The New York Yankees are in desperate need of starting pitching and they just added one, acquiring one of the games best, James Paxton.
The New York Yankees have acquired left-handed pitcher James Paxton from the Seattle Mariners the team announced Monday night.
Trade: The Yankees have acquired LHP James Paxton from Seattle in exchange for LHP Justus Sheffield, RHP Erik Swanson and OF Dom Thompson-Williams.
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) November 19, 2018
Reportedly going to Seattle in this deal is top prospect Justus Sheffield and two other minor leaguers.
Paxton went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts where he pitched a career-high 160.1 innings in 2018. The only knock on the 30-year-old is that he has been injury prone throughout his career. He has yet to make an appearance in the postseason as the Mariners have not made the postseason since 2001.
He will join the likes of Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, and CC Sabathia in the Yankees rotation, a rotation which failed to show up when it mattered most in the 2018 postseason.
Heading to Seattle is Justus Sheffield, who the Yankees acquired as a part of the Andrew Miller trade to the Cleveland Indians in 2016. Sheffield made just three appearances in his time in the Yankees’ organization over 2.2 innings allowing three earned runs.
Also going to Seattle with Sheffield is Erik Swanson and Dom Thompson-Williams. Thompson-Williams was a fifth-round draft pick by the Yankees in 2016, while Swanson was acquired in the Carlos Beltran trade.
The Yankees are not expected to be done after the Paxton trade. The team is still in the market for another starter and is reportedly interested in free agent Patrick Corbin. The Bombers have also been linked to Manny Machado.
It is just the start of the hot stove season and the Yankees are only getting started.
