As the trade deadline approaches, the New York Yankees continue to look at candidates to fill a rotation spot. They need some depth given that they recently lost James Paxton for at least a few weeks and because J.A. Happ hasn’t been pitching well.
Gerrit Cole, the unquestioned ace, has had a bit of a home run problem, but is the only “sure thing” in the rotation. Masahiro Tanaka started the season on the injured list but seems to be finding his rhythm by now. But the Yankees can’t expect Jordan Montgomery to pitch like an ace and they can’t put all their hopes in rookies such as Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt.
That’s why they are making a deep dive in the trade market to see if they can bring an arm. According to reports, they have been linked to arms such as Mike Minor and Taijuan Walker, before he was traded to the Blue Jays.
Another name that was mentioned around this week and last is that of Mike Clevinger. The Cleveland Indians starter violated a team rule and went out with teammate Zac Plesac, which resulted in both hurlers being demoted to the alternate training site.
They spent some time there, but Clevinger is now back in the Indians’ rotation. When they were gone, rookie Triston McKenzie impressed from the mound, and Cleveland may now be more open to the possibility of maximizing Clevinger’s value and trading him now.
The Yankees are interested, but at what cost?
That’s music to the New York Yankees’ ears. However, not everything is so smooth. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the Indians’ asking prize for the talented right-hander is “ridiculous.”
It’s unclear if the Yankees are willing to surrender their top prospects in a trade, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to look at the possibility of bringing in one of the top pitchers of the American League.
For what is worth, Heyman says that Clevinger “is definitely being talked about in trade scenarios.”
Not only is he very talented (career 3.20 ERA and 3.58 FIP in 523.1 innings) but he is also under team control through 2022. He would require quite a haul. This is hardly the last we are going to hear about him in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.