YANKEE TRADE RUMORS & WHAT BYB KNOWS: PART 2

Awhile back, BYB published a post titled YANKEE TRADE RUMORS AND WHAT BYB KNOWS. We included guys in that like Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino, and Brandon McCarthy that the Yankees could target. Now, a month later and that much closer to the actual July 31 Trade Deadline, we have a new batch of players that you should keep your eye out for. Here’s the scoop…

Matt Garza: There are plenty of rumors swirling around the Internet linking Matt Garza and the Yankees. You can find it anywhere, but we’ll provide you this link, HERE, from the always reliable mlbtraderumors.com. Garza is a guy who I like, personally, as I wrote about him during the off-season before the Michael Pineda trade, read WHY GARZA & THE YANKEES ARE A PERFECT MATCH. I think he can be a front line starter if he joined the Yankees. In fact, I believe he’s one already, though he’s had his ups and downs this year for the Cubs.

Garza has struggled this year, pitching to a 4.22 ERA with a bloated 1.35 HR/9 rate in nine starts following a strong 2011 in which he put up a 3.32 ERA and 0.64 HR/9 rate through 31 starts. But, as I stated in my piece about Garza last off-season, he’s pitched in the American League East and he’s had success in the AL East to boot. It might take a package that includes Manny Banuelos and/or top outfield prospect Mason Williams, plus some other parts, to complete a deal. As the Cubs continue to fade away further into the cellar, expect more Garza-to-the-Yankees rumors to appear.

Edwin Jackson: HERE'S an interesting nugget from Josh Norris, the Trentonian’s Thunder beat writer. He reports that the Yankees were in discussions as recently as Thursday, May 31 with the Washington Nationals regarding Edwin Jackson. A deal for Jackson would be headlined by Eduardo Nunez along with Nik Turley (A left-handed starter in High-A Tampa, who I think is pretty underrated in the organization) and an outfielder from the Single-A Charleston River Dogs (Not Mason Williams or Tyler Austin). A Yankee official told Norris that he hasn’t heard about a deal involving Edwin Jackson and the Yankees, but the source also said they “wouldn’t be surprised” if the rumors were true since the team likes Jackson.

Like Garza, I wrote about Jackson in the off-season in a piece titled WHY I LIKE EDWIN JACKSON AS AN OPTION. My opinions, eight months later, remain the same. I like Jackson as a pitcher, and I believe he has room to grow, but he shouldn’t be Plan A, or even Plan B. I think the Yankees can find an option better than Jackson, like Matt Garza, for example. Jackson, so far in 2012, has been pretty solid for the Nats. He has a 3.17 ERA with solid strikeout (7.3 K/9), walk (2.1 BB/9), and home run (0.8 HR/9) rates in 10 starts. Unlike the Garza rumors, this one may be a little trickier, as the Nats are atop the NL East standings and may not want to subtract pitching since Jackson has been solid. Stay tuned with this one.

Although I do like both Garza and Jackson, these are two guys the Yankees should wait for until the last minute. The Yanks do have question marks in the rotation (See Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova), but it’s still relatively early and things can change. If the Yanks do acquire one of these guys, however, I think it would be a nice boost to their rotation that would hopefully push them over the top in the AL East Standings.



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse

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