The Yankees have recently acquired James Paxton from the Seattle Mariners and have shown they are fully in a win-now mode.
The dust has settled. James Paxton is a New York Yankee and Justus Sheffield is not.
I have to admit, I had to do a double take when I first saw that Justus Sheffield was part of the James Paxton deal.
Prospect huggers won’t like this deal. I myself am surprised to see Sheff in the deal.
— ᴍᴘ (@MarkAPier) November 19, 2018
However, it took me just two minutes before I was fine with the trade, or at-least understood it.
This move shows that the Yankees were not as high on Sheffield as you may have thought.
— ᴍᴘ (@MarkAPier) November 19, 2018
First, it told me this. Brian Cashman and the Yankees organization was not THAT high on Justus Sheffield. In fact, some out there will say that the Yankees sold high on Justus before he had an opportunity to drive his stock price south.
Good job by Yankees unloading Justus Sheffield before value dropped. Hard to find an evaluator was excited about him
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) November 19, 2018
Did Brian Cashman and the Yankees allow Justus Sheffield to toss just 2.2 major league innings during the 2018 season in order for him to hold value? We will never know, however, what we do know is what some scouts have been saying about Justus Sheffield.
While he is young and has all the tools, he has been said to have the ceiling of a number three starter.
Scout I spoke with likes Justus Sheffield, but doesn't see him as a future ace. "I have him as a future No. 3 starter. He's a good athlete who is going to require a little development time at the major-league level."
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 19, 2018
Justus Sheffield instantly becomes Seattle's top prospect. Left-hander runs his fastball into the mid-90s, flashes a plus slider and a competent changeup. Durability issues, command drifts. Could be a good No. 3 or a tick more; could also wind up in the bullpen.
— Brendan Gawlowski (@GawlowskiB) November 19, 2018
Sure, Sheffield could go on to have a successful ten-year career and cause the Yankees brass and it’s fans to regret the move, but that should hurt far less than if the Yankees organization failed to put missing puzzle pieces in place now.
The Yankees don’t need Justus Sheffield to emerge as their number three starter in 2021, they need one in 2019, and Paxton has shown that he can be just that, and more.
While this is the first of many off-season moves the Yankees will make, it is one that needed to be made. Would I have preferred Justus Sheffield to be dealt for Corey Kluber or Madison Bumgarner instead? Of course, I would. Unfortunately, the market didn’t allow for that to happen, and it is likely because Justus Sheffield isn’t who we were hoping he would be.
Let’s not forget that Brian Cashman is still playing with house money. Justus Sheffield was acquired in the 2016 fire-sale when the Yankees sent Andrew Miller to the contending Cleveland Indians. Now, almost three years later, Justus Sheffield still needs more time to develop.
Because of this, it was time to turn Justus Sheffield into James Paxton.
The Yankees will be going all in on winning the World Series in 2019,
And they should be.