Well, everyone, ownership and fans alike, need to come to terms with the fact that MLB is increasingly a young person's game in 2016 and that 'throwing in the towel' isn't always as clear-cut as it seems. Last July Colorado traded Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto, in what looked like as clear a 'throwing in the towel' move as you could have. Less than one year later, Tulo has put up around a .750 OPS for TOR in around 500 ABs and is still under contract for around $100M through 2020. Meanwhile, Tulo's absence (and Jose Reyes' suspension) allowed Trevor Story to get a chance as COL SS, which he has taken full advantage of so far, 27 HRs and a .939 OPS for a tiny fraction of the money Tulo is getting.
Obviously they don't all work out that well, but if you are a team that doesn't have a genuine chance at a title, you need to give guys opportunities so that some of them develop like that, like Didi has.
So, if I'm Cashman and Hal has given me the full go-ahead to make whatever moves I think make the most baseball sense, this is what I do/try to do over the next week:
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SELL:
Brian McCann: He is under contract through 2018 with a possible vesting option in 2019 at $17M/$17M/$15M, plus the remainder of this year's $17M salary, and he has full no-trade protection, which obviously you'd have to negotiate. McCann has been OK, not bad, not great, but it is time to give Gary Sanchez a chance, and if not him, Kyle Higashioka or Luis Torrens in a few years. The goal here would be more to move him than to get much in return.
Ivan Nova: FA after this season, give Green or Severino those starts, Nova is not part of the future and not an especially good part of the present. Miami is supposedly interested with Chen hitting the DL, see ya.
DFA:
A-Rod: Turn out the lights, the party's over and we need the roster spot for someone a couple of decades younger. Thanks for the memories, you centaur you.
PROBABLY KEEP:
Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi: Two enigmatic ultratalented starters both under contract through 2017. If you move them, you'll need to replace them next year anyway.
DEPENDS ON THE OFFER:
Andrew Miller: He'll be almost as valuable in the offseason and good luck getting someone to beat the package you just got for Chapman. On the other hand, if you can beat that package, maybe it's bye bye Andrew.
Carlos Beltran: If he stays, you make him a qualifying offer and it's possible he takes it and clogs DH for another year. I think if you can get a solid return, you probably have to move him, but I'm not sure how much he can actually get.
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I think there is a solid possibility (maybe 30-35%?) that if you replace A-Rod, McCann and Beltran with Tyler Austin (leading the IL in OPS right now), Gary Sanchez, and Aaron Judge* tomorrow that the team doesn't even get worse. Austin gets a shot to play everyday at 1B and an occasional OF spot (Tex should probably get season-ending surgery but can maybe stay as a backup if he prefers), Sanchez plays some C, some DH, Judge plays RF. I am close to certain that if you make these moves, that the team will be better off in 2017 and beyond.
*Aaron Judge is actually coming back from a sore knee and will start to play AAA games again in a few days, so his timetable might be a week or two behind, but I didn't want to dilute my point.