Did Edwin Encarnacion become a pitcher when I wasn’t looking?
The Yankees have admitted their primary need before the July 31 trade deadline is a starting pitcher to bolster a highly suspect and shallow rotation. And yet, with Madison Bumgarner and Marcus Stroman still out there toiling for losing teams going nowhere, the Yankees instead acquired an aging designated hitter.
On Saturday night the Yankees acquired Encarnacion, the American League home run leader, from the Mariners for 19-year-old minor league pitching prospect Juan Then, who Seattle previously traded to New York in November 2017.
The Yankees have now acquired two players since May who fit that mold. What’s going on here?
Encarnacion, who is costing the Yankees $7.5 million through next year and only about $3 million for luxury tax purposes this year, now takes the place of Kendrys Morales, a complete bust who has hit .177 and has only dinged a single homer after being acquired from the A’s on May 14, and before going on the injured list with a strained calf on June 12.
But if you’re wondering why the Yankees would be more focused on adding power to their lineup instead of depth in the starting rotation, the answer is rather obvious: They are worried about the health of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, both of whom are due back from the IL this week. More precisely, they are not at all convinced the two big guys, with histories of debilitating muscle pulls, won’t re-injure themselves between now and the postseason.
Either way, with Encarnacion on board and Judge and Stanton not far behind, the Yankees will be returning to the home-run-or-bust offense that proved not nearly as entertaining as the put-the-ball-in-play style fashioned by DJ LeMahieu, Gio Urshela & Co. — who have gone 32-16 in the absence of the two big sluggers.
But we digress. Encarnacion is nothing more than an insurance policy for the offense. But when are the Yankees going to address the real issue — the starting rotation — that will determine just how far they will go this season? And what will they do about it?
That they are in first place at this juncture of the season is credit to Brian Cashman and his scouts for recognizing the abilities of LeMahieu, Urshela, Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres and Co. However, when it comes to starting pitchers the GM has a rather dubious track record of acquiring too many guys who looked good elsewhere but couldn’t pitch in New York. This list is long: Denny Neagle, Esteban Loaiza, Carl Pavano, Jeff Weaver, Javy Vazquez and Sonny Gray.
The number of quality starting pitchers available at this year’s trade deadline is yet to be finalized; Bumgarner, Stroman, Detroit’s Mathew Boyd are on that list for sure and the Indians’ Trevor Bauer will very likely make an appearance. The Rangers’ Mike Minor and Mets’ Zack Wheeler fates are still to be determined based on where their respective teams are a month from now. But given his track record, Cashman might be well advised to throw out all the stats and analytics and ask himself this question: Who, among all these pitchers, would you most entrust with the ball for Game 1 of the postseason?
If he does, there is only one answer. It does not matter if Bumgarner has lost a tick or two off his fastball, he’s still a bona-fide No. 1, with a resume that suggests he’s one of the greatest postseason pitchers ever. New York would not scare him. Rather, he would likely thrive, going from a last-place team to a first-place team, on the biggest stage in baseball, with free agency and another big contract beckoning.
With Encarnacion secured in his goodie bag, Cashman’s most consequential trade is still to come. But if he wants to avoid yet another Sonny Gray/Javy Vazquez/Denny Neagle fiasco, he needs to go with the one criteria the analytics don’t provide: makeup. Because unlike all the other pitchers expected to be available on the trade market, we all know what’s in Madison Bumgarner’s heart.
