The New York Yankees have enjoyed a good start in the journey back to the World Series.
Even after losing Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, Clay Holmes and others, an aggressive offseason has paid off to open up the 2025 campaign. Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt and a slew of young contributors might be all the supporting cast that franchise slugger Aaron Judge needs.
But if there is one area to reinforce for a run to October, it would be the starting rotation. Though Fried and Carlos Rodon have been excellent, the losses of Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil to injury have taken their toll. And a deep starting staff is often the key to success in the playoffs.
As the Yankees consider bringing in some external help, Heavy’s Sam Bernardi pitched a trade that would land Framber Valdez from the Houston Astros in exchange for outfield prospect Everson Pereira and right-hander Clayton Beeter.
“For all the Sandy Alcantara hopefuls, that is still a possibility, but perhaps Houston Astros star Framber Valdez makes more sense,” Bernardi wrote.
Valdez has been one of the best left-handed starters in all of baseball in the last few seasons, earning All-Star trips in 2022 and 2023 and Cy Young Award votes in each of the last three seasons. His season has gotten off to a rough beginning, with a 3.94 ERA in eight starts, but he’s started to look more like the pitcher fans are used to in recent outings.
Critically, Valdez is headed toward free agency at the end of the season. He’s projected to earn a $70 million deal for his next contract, per Spotrac, and that means the Yankees might land him at a relatively low cost.
“At 31 years old, Valdez is going to command a large payday this offseason, a cause for concern among New York fans,” Bernardi added. “However, Aaron Judge is not getting any younger and the front office should do everything in its power to capitalize on his historic pace while he is still in his prime.”
Pereira has been hitting well in Triple-A, but the Yankees already face a logjam in the outfield. And Beeter enjoyed a decent cup of coffee with the Yankees in his 2024 debut, but a chance to exchange him for a bona fide frontline starter might be hard to pass up.
Critically, this trade idea would leave top prospects George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones untouched, while giving the Yankees some real postseason reinforcement.
