MLB Trade Rumors: Will the New York Yankees Be Able to Move Jacoby Ellsbury This Offseason?
Yankees reportedly looking to move Ellsbury in the wake of acquiring outfielder Giancarlo Stanton
After acquiring one outfielder, the next item on the New York Yankees' to-do list this offseason could involve trading a different outfielder who may no longer have a role to play on the team.
With the Yankee outfield now expected to be patrolled by some combination of Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and the recently acquired Giancarlo Stanton, Jacoby Ellsbury is now seemingly out of the mix.
Heading into the 2017 season, Ellsbury was expected to be the man in centerfield for the Yankees, but injuries and the emergence of the aforementioned Hicks prompted the team to reduce the role of the former.
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Ellsbury's reduced role is expected to be diminished further heading into 2018, and rumors are hinting that the Yankees would prefer to trade him now and receive some salary relief in the process.
Doing so will not be easy, however.
Even if Ellsbury is still a moderately productive player, few teams will be willing to take on the kind of money remaining on his deal. This is why some analysts are suggesting some interesting ways for the Yankees to draw attention to their outfielder.
MLB insider Ken Rosenthal mentioned that perhaps the Yankees could include some of their better prospects in a deal along with Ellsbury to entice a team to take him on and a significant portion of the money remaining on his contract.
The Yankees seemingly have the prospects needed to make a move like that work.
Former top prospect Clint Frazier flashed enough talent in his debut season that there may be teams that can be talked into thinking he can become a future star, and since he is also an outfielder, he may not have much of a role next year too, so the team may be willing to deal him.
If Frazier is someone they want to hang on to, then the Yankees could still explore the possibility of including other top prospects such as Estevan Florial and Miguel Andujar in a potential trade.
However, even if the Yankees can determine which prospects they are willing to include in a trade along with Ellsbury and find a team ready to make a deal, there is still one more obstacle they will have to clear, and it is the toughest one.
Because Ellsbury has a no-trade clause, the Yankees will need him to sign off on a deal too, and the recent rumblings suggest that he would prefer not to go anywhere else.
Should the Yankees really make a run at trying to trade Ellsbury, they could end up using plenty of time trying to put a deal together only to have it collapse because he does not sign off on it. That would be a waste of the Yankees' time, and it would just end up hindering their efforts to get better.
The Yankees would be better served focusing on other matters this offseason, as putting all their energy into trying to move Ellsbury could end up all for naught pretty easily.
