Yankees should look for pitching via trade

MILWAUKEE

'Generally," Brian Cashman said Tuesday, "if I had a pot of money and a pot of prospects, I'd rather spend the money than the prospects -- if they're the high-end prospects.

"If we believe that those players are going to translate into something really good at the major-league level, I'd rather spend the money and keep the prospects."

Makes sense, right? The Yankees pretty much print money, validating the cliche. A prospect supply, however, is finite.

This might just be the year for the Yankees to violate that tenet. To improve their pitching staff through the trade avenue, rather than outspending their opponents by even more. But they need to line up one more factor in their favor.

The Yankees met Tuesday with Bob Garber, the representative for free-agent pitchers C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, here at the general managers' meetings. Cashman said that both pitchers were discussed, "in a nondescriptive fashion."

Wilson figures to get five or even six guaranteed years, a prospect that made an uninvolved GM cringe anonymously when presented with that projection. It's a lot for a soon-to-be 31-year-old (his birthday is Friday) with control difficulties and an active Twitter account.

Wilson's agent, Bob Garber, said Tuesday that the Yankees invited Wilson to visit them in New York. However, a person familiar with the situation countered that Garber actually suggested the New York visit -- to which the Yankees are open, but one probably shouldn't read a great deal into it.

Oswalt? He has a great history, yet back problems put him on the disabled list twice in 2011.

The rest of the free-agent crop carries similar concerns, particularly for the Yankees. Could Mark Buehrle handle life in the AL East? Is Edwin Jackson worth a long-term investment?

The unappetizing market is the first incentive to make a trade. The second? The Yankees can boast of one of the game's best farm systems, with considerable depth beneath the top pitchers Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances. What they're missing is a fit with a trade partner.

The Yankees like lefthander John Danks of the White Sox, and Cashman has a good relationship with his counterpart Ken Williams. Danks is coming off a subpar 2011 season for him, and he's eligible for free agency a year from now.

Nevertheless, the Yankees aren't confident that they can move the White Sox off an ask of either Banuelos or Betances.

Oakland's Gio Gonzalez isn't as appealing, given how well he has performed in the A's pitcher-friendly ballpark (a 3.56 ERA in 273 innings) versus his road numbers (a 4.32 ERA in 262 1/3 innings). As someone under team control through 2015, he won't be dealt without the A's getting some major pieces in return.

Hence the Yankees feel compelled to play along in the Wilson sweepstakes, even though skepticism looms that Wilson will wind up in the Bronx. And they'll probably check in with Scott Boras, also present, on Jackson and lefty Bruce Chen. On a lower level, the Yankees will see if they can bring back Freddy Garcia (more likely) and Bartolo Colon (less likely).

Maybe the Yankees can outlast the White Sox, who appear to be leaning toward rebuilding mode. Maybe Cashman can sell Williams on the virtues of Adam Warren, or David Phelps.

Moods and desires can evolve throughout a baseball winter. At the moment, though, bet on the pinstriped pot of money getting turned over, and the pot of prospects remaining undisturbed.