THAT JOSE FERNANDEZ RUMOR IS BACK! BRING IT!

We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue have always thought that the Yankees coveted Jose Fernandez and I have always believed that if the timing was right and the Yankees had the pieces to pry him away from Miami, they could get him.  When we wrote ARE THE YANKEES REALLY IN ON JOSE FERNANDEZ?  back in December, we were skeptical, but we liked the idea of Fernandez in pinstripes writing:

"Fernandez is a name I will definitely get on board with.  He's young, he can be lights out and the Yankees have been trade partners with the Marlins before... I can see something happening again."

Then it went away, as all rumors usually do. Until now.

The New York Daily News writes:

"...I think Cashman will look to package some of that young talent he acquired at the trade deadline a month ago in the hope of dealing for a difference-making starter.

Possible candidates: Chris Sale, Jose Fernandez, Sonny Gray, and Chris Archer.

Perhaps the most do-able and desirable of those potential trades is Fernandez, mainly because he’ll be two years away from free agency after this season, and the Marlins almost surely won’t be able to lock him up, especially after they committed $325 million to Giancarlo Stanton.

As an executive from one team told me last week, 'They’re going to trade him. It’s just a matter of when.'... So what would it take to get him? The executive I spoke to thinks it would take four of the Yankees’ young players, two of them blue-chippers.

'They’ll ask for (Gary) Sanchez and the Yankees will say no, and you start from there,' the exec said.

But at two years away (from free agency), the Marlins are driving the deal.

'They can always get a solid return a year from now, so you’re going to have to satisfy their demands to do it this winter. You don’t give up Sanchez, and maybe (Greg) Bird, but I would think all of their other young guys would be in play.'"

And to be honest, all of this makes sense. The Yankees are band-aiding their starting rotation and we have nothing!  CC is near the end, Chad Green is nothing in my eyes but an over-hyped starter and Nathan Eovaldi is on the shelf.  It's kind of pathetic. We are limping to the end of 2016 with our eye on the prize in 2017 and that starts with good pitching to help our young hitting.  The Yankees have a NEED to make a move and this is one. I can definitely get on board with John Harper on this.

That being said, remember, this is a rumor.  Sometimes they come to light... many times, they do not.

We'll keep an eye on  this for you. Happy Sunday.