Yanks' agenda hard to predict

Boston

The Yankees need pitching. After week of facing teams that they'll likely need to beat in October to win their first World Series in 10 years, that much is obvious.

Domingo German stopped the bleeding Monday night, but against the Twins and Red Sox, the Yankees' pitchers were a problem.

Now, the Yankees' top talent evaluators were converging at Yankee Stadium on Monday and hunkering down there through the deadline, according to sources, with their main goal of reinforcing the pitching.

With perhaps the most obvious fit available, Marcus Stroman, now off the board — another twist in that complicated Yankees-Mets relationship — the Yankees have to pivot and find another way to improve their pitching before Wednesday's 4 p.m. trade deadline.

At the front of the rotations, there are few obvious options, and they all present their own complications. Noah Syndergaard, Trevor Bauer, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Minor, Matthew Boyd and Luis Castillo are reportedly available for the right deal, but will be costly and there are other hurdles that the Yankees will have to overcome.

But this weekend, industry sources said it looks like the Yankees may not be going the obvious route. Instead, they're looking to make their strength even stronger by improving the bullpen.

Yankees scouts were out looking for relief pitching instead of focusing on starters. One industry source said that Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who has publicly said that they would walk away rather than overpay for pitching, sees re-stocking his bullpen as another way to get where the Yankees are going.

"There is no reason to just get a starter to fill a spot if the right one is not available," one rival executive said. "They've shown they can do well with their bullpen. Right now, it looks like they are...