Yankees’ pursuit of Bryan Reynolds reportedly facing a big obstacle

This winter, it is the battle royale in New York. Both the Mets and the Yankees are splashing big to boost title credentials. The Yankees have already re-signed Aaron Judge and brought in Carlos Rodon, but they are not done yet and are still talking to the Pirates about trading outfielder Bryan Reynolds.

Jon Morosi says the Yankees, however, face a big obstacle in getting the 27-year-old centerfielder from Pittsburgh. It looks like a trade between the two might be harder to do than it sounds. Morosi also said that the Pirates’ desire to add to the depth of their starting pitcher prospects is a big problem in the talks. On the other hand, the Yankees have all position players among their top prospects.

Sources: #Yankees among teams in contact with #Pirates on Bryan Reynolds over recent weeks; one obstacle to a trade is that Pittsburgh prefers starting pitchers to headline the return and top end of Yankees’ system is deeper in position players. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 22, 2022

According to Fangraphs, only two of the Yankees’ top 10 prospects are starting pitchers. Yoendrys Gomez is 23 years old and just got to Double-A recently. Drew Thorpe, who will be drafted in 2022, is a long way from the majors.

This makes it interesting to see if the Yankees and the Pirates can find a good middle ground. There’s no guarantee that Pittsburgh, who still has three years contract with Bryan Reynolds, is also interested in the Yankees’ young pitchers. Despite a trade request by Reynolds, the Pirates are in a position to hold out expecting a suitable exchange.

Bryan Reynolds had a bad year in 2022, even though he hit a career-high number of home runs. Despite his overall offensive impact going down, he still has potential. His best came two seasons earlier.

But, with the Pirates determined for a hard yet good bargain and the Yankees themselves struggling to boost their bullpen, the deal involving Bryan Reynolds is facing a big obstacle.

What do you think? Leave your comment below.