When phones stopped smoking, Yankees were deadline winners – Fort Worth Star Telegram

Nothing gets done in Major League Baseball without a deadline, and even then it usually takes until the 11th hour for teams to finally budge.

But business was done Monday and in the days leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, painfully a day later than the normal July 31. Players traded places, playoff races were given face-lifts, and franchises either went further down their chosen paths or, in one particular case, chose a new one.

That would be the New York Yankees, who, after the cell phones and fax machines across MLB stopped smoking, were the clear winners of the trade deadline.

The Texas Rangers struck gold, too, and, not coincidentally, so did the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cleveland Indians tried to go all-in, only to bungle the trade they thought would bring them Jonathan Lucroy.

They told Lucroy, through his agent, that he couldn’t be guaranteed regular playing time in 2017 at catcher ahead of his walk year into free agency. The Indians were honest, which is to be commended, but they sealed their fate.

Lucroy exercised his no-trade option, was glad to do so, and the Rangers thank the Indians very much.

Anytime there are winners, there are losers. The biggest loser could turn out to be the Houston Astros, who shipped Scott Feldman but didn’t add anyone else. They probably had as good of a shot at Lucroy as the Rangers and had the prospects to do it, but chose to stash them.

Maybe the Astros will be fine. Maybe their top prospects Alex Bregman and Joe Musgrove and their Cuban import, Yulieski Gourriel, will spark something at Minute Maid Park.

Nothing much will be happening at Yankee Stadium, though it seems like something is going to give with Alex Rodriguez.

Pushed out of their lineup almost completely and with him taking a roster spot that could go to the development of a younger, better player, releasing Rodriguez and eating the money he’s owed in 2017 is the right thing to do for the franchise.

With Mark Teixeira announcing that he will retire at the end of this season, with the 39-year-old Carlos Beltran traded to the Rangers, with the 36-year-old CC Sabathia an easy $5 million buyout should his $25 million contract for 2017 vest, the Yankees are an A-Rod release and a Brian McCann away from a full-fledged youth movement.

The Yankees added 11 prospects in exchange for Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Beltre and Ivan Nova. The Yankees added three top 100 prospects overall, and Dillion Tate, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Rangers, wasn’t one of them. Some prospects were fliers, or maybe throw-ins, but the Yankees liked them enough to bring them into the fold.

The Yankees also are going to be flush with cash, not that they weren’t already, and Cashman finds himself in an enviable position. The Yankees, now armed with one of the top farm systems in baseball, should have young talent reaching the majors in the next couple seasons and a bankroll to lure the top free agents to the Bronx.

Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Jose Fernandez, for instance, could all become free agents after the 2018 season. What would stop the Yankees from trying to add all three?

The catch is that they aren’t going to win for a few seasons, potentially, if owner Hal Steinbrenner is truly departing from the win-now mentality his father blazed and giving Cashman the chance to develop young talent.

The promise of loses could lead to a lot of empty seats at Yankee Stadium, and that would lead to less money coming into MLB’s richest franchise. It’s a money hit the franchise could take, but can the winningest team in franchise history take the ego hit?

Maybe not, which could lead them down a different path. As the Rangers already knew but learned again Monday, talented prospects are the other currency in baseball. The Yankees are flush with them and could flip the ones they just acquired to get some pretty nice players to build a contender.

That money that Teixeira and Sabathia won’t be sucking up could go toward the best free agents this off-season, not two years down the line. If the new collective bargaining agreement again protects teams with the worst records from losing their first-round picks for signing a free agent, the Yankees could get a juicy player and still be in position to draft a top amateur to supplement the system.

To be honest, that’s not a bad route to take either.

All of it was made possible Monday and in the days leading up to the annual non-waiver trade deadline.

The Yankees, not the Rangers or the Brewers or any other club, were the big winners.

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