All season, there has been a cloud over the Yankees that they would be up for sale at the trade deadline for the first time in a quarter-century.
They may be going for a different type of Sale by Monday.
The White Sox ace pitcher Chris Sale is on the market, and has been for the past couple weeks.
The Yankees could take the centerpiece of their trade with the other Chicago team, 19-year old shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, who came from the Cubs for Aroldis Chapman, and sent him back to Chicago for Sale.
Before that trade, the Yankees couldn’t conceive of making this deal, as the White Sox are looking to rebuild.
In essence, they would have traded Chapman for Sale.
It also would be a do-over in a sense for Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, who did not pull the trigger on a trade for Cole Hamels the past couple of summers.
Think about it. Sale is one of the best lefties, if not the best, in the American League, with a record of 14-4 and a 3.17 ERA.
There is no question Sale is a bona fide ace, and to use a term familiar to Yankees fans this season, they would have a Big Three in the rotation, joining Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia.
They would have two lefties – and dominant ones at that – in the rotation for the first time all season.
They would go from having one of the most ordinary rotations in the American League to one of the best. And maybe it would be the best in East.
The rotation has been rejuvenated since the All-Star break, but just think of how it would go with Sale.
Sale, Tanaka, and Sabathia would lead the rotation, followed by a combination of Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, and Ivan Nova.
To get a Sale trade done, they probably would have to include Eovaldi or Nova.
And if the Yankees still have Eovaldi and Nova after a trade for Sale, both can go back to the bullpen, where they each had success this season.
This is a no-brainer and would make the Yankees a legitimate contender.
He could easily go seven innings, and hand it off to Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, who still form a fearsome duo at the back of the bullpen.
Or, better yet, Sale could go eight or throw a complete game, saving the dynamic duo on days when their ace takes the mound.
In addition to all the benefits on the diamond, it would give the Yankees something they have needed this season, and that is buzz and excitement.
One New York team knows what a deadline deal did for them last year, and the Yankees would like nothing more than to duplicate, and surpass it in one big, shiny way come late October.