The Yankees had a few needs coming into the off-season. One is they need to let the Rays win more games against them. Two, is their need for an established starter to give them the one two punch they need. They got that and more in former Mariners starter James Paxton.

Yankees Recieve:

• James Paxton

Mariners Receive:

• Justus Sheffield
• Erik Swanson
• Don Thompson-Williams

The Yankees needed another established starter. After the Sonny Gray trade went south, J.A. Happ being just a fill in to end the 2018 season,  the Yankees NEEDED another starter. Paxton will more than fill that void. The world knows James Paxton, when not hurt, is one of the higher end starters in the bigs. With a fastball touching mid-90’s and sometimes even upper 90’s, that alone will do enough. Paxton has his slider he throws in the low 90’s with a change up as well but his fastball is his best pitch. Paxton has always had the stuff to succeed but finally had his break out season in 2017 where he went 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA only throwing 160.1 innings but striking out 208 batters. 2018 he let the baseball know he was ready to break out with his 99 pitch no hitter in Toronto. With Paxton sliding in the rotation, the Yankees now have Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Paxton, C.C. Sabathia and now are on the hunt for a fifth starter. Sonny Gray has probably over stayed his welcome.

Justus Sheffield was ranked by Baseball Prospectus as baseballs 22nd best prospect. Sheffield was without a doubt the headliner of this deal. Armed with a mid to high 90’s fastball and a hard slider, Sheffield has the stuff to be a really good starter, but there are major concerns with his control. Sheffield had a good year at Triple-A producing an ERA of 2.86 while striking out 84 in 88 innings while also earning his first cup of coffee in with the Major League club throwing 2.2 innings but not so well. Sheffield walked 50 batters in 116 innings at all his stops last year from Double-A through the majors. Sheffield has the potential to be a number two-three starter when it’s all said and done.

Erik Swanson is a 25 year old right hander who pitched at all three minor league levels in 2018 producing a 2.66 ERA with an 8-2 record with 139 strike outs in 121.2 innings total. Not to mention his WHIP of 1.003. So to say this man is a throw in would be a misleading statement. Who knows what his projection could be, but based on his minor league numbers, there’s a chance he could become an impact starter down the line. Prior to the trade, MLB.com had Swanson as their 22nd ranked prospect in their system.

Dom Thompson-Williams is a 23 year old outfielder drafted in the 5th round of 2016 draft. Thompson-Williams was promoted to High-A ball last year playing 90 games with them slashing .290/.356/.517 with 17 home runs, 17 steals and 65 RBI’s. I don’t think this man is just a random dude the GM closed his eyes and pointed to a piece of paper with 20 other guys on it. It’s obviously too early to tell if he will become a legit threat for a big league roster, but for what it’s worth MLB.com did not rank Willams as a top 30 prospect in their system prior to the trade.

My takeaway from this trade is that the Yankees didn’t think too highly of Sheffield. If they thought he was going to be legit, why trade him when he’s only 23 and just had his first taste in the bigs? Then again, Paxton is still under team control for the next two years becoming a free agent in 2021. Paxton made $4.9 million in 2018 and is most likely due for a bigger raise here in 2019 closer to the $10 million mark. So he is on the “cheaper” side in regards to how much money baseball players are making.

All in all, fuck the Yankees. Love Paxton because he is a good dude, but all of the American League East is playing for is who will lose to the Tampa Bay Rays this season. Sting em Rays up, Rays up Sting em baby.

P.S.- The Rays designated C.J Cron for assignment after he hit 30 bombs this year. Just showing baseball might be done with the Russell Branyon type players. Sad. Maybe bring back roids?