Klapisch: Can Yankees find a starter before the deadline?

So where do the Yankees go in the aftermath of their mega-swap with the White Sox? In a perfect world, GM Brian Cashman enacts Phase Two of his pennant-race rebuild and adds a front-line starter to the rotation. But that's easier said than done, and may in fact just be wish-casting at this point.

The pitcher who Cashman coveted — Jose Quintana — was instead dealt to the Cubs, and the Yankees have no such appetite for the next-best option, Sonny Gray. As talented as the A's right-hander is, there's legitimate concern about his durability and health and, just as significantly, what it would cost to land him.

While the Yankees were willing to deal Blake Rutherford, their No. 1 draft pick in 2016, to get Quintana — and ultimately included him in the trade with the White Sox — they don't consider Gray an equal value. There are other secondary choices, like Toronto's Marco Estrada, but it's just as likely Cashman sticks with Bryan Mitchell or Luis Cessa or perhaps summons Chance Adams from Class-AAA. The point is to leave the farm system intact for 2018 and beyond.

Still, there's no mistaking the underlying message of Tuesday's trade. It was around midday when Cashman repeated to another major league executive an oft-stated goal about the Yankees’ drive to the postseason. 

“We’re not just looking to get to the 163rd game,” Cashman said, referring to the wild-card shootout. “We want to keep playing beyond that.”

The takeaway? Clearly the Bombers had decided to go for it. Less than 12 hours later, Cashman pulled off a major trade with Chicago that represented a sweeping success for the Yankees and may indeed catapult them deep into October.

By adding David Robertson, Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle from the White Sox, Cashman added heft to both the Bombers’ lineup and bullpen without radically diminishing the minor league system. The swap sent Rutherford, left-hander Ian Clarkin and outfielder Tito Polo to Chicago. All three were fine prospects but not considered blue-chip talents like Clint Frazier, Gleyber Torres or Justus Sheffield.

Cashman also managed to unload the increasingly unreliable Tyler Clippard, whose spot will be assumed by Robertson. The Bombers now have their best late-inning alignment since Andrew Miller was dealt to the Indians last summer, and it should provide cover for a rotation that’s admittedly still thin.

THE DEAL:Frazier, Robertson and Kahnle are coming to the Bronx

BOB NIGHTENGALE:Yankees are back to being the Evil Empire

THE KLAPPIES:Bob Klapisch's annual mid-season baseball awards

We’ll see whether Cashman can finesse a deal with his buddy, A's GM Billy Beane, even though Oakland can literally pick its trading partner. The interest in Gray is that widespread. In the Yankees' case, the loss of Michael Pineda was a setback that was at least partly responsible for Tuesday’s trade with Chicago.

Now, if nothing else, the Yankees can reasonably assume their late-inning leads will be safe. Prior to the trade, they were leading the majors with 18 blown saves. Yankees fans are familiar with Robertson, who served briefly and capably (39 saves) as the closer after Mariano Rivera’s retirement in 2013. The right-hander will ostensibly lock down the seventh inning now that he’s back in pinstripes, acting as the bridge to Dellin Betances in the eighth. But he’ll also be able to spell Aroldis Chapman when he needs a night off.

The dark horse in the deal might just be Kahnle, a former member of the Yankees organization who was left off the 40-man roster after 2013 due to concerns about his control. Kahnle has since evolved, however, and was averaging 15 strikeouts per nine innings with the White Sox.

What, then, about Frazier? For now, he’s just a rental, poised to test free agency after this season. Still, it’ll be a telling audition at third base, where the Yankees will consider the merits of (a) his .207 average and (b) his 16 home runs. Frazier can only improve the Yankees' overall productivity, given their underperformance at both third and first, where Chase Headley will play on an everyday basis.

Cashman has made a point of saying Greg Bird is still the club’s first baseman of the future. He’s projected to return in time for spring training and will be given a head start to reclaim the job. That would indicate Frazier’s time in New York is short-lived, unless the Yankees decide to part ways with Matt Holliday. His contributions have fallen off since June, and he further hamstrings the roster with his inability to play the field. Could Frazier be the next Holliday, their 2018 designated hitter who can fill in defensively? It depends on what Cashman sees in the next two-plus months.

This much is certain: The Yankees believe the division is very much up for grabs. Even though the Rays have been a surprise, Bombers officials still consider the Red Sox their primary target. Keeping Frazier away from Fenway was a secondary triumph for Cashman on Tuesday.

The GM has given Joe Girardi the tools to score more runs, preserve leads and otherwise remain competitive with just about everyone except the Astros, currently the majors’ best team after the Dodgers. But an otherwise homogenous American League allowed the Yankees to shift gears on their original game plan for 2017, deciding it would be more than just a showcase for the kids. They’ve stuck around long enough to believe anything is possible in the second half.

But Cashman was careful not to treat the trade as a zero-sum equation — fattening the Yankees’ chances at a playoff run at the expense of continued growth in 2018-2019. It took some delicate negotiating, but it appears the GM succeeded. The Yankees are a considerably better team than they were 24 hours ago, but without inflicting major damage on the farm system. We'll see if Cashman's gamble pays off.

In the meantime, though, the Yankees just picked up speed in pursuit of the postseason. Plenty of it.