The quest for Derek Jeter's replacement has begun. The NY Post speculates on a prime target of the Yankee search:
One shortstop who at least has the Yankees intrigued as
they rev up their efforts to find Derek Jeter’s successor is Texas’
Elvis Andrus.
The Yankees would have to feel Andrus is a buy-low candidate whose
downturn on both sides of the ball in 2014 was reversible and that, at
26, his best years are ahead of him.
Andrus’ eight-year, $120 million extension does not even begin until
next season and runs through at least 2022. Texas would love to unload
that deal as it searches this market for starting pitching. The Rangers
can go inexpensive in the middle infield with some combination of
Rougned Odor, Jurickson Profar and Luis Sardinas. However, they would be
more comfortable doing that if they knew for sure Profar was going to
be healthy moving forward after missing all of 2014 after tearing (then
re-tearing) a muscle in his shoulder.
Andrus has played at least 145 games in each of his six Rangers
seasons. However, he has yet to translate the promise he showed in
helping Texas win the AL pennant in 2010 and 2011 into becoming a
star-level player.
He was said to show up overweight last year and that negatively
impacted his season. Andrus hit .263 with a .647 OPS in 2014 and, while
he stole 27 bases, his 15 caught stealings led the AL. He was 42 out of
50 in 2013.
Starlin Castro is a better bargain for the Yankees. He is signed through 2019 for only $44 million (with a $16 million team option in 2020). Castro has a 9.4 career WAR (2.0 WAR in 2015). I have speculated for more than a year that Castro to the Yankees would make sense. The problem is the Yankees don't have much major league ready prospects that the Cubs could want (with the exception of AA catcher Gary Sanchez, #2 ranked prospect). But Yankee cash can smooth out any transaction.
A story like this one in the Post will start to kick the tires on other clubs to start discussing potential deals with the Yankees. And other teams looking for a shortstop will start to contact the Cubs, who have four major league ready middle infielders (Castro, Baez, Alcantara and Russell) ready for action. I expect one of these four to be traded in 2015, most likely for starting pitching.
