The trade deadline is imminent, and the New York Yankees may already be eyeballing pitching help, including Matthew Boyd and Trevor Bauer.
Why sign a rusty Dallas Keuchel when you can trade for a guy who’s already in midseason form? That seems to be what the New York Yankees are thinking, with rumors connecting them to Matthew Boyd, Trevor Bauer, and others.
The news comes via a Dan Federico tweet:
I spoke with someone close to the situation, and he named Madison Bumgarner, Matthew Boyd, Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman as SP the Yankees have either had internal discussions about or will be interested in come July. That specific order is how the source ranked each target
— Dan Federico (@DanJFederico) June 11, 2019
Federico then did a little CYA work vis-a-vis the ordering of names in a subsequent tweet:
Just an FYI about the final sentence in this tweet. It's my sources order of preference, not the Yankees
— Dan Federico (@DanJFederico) June 11, 2019
New York certainly could use a starter. Ace Luis Severino is nowhere near returning; Domingo German, the man who almost made fans forget Severino, just hit the IL.
The Yankees’ starters have been fairly solid all year. In fact, before James Paxton took a giant dump on the subway series, the Yankees only had one starting pitcher with an ERA in the 4.00s (J.A. Happ, 4.48).
Therefore, they’d be wise to patch up the rotation as soon as possible.
Enter the law firm of Bumgarner, Boyd, Bauer, and Stroman.
There have been whispers of a Madison Bumgarner–Bombers marriage since before the season began. Maybe that’s why Federico’s mysterious source put MadBum at the front of the line.
Bumgarner, 29, is currently working on the highest ERA of his career, a still-solid 3.83. That probably translates to a +4.00 in the American League, but New York is likely more interested in sampling his ridiculous 2.11 ERA in 102.1 postseason innings.
Boyd is next on the dubious list. The Detroit Tiger is having the best year of his career, with a 3.08 ERA and a league-leading 7.00 SO/W ratio.
The 28-year-old seems to be roaring into his prime. Also, he’s under team control through 2023 and he’s the only southpaw on the list. The Yankees appear enamored with lefty starters, ostensibly because they can neutralize left-handed swingers who capitalize on the short porch in right.
[membership level="0"] [/membership]Cleveland Indians star and all-around intense dude Trevor Bauer is an intriguing option. The right-hander 4-6 with a 3.71 ERA. That’s not bad, but there’s always a chance that the 28-year-old regains his 2018 form that produced a 2.21 ERA in 175.1 innings.
Finally, there’s Toronto Blue Jays’ righty Marcus Stroman. He’s yet another 28-year-old, one who’s in three-way tie for the MLB lead in losses.
He’s pitched much better than his 3-8 record, with a 3.31 ERA. One downside is that his 1.322 WHIP is the highest of all the pitchers on the Federico source’s list by plenty.
Any of these four could be a Yankee before you turn your calendar to August. The only question is whether or not the Bombers will pay the high-prospect price to make it happen.
