The New York Yankees have had two key injuries to their rotation and one insider links them to a trading for a star pitcher.
The Yankees have lost Gerrit Cole for the entire season due to Tommy John surgery while reigning Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is also injured. With New York having two key injuries, MLB insider Mike Axisa of CBS Sports links the Yankees to trading for Erick Fedde of the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Fedde could be the best non-Alcantara starter traded this summer,” Axisa wrote. “He’s a very affordable rental ($7.5 million salary) who showed last year that his success in Korea was no fluke. The Cardinals are in the middle of what POBO John Mozeliak called a “reset” early in the offseason. It kind of feels like they’re stuck in-between, no?
“They didn’t add anything significant to the roster but they didn’t sell off any pieces either. They’re in the middle and that’s a bad place to be,” Axisa added. “Helsley and Fedde are the kind of pitching rentals who will generate tremendous interest in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Early possible landing spots: Braves and Yankees.”
Fedde is in the final year of his two-year $15 million deal. He would immediately bolster the Yankees rotation and be a solid No. 2 or 3 starter for New York.
Fedde went 9-9 with a 3.30 ERA in 31 starts last season.
Yankees GM Says Team Needs to Add Pitching
After New York lost Cole and Gil to injuries, the Yankees immediately needed to add a pitcher.
The Yankees have a need in the rotation, and general manager Brian Cashman says they will look at what the trade market has. However, he says trades aren’t likely until near the deadline.
“We’ll just evaluate what’s available, and this time of year, very little is available,” Cashman said. “Normally, the more significant opportunities don’t exist until the Trade Deadline. When we’ve had these conversations many a time over, you hope you can withstand injuries and avoid injuries early from Spring Training up through the Draft, because going outside the organization is just that much more difficult to do. So we’ll rely on what we have, and we’ll explore what is limited available in the marketplace.”
New York did sign Max Fried in the offseason to bolster the rotation alongside Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Marcus Stroman, while the fifth starter is up for grabs.
Yankees Have Intriguing Pitching Decision to Make
One of New York’s biggest questions in training camp is who will be the team’s fifth starter.
The final rotation spot seemed down to Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco. However, Carrasco is on a minor-league deal and he has an opt-out on March 22 which makes the decision more intriguing.
New York will likely have to decide if Carrasco or Warren will be the team’s fifth starter before his opt-out.
Carrasco has gone 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings in spring training. He’s appeared in 324 games in his MLB career. He won AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2019 and was the AL wins leader in 2017.
The Yankees open their MLB season at home on March 27 against Milwaukee Brewers.
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