Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber among trade fits for pitching-needy Yankees

NEW YORK — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman left little doubt about his mission for the remainder of the offseason after trading seven pitchers to overhaul his outfield.

The deals to acquire Juan Soto, Trent Grisham and Alex Verdugo cost the Yankees an anticipated member of their 2024 rotation in Michael King; depth pieces in Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez who totaled 18 MLB starts last season; and multiple minor leaguers nearing their big league debuts.

“We’re in the market for pitching [to] see if we can reinforce it,” Cashman said in early December. “We like the pitching we have, but we also recognize that if we can add to it, it’s important to do [so].”

About a month later, the Yankees haven’t made much progress in that regard. Their rotation — currently comprised of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt — still has at least one vacancy after the Yankees failed to sign their top target, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who inked a historic $325 million deal with the Dodgers. Frankie Montas, whose February shoulder surgery limited him to 1 1/3 innings with the Yankees last season, has since signed with the Reds, eliminating another option.

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and former Yankees lefty Jordan Montgomery represent the best starting pitchers left in free agency, though neither will come cheap.

More options exist on the trade market, including a pair of former Cy Young winners, though it remains to be seen how many will actually be dealt. Even after losing so much pitching depth, the Yankees boast desirable trade pieces, particularly in the middle infield, where Oswald Peraza remains without an MLB starting spot and where three of the Yankees’ top minor league prospects play.

Here’s a look at which arms could be moved, and how they would fit with the Yankees.

Corbin Burnes, Brewers

The crown jewel among the potentially available pitchers is the Brewers ace Corbin Burnes, who is fresh off his third consecutive 200-strikeout season and third straight All-Star selection.

Equipped with a mid-90s cutter and put-away curveball, the 2021 NL Cy Young winner would form a top-tier tandem with Cole and allow Rodon, Cortes and Schmidt to slot lower in the Yankees rotation.

Like Soto, Burnes is a Scott Boras client who is set to become a free agent after the 2024 season and will likely test the open market. Rather than lose him for nothing, the small-market Brewers could opt to trade the right-handed Burnes.

The problem for the Yankees is that the Brewers, who won the NL Central last year, envision themselves contending again and could instead move Burnes, 29, at the trade deadline if their season goes sideways.

The chances of an offseason Burnes trade are dwindling, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Wednesday, but with the Yankees in win-now mode, they’ve already displayed a willingness to meet a high asking price for an impending free agent.

Shane Bieber, Guardians

Shane Bieber’s situation is quite similar to Burnes’. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner is set to test free agency after the 2024 season but is becoming less likely to be dealt soon, according to Passan, because the Guardians fancy themselves contenders in what was baseball’s weakest division last year.

The asking price figures to be lower for the 28-year-old Bieber, who only reached 130 innings once in the past three seasons due to injuries and who pitched to a 3.80 ERA and career-low 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings last year.

That may incentivize the Guardians to hang onto the right-handed Bieber to start the year and hope he reestablishes his value before the deadline. That’s a risk, of course, as another injury could tank a possible trade return.

A healthy Bieber would fit nicely behind Cole. He could also split up the left-handers Rodon and Cortes if the Yankees chose to stagger them.

Dylan Cease, White Sox

An ace considered likely to be dealt, according to Passan, is 28-year-old Dylan Cease, who finished second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022 after posting career bests with a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 184 innings.

Cease is coming off a down 2023, however, in which his ERA shot up more than two runs to 4.58. The White Sox, who finished 61-101 last season, are now rebuilding, as evidenced by a busy 2023 trade deadline that included sending Lucas Giolito to the Angels and Keynan Middleton to the Yankees.

Cease comes with question marks after his uneven campaign, but he has two years of team control remaining, which should appeal to the Yankees. Cashman acquired Nathan Eovaldi in 2014, Sonny Gray in 2017, James Paxton in 2018 and Montas in 2022 with the idea each could contribute to two playoff runs.

Jesus Luzardo, Marlins

A name receiving more hot-stove buzz recently is Jesus Luzardo, who quietly delivered a 208-strikeout season for the upstart Marlins last year.

Luzardo, 26, would make the Yankees rotation very left-handed, with he, Rodon and Cortes likely lining up back-to-back-to-back in some order. But that should be palatable, particularly with Yankee Stadium’s shallow right-field porch, if the Yankees believe Luzardo can build on a breakout 2023 in which he posted a 3.58 ERA over 178 2/3 innings.

Passan named the Yankees, along with the Mets, among the fits for Luzardo, who won’t be a free agent until 2027. The Marlins could decide to keep the promising pitcher after making the playoffs for the first time in a non-COVID-shortened season since 2003, though Miami authored enough fire sales over the years to know nobody’s off limits.