The New York Yankees need Lance Lynn, the fact is they never should have let him go to the Texas Rangers, to begin with. Yes, in 2018 he had a mediocre season with the Yankees after being traded from the Minnesota Twins. He went 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA in eleven starts. But the Yankees were surprisingly quick to trade him away to the Rangers after signing James Paxton and J.A. Happ, and we all know how that turned out, both are gone now.
So what did Lance Lynn do, he became one of the most reliable starting pitchers in baseball coming in fifth in the Cy Young voting in 2019. This past season he went 6-3 with an ERA of 3.32. That is Gerrit Cole-like. He also pitched more innings than any pitcher in baseball; 84 innings. There is a number of reasons the New York Yankees should trade for Lynn. Lynn also has postseason experience.
One reason is that he can be a true number two or three starter, he is a workhorse that can take the load off the by eating up a lot of innings. He is a clubhouse leader that can mentor the younger up and coming Yankees, like Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt, and Jordan Montgomery. His veteran presence alone will mentor others.
Back in the dynasty years, the New York Yankees had five strong pitchers holding down the rotation. Compare that with the 2020 rotation and you saw a supermarket with empty shelves. Other than Gerrit Cole they had a sub-par bunch of pitchers augmented by young guys with little experience.
If the Yankees allow Domingo German to return to the team and resign Masahiro Tanaka, they will have the start of a quality pitching rotation. Adding Lance Lynn and with the return of Luis Severino mid-season, they will be pretty well set. Adding Lynn will also allow them to move Tanaka down in the rotation. If MLB has a 162 game season upcoming, it will give the Yankees time to set up the rotation during the season based on performance. Like I said earlier Lynn is a solid number two or three starter.
The move to acquire Lynn will also be an economic bargain. He will make only $8 million this season. The downside is that he will become a free agent after the 2021 season. If it turns out that Lynn has the success he has had with the Rangers for the Yankees, the Yankees will face a similar situation as they are this year trying to resign DJ LeMahieu.
Even if Lance Lynn was only to stay with the Yankees for one year, he would fill a needed hole while allowing another year for Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt to develop further and grow into the pitchers that the Yankees hope for.