So it looks like, barring a failed physical or other unforeseen development, Giancarlo Stanton is a Yankee.  That's actually pretty cool to think about; two 50 homer bashers on the same roster for the next ~decade as they enter(!!!) their primes together?  Wowza.

It's kind of obvious what the impact will be for the Yankees, and their division, but the bigger (better?) question, from my perspective, is this: how do the M's make a similar move to pair an ace pitcher with Paxton?

The first hope was Ohtani, but the Angels beat us in that particular race.  Another hope is Darvish, but in truth you've got to squint pretty hard to see Darvish+Paxton as the equal of Stanton+Judge.  It's not a ridiculous thing to suggest, but it does give one minds-eye-strain.  Chris Archer?  Yeah, that's getting a little closer--but he'd command a king's ransom from the Rays.  We're capable of surrendering it, for sure, but it would gut the farm system COMPLETELY.  Worth it?  Probably, but always a tough bullet to bite.

You know something I noticed as I was going through Fangraphs' WAR-sorted pitchers last year?  Mike Leake comes up at #25 with 3.1.  Archer is #10 with 4.6.  Darvish #16 with 3.5.

And Sonny Gray #29 with 2.5.

Now, I'm not saying Gray's an Ace-caliber pitcher.  He's a #2-#3, depending on how things break for him and his club, but he's on a super-affordable contract and the Yankees are in need of a 2B...

;-)

Honestly, I wouldn't do it.  But Dee Gordon for Sonny Gray makes a lot of sense.  The Yankees need to keep trimming payroll, so you'd have to take on another contract in the process (Betances?), but Gordon and Gray are pretty similar value-wise.  The Yankees wouldn't do it for a few reasons, just like the M's wouldn't do it for a few (other, but similar) reasons.  But with a wide, gaping hole at 2B on their squad, and with an ~extra one on ours, hard not to dream about piecing jigsaw bits together.  Heck, sign Alex Avila to be C-2 and DH, then throw Cruz in with the deal! (kidding...mostly)

It sure does look like Darvish Or Bust at this point, though, considering the price Archer will command--and he's pretty much the only guy better than Darvish that's available.  Jake Arrieta had that amazing 1.xx ERA season a couple years back, so you could potentially bank on him returning to form a la Zack Greinke, but that's quite a bit of wishful thinking.

So let's have it, denizens: who'd be your top, quasi-realistic trade/FA target to pair with Paxton and make a run at the WC this year?  With the M's offense, all they *need* is another killer SP and they could be just as scary as the Yankees--I mean that quite seriously.