Lance Lynn new york yankees
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The New York Yankees further bolstered their pitching staff by acquiring Lance Lynn in exchange for Tyler Austin.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has been so active prior to Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline that he’ll soon draw comparisons to trade-happy Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners.

Already as one of baseball’s most active contenders, the front office has just landed hurler Lance Lynn from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin and minor-league hurler, Luis Rijo.

Half of the 31-year-old’s salary will also be paid by his former employer.

The Twins had notably signed Lynn to a one-year, $12 million deal this past winter in hopes of reaching October for the second consecutive year. But with a 48-56 record to go along with a nine-game deficit between them and the Cleveland Indians heading into Monday night’s game, they’ve decided to change course.

Lynn’s short tenure with the club didn’t go very well — he’s always been someone that’s outperformed his peripheral stats, but not so much in 2018. Through 102.1 innings, he owns a 5.10 ERA and a 4.77 SIERA with a 21.3 percent strikeout rate and 13.2 percent walk rate. His current 36.5 percent hard-hit rate allowed is also on pace to be a career-high mark.

While the right-hander has spent the majority of his big-league career as a starter (and will prove to be some insurance for New York), he’ll likely find a home in the bullpen. That’s partially because Cashman dealt reliever Adam Warren to the Mariners earlier on Monday for $1.25 million of international slot money.

As for Austin, he’s split time between the big leagues and Triple-A with New York this season. His 132 plate appearances in the Bronx has lead to a 100 wRC+ and eight home runs, but it’s also produced a .223/.280/.471 triple slash with a 40.2 percent strikeout rate.

This trade could’ve also been the result of the Yankees’ ability to acquire Luke Voit from the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend. How is Cashman’s work being viewed by some others in the industry? Very highly, apparently:

New York has been super busy, and they still may not be done before Tuesday afternoon rolls around.


Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.