New York Yankees Trade Rumors: Andrew McCutchen To The Bronx? Will Yankees Scoop Mets?
New York Yankees trade rumors suddenly link the team to Andrew McCutchen again. While no negotiations have been confirmed by the front office in New York, the team has shown interest in acquiring McCutchen in the past. A report from a Yankees fan site has generated a lot of attention on social media, causing many fans of the team to begin debating about whether it would be a good deal or not.
So how would this New York Yankees trade work with the Pittsburgh Pirates? In theory, it would become a three-team deal, with the Chicago White Sox drawn into the mix. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Pirates have been pushing hard to acquire starting pitcher Jose Quintana from the White Sox. The White Sox are in the middle of a “fire sale,” so they have little interest in acquiring McCutchen and his salary. This is where a third team makes a lot of sense. What would be surprising is if it is the Yankees and not the New York Mets entering the negotiations.
In a trade scenario involving three teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates would acquire Jose Quintana, the New York Yankees would get Andrew McCutchen, and the Chicago White Sox would get prospects from both the Yankees and Pirates. It’s a trade that makes sense on paper, even though there aren’t a lot of facts to go along with the story (yet). So far, it seems to just be a lot of conjecture on social media, with the story possibly getting pushed by a Yankees blog in order to generate traffic.
Another interesting wrinkle in these New York Yankees trade rumors is that the team has shown interest in acquiring Jose Quintana. After the White Sox traded Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox, it became very obvious that the White Sox would also be dealing Quintana. Several teams make a lot of sense, including the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Yankees, and Pirates. Another reason the Yankees might help to facilitate a trade where Quintana doesn’t head to New York is that it will ensure he goes to a National League team.
In regard to the salaries, Quintana will make $7 million during the 2017 MLB season and then $8.85 million in 2018. He then has two club options worth $10.5 million in 2019 and $11.5 million for 2020. That works out to about $37.85 million over the next four years. McCutchen, who is 29-years-old, has played eight seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The All-Star outfielder is under contract for $14 million in 2017 and has a team option worth $14.75 million in 2018. Both players are extremely affordable under their current deals, keeping it from being a cost-prohibitive trade.
For the deal to work with three teams and for these New York Yankees trade rumors to be more than just conjecture, the Chicago White Sox would need enough talent to come back for Jose Quintana. The White Sox would most likely want Tyler Glasnow from the Pirates, as well as a good-to-great prospect from the Yankees. It would also likely require several second-tier prospects from both franchisees to get the deal done.
If the return price for Chris Sale and Adam Eaton is any indication of what it would take to get this deal done, then the White Sox aren’t going to want spare parts for Quintana. If Quintana gets dealt, is slugger Jose Abreu next? He could also lead to a nice group of prospects, especially if a team like the Baltimore Orioles or Colorado Rockies made the call.
It’s worth repeating that while these rumors do make sense and could provide a lot of excitement to all three franchises, they really are just rumors at this point. The teams have all been involved in discussions about the players involved in this three-team scenario, but no reports suggest that it has advanced to a stage that could be considered close to taking place. Still, these New York Yankees rumors do raise some interesting questions, beginning with how good the Chicago White Sox can be in a few years with all the young talent the franchise is collecting.
[Featured Image by Al Bello/Getty Images]
