TAMPA — In this increasingly topsy-turvy baseball universe, you should turn your telescope around to get the best feel for how the Yankees will eventually reinforce their starting rotation.
It used to be, forever plus a year, that the Yankees would brandish their dollars as their weapon of choice to pursue another World Series title. These 2018 Yankees, however, will punctuate a trend that began nearly 10 years ago and hit some speed bumps along the way before establishing rank:
Their primary currency will be not dollars, but prospects.
Which means that a July trade, fueled by prospects, remains more likely than a spring-training pouncing on the lingering free-agent starting pitchers, which would be fueled by dollars.