The New York Yankees just received news that their ace Masahiro Tanaka has a partial tear in UCL. Tommy John surgery is an option, but is not recommended. Instead, the doctors say he should rehab which will last approximately six weeks. Either route Tanaka takes he will be sidelined for quite a bit of time. With the news of this injury this springs the question, who will the Yankees insert into the rotation? C.C. Sabathia is out for the rest of the year, Michael Pineda is out until August and Ivan Nova is out with Tommy John Surgery. The Yankees need pitching and are short right now. If they want to compete they need to acquire a durable starter, which sparks an interesting trade target in Edwin Jackson.
Edwin hasn’t had the best numbers in Chicago but he has been durable thus far. In 2014, Edwin has posted a stat line of, 101.2 IP, 94 strike outs and has an ERA of 5.05. Obviously, the ERA is not impressive at all but he does has a FIP (fielding independent rate) of 3.83 sparking questions as to if the Cubs defensively have helped him very much. While Jackson may not be a #2 or #1 starter he is a durable starter who has pitched in the post-season, raising his value a little.
Brian Cashman has already been in talks with the Cubs this season before the Cubs dealt starters, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Oakland Athletics. So if Cashman decides to contact the Cubs there will already be some familiarity with the two teams. Obviously the Yankees aren’t going to deal one of their top prospects for Jackson but some possible names to look out for are Luis Severino and Ian Clarkin.
Although this deal isn’t close are even in the making it is one to look out for. The Yankees need a durable starter with post-season experience and the Cubs have a starter with that and are selling.
Stay Tuned here at On Base Talk for further coverage on this.
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