely to be shopped.
Clarke Schmidt, RHP
Exciting news for fans of Clarke Schmidt! Schmidt proved that he could be a capable big-league starting pitcher over the course of a full season in 2023. Over 33 games (32 starts), he posted a 4.64 ERA, netting a career-high in innings (159) while striking out 8.4 batters per nine innings and walking 2.6 over the same span. It was an up-and-down season, however, for the 27-year-old righty. He had a 6.30 ERA over his first nine starts, a 3.12 ERA over his next 14 starts (15 games) and a 5.73 ERA over his last nine starts, though that final span also included an eight-run meltdown.
The 2017 first-round pick earned Super Two status, meaning he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason. MLB Trade Rumors figures he’ll make $2.6 million in 2023. That’s a light sum for a full-time rotation member. Couple that with the fact that Schmidt won’t be a free agent until after the 2027 season and it makes the Georgia native an attractive Yankees trade chip.
Michael King, RHP
Michael King has been a valuable player for the Yankees in recent years and it’s exciting to see what he brings to the team. The last thing the Yankees (or their fans) want is to trade King, who has been so valuable to them in so many ways in recent years, and blossomed in the starting rotation at the end of last season. But to get, you have to give, and the 28-year-old right-hander will go into next season with lots of hype and a relatively low cost.
Coming back from a brutal injury in 2022 (he broke his elbow on the mound), King was strong once again out of the bullpen, posting a 3.08 ERA in 40 appearances. But his move to starter was one of the few bright spots of the second half of the Yankees’ season. Over his last eight games — all starts — he had a 1.88 ERA, earning him a spot in next season’s rotation.
