TAMPA, Fla. — Losing effective lefty reliever Justin Wilson in an offseason trade became more easy to swallow for the Yankees when they acquired elite southpaw closer Aroldis Chapman two weeks later.
But at the time, many in baseball considered the deal at least curious.
Why trade away a valuable late-inning arm for a pair of Triple-A caliber starters in Luis Cessa and Chad Greene when the Yankees could have simply signed a pair of veterans to minor league deals to cover for their lack of rotation depth? Did Yankees general manager Brian Cashman have a plan to trade one, or both, of the starting pitchers in a subsequent deal that never materialized?