Three years ago the Yankees surprisingly subtracted from what had been an overwhelming strength during the 2015 regular season. Lefty setup man Justin Wilson, who’d emerged as Joe Girardi’s trusted seventh inning guy, was shipped to the Tigers for two largely unheralded pitching prospects. It was a head-scratcher at the time, to say the least.
“From Double-A on up, we’re definitely trying to improve the starting pitching depth,” said Brian Cashman after the trade. “Because it’s not an area of strength from the organization standpoint right now, especially with (Luis) Severino promoted to the big leagues. We’re trying to close the gap on alternative choices between Bryan Mitchell and Rookie Davis, for instance.