One of the marquee trades of the 2016 MLB Offseason saw the New York Yankees acquire Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds. If you were the Cubs, would you trade Kyle Schwarber to the Yankees if you could get both Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman in return?
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In other words, players from the more developed countries would be treated like free agents while those from places like the Dominican Republic or Venezuela would be bound to whatever team drafted them.
Chapman hasn’t been a disaster, it hasn’t even been bad (most of the time), but he’s served his goal and it’s time to move on. The Cubs could use some more arms in the back end of their bullpen and Miller is the ideal fit.
Some small market teams would like an global draft, like the amateur draft, so the teams with more scouting resources wouldn’t have a significant edge. Miller signed through the 2018 season and could be a long term fit in the Cubs bullpen.
Miller, the 6-foot-7 left-hander who can close or setup, went into the second half with a 1.37 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. They have given Miller reassurance that he would not be traded unless they are blown away for an offer. They’ve actually played seven games above.500 since he was activated from his domestic violence suspension. A number of their pitchers in the starting rotation and bullpen along with position players are of great interest to rival team in the league. It was a formulaic victory for NY: starter Ivan Nova went six innings before pithy outings by Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Chapman closed things out. The Yankees traded four very middling prospects for the ace reliever following allegations of a domestic violence incident.
As for the Yankees, a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking recently told Yahoo’s Jeff Passan that Schwarber is on the top of GM Brian Cashman’s list of priority, and that “Cash thinks he can hit 50 home runs there”. However, the Yankees think Schwarber’s power and Yankee Stadium will be a flawless fit.
Schwarber is not a strong defensive player and was exposed as lackluster in the field during the Cubs’ NLCS sweep at the hands of the Mets last October.
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While the Yankees are still pretending they are playoff contenders, the front office has at least started discussing deals from the perspective of a seller.
