MLB rumors: Here’s the 1 move Yankees’ Brian Cashman needs to make during the offseason

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will consider signing free agent sluggers Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. But Cashman will also be looking to upgrade the starting rotation, with Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber available on the trade market and left-handers Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel and J.A. Happ available in free agency.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman figures to be a busy man this offseason.

He’s expected to kick the tires on the top sluggers in free agency, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.

Cashman has also gone on the record as saying his top priority is upgrading the starting rotation.

The Athletics’s Jim Bowden examines the one move Cashman needs to make to ensure the Yankees return to the playoffs in 2019:

The Must-do Move: Trade for Indians’ Corey Kluber, RHP

The Yankees need to improve the top of their starting rotation if they want to compete in the playoffs next year, and although there are quality starters available in free agency — like southpaws Patrick Corbin and Dallas Keuchel — there aren’t any aces who match up favorably against your Justin Verlanders and Chris Sales. However, Kluber could be had in a trade with the Indians … if the Yankees are willing to pay the huge price of top prospects. That type of trade would be extremely painful, and is the kind of deal that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has not wanted to make over the last few years. However, if New York could land Kluber to go with Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka at the top of the rotation, their chances of getting back to the World Series would improve dramatically. Kluber, 32, is controllable through 2021 and is coming off a 5.8 WAR season where he went 20-7 with a 2.89 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He has pitched over 200 innings for five straight seasons for the Indians. As much as a Manny Machado or Bryce Harper signing would be exciting — and give the Yankees a lineup to rival their 1927 roster — it wouldn’t be as significant in improving their team as trading for a No. 1 starter like Kluber.

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ESPN’s Buster Olney was the first to report the Indians are willing to trade their ace this winter.

Kluber is a two-time AL Cy Young Award winner (2014, 2017). The 32-year-old right-hander is cost-controlled: he is under contract for $15 million in 2019 and has team options for 2020 ($15.5 million) and 2021 ($16 million).

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.