MLB Trade Rumors: The New York Yankees Trading Jacoby Ellsbury to the Baltimore Orioles Cannot Be Ruled Out
Jacoby Ellsbury is still a member of the New York Yankees, though he is not expected to have a big role once the season gets underway.
The Yankees' outfield rotation is expected to prominently involve Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks. And because of those four, it will be difficult for any other outfielder to get consistent playing time.
Even the designated hitter spot is expected to be occupied by one of Gardner, Judge or Stanton on most days.
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That leaves Ellsbury with no obvious role to play unless he is content with serving primarily as a pinch hitter/runner.
The Yankees are aware of this and would likely jump at the opportunity to move Ellsbury to a different team, but because the 34-year-old has a no-trade clause, a deal has been hard to construct.
Late last year, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports mentioned in an article that Ellsbury could think about waiving that clause of his for some teams, with the San Francisco Giants being one of them.
Thus far, however, no deal between the Yankees and Giants has been made.
Still, there is a chance that a deal could be made this offseason, and it may involve the Yankees trading Ellsbury to a different team, one in the same division they play in.
In a recent report, Joel Sherman of the New York Post noted that the Baltimore Orioles "like Ellsbury a little." Interest alone is obviously not going to get a deal done, but there really could be a possible match here.
The defensive numbers of the Orioles' incumbent center fielder Adam Jones have dipped recently, making it seem like he could benefit from being moved to a corner outfield spot. If the Orioles traded for Ellsbury, they can go ahead and move Jones to a corner knowing that they have a guy in center who can defend well.
The Orioles could even be more receptive to the idea of taking on a significant amount of the money remaining on Ellsbury's contract if the Yankees included some of their many talented prospects in a deal.
As for Ellsbury, the Yankees could try to convince him to waive his no-trade clause with the promise of guaranteed playing time and a starting job with the Orioles.
There is a possible fit here if the parties involved really tried to get a deal done, and the Yankees, Orioles and Ellsbury may want to do that as there are benefits that can be had for all.
