By Yankees standards 2014 has been a quiet offseason. The splashy high dollar moves have not been made by the Yankees up to this point, but there are still two ace pitchers on the market, Jon Lester, and Max Scherzer, as well as the highly touted Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada.
The offseason hasn’t been without signings and trades though. The most notable and recent of the signings was that of Andrew Miller. This left handed reliever was a great singing for the Yankees who went most of last season without a reliable left handed arm coming out of the bullpen. Miller is only 29 years old and is coming off his best season to date. Last year for Boston and Baltimore Miller posted a 2.02 ERA, .802 WHIP and 103 strikeouts in 62.1 innings. Millers already proven dominance in the AL East makes him a great commodity for the Yankees as they look to make it back into the postseason after missing the playoffs for only the third time in the Jeter ERA.
With the White Sox signing David Robertson late last night Miller’s role with the Yankees may be expanding from setup man to possible closer. This of course all depends on if the Yankees don’t believe they already have their future closer in Dellin Betances. Miller said he is prepared to close if that is what’s needed of him but is preparing for the season as if he is still the setup man.
The other important move the Yankees have made of lat was trading for shortstop Didi Gregorius. This was a three team deal in which the Yankees sent starting pitcher Shane Greene to the Tigers and Robbie Ray and Domingo Leyba from the Tigers to the Diamondbacks. Gregorius is going to be the replacement for Derek Jeter but he is still a work in progress. Gregorius is an outstanding defender with tons of range and an above average arm but he is still looking for a consistent swing. He has decent pop for a shortstop with 15 homerun potential but is only a .243 career hitter in limited work with the Diamondbacks. He is a decent on base guy with a career on base percentage of .313 which is .700 points above his batting average. At only 24 years old there is still plenty of time for Gregorius to grow and develop as a serviceable replacement for the future hall of famer.
It has been a Yankees offseason yet to this point but the winter meetings are finally underway and you can always rely on Cashman to come out of nowhere with some monster trade or a signing that nobody saw coming.