For the last few years, fans have dreamed about a scenario where the New York Yankees were able to land Kyle Schwarber from the Chicago Cubs.
This may be the best time for the Yankees to do so.
The Yankees were hoping for Shohei Otani since he could be a hitter along with a starting pitcher. However, Otani told the Yankees no thanks to meeting with them since he has desires to play in a small market and on a West Coast team.
So with the Yankees in need of another bat and one particularly for the designated hitter spot, Kyle Schwarber is very much a need for them this off-season and fits in their current plans.
Schwarber is just 24 years old, is controllable contract wise and has a swing that is tailor-made for the homer haven Yankee Stadium; especially with the short porch in right field.
John Harper of the New York Daily News suggested a potential trade between the Yankees and Cubs involving Schwarber; Schwarber to the Yankees for Dellin Betances and Chance Adams.
It’s not a terrible idea at all, as it would be filling needs. However, if the Yankees really want to get creative, they can make a different form of this trade.
So here’s the proposal to offer Theo Epstein and the Cubs if you are Brian Cashman and the Yankees.
The Yankees acquire Kyle Schwarber.
The Cubs acquire Dellin Betances, Chance Adams and Jacoby Ellsbury.
The Yankees are desperately trying to move Ellsbury this winter, as they’ve already declared him their fourth outfielder and have been actively talking to teams about trying to make a deal.
If the Cubs wanted Betances for their bullpen and to make him their potential closer, that would be a drawing point for them. Betances is a four-time All Star reliever who wants to get a pay raise. Becoming a closer will get him that and with Aroldis Chapman there for four more years, Betances won’t be closing games anytime soon in New York.
But he could certainly do so in Chicago. So if the Cubs really want him, you offer him up, with Chance Adams, and then you make an agreement on how much of Ellsbury’s salary gets taken to move him.
The 34-year-old Ellsbury is making $21 million for the next three years; a salary that the Yankees certainly want to get rid of and in order to do that, they will have to include him in a trade offer. So why not offer him to his former GM from the Boston Red Sox who now runs things in Chicago in Epstein?
Back at the 2016 trade deadline when the Yankees were moving Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees asked for Schwarber, but the Cubs were hesitant on moving him and instead, the Yankees got Gleyber Torres in that trade. But the Cubs have since added other younger talent that has made Schwarber expendable for them.
So this is where Cashman and Epstein make another deal with one another and fill several needs with this deal.
Schwarber will fill the Yankees DH role on a permanent basis and he won’t have to worry about finding a position in the field.
Betances will strengthen the Cubs bullpen and give him a chance to be a future closer. Ellsbury would also give the Cubs a veteran outfielder who gets a chance to shine again away from New York. And for the Yankees sake, they can shed some of his deal and fill his roster spot with a player who will not be a $153 million pinch running fourth outfielder.
The Yankees and Cubs have been frequent trade partners before. They should look to be trade partners again this winter and make this deal happen.