BIG TRADE MAKES THE YANKEES PITCHING MUCH BETTER!

Holy crap. There was a move, and it was an important one. Finally, the New York Yankees have made a move to improve their relief and it's a horse.  Larry Brown Sports writes:

"The Yankees announced Monday that they have acquired reliever Caleb Ferguson in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange for the lefty Ferguson, the Yankees are sending Matt Gage, another left-handed reliever, and Christian Zazueta, a righty pitching prospect, back to the Dodgers."

Matt Gage was a Yankee for about 8 minutes, but it was clear Brian Cashman needed a decent player to flip and he did just that to secure Caleb Ferguson. Fergie is better than Gage and a nice move.  Now we just need a starter, and we are good to go. I'll say it again, I'm not a Stroman guy.

Ferguson is a 27-year-old lefty and a stud. Yahoo Sports writes:

"Ferguson, 27, had a solid year for the Dodgers in 2023, with a 3.43 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with 70 strikeouts in 60.1 innings over 68 appearances -- including seven starts.

He is in his final year of arbitration, and is set to earn $2.4 million before hitting free agency after the season.

During his five-year career, all with the Dodgers, Ferguson has a 3.43 ERA and 1.28 WHIP and has struck out nearly 11 batters per nine innings.

He's had success against both lefties and righties, and fared better against right-handers than left-handers last season -- holding them to a .702 OPS (lefties had a .748 OPS against him)."

I'm happy to be a Yankee fan today! Again though... we need a starter now... one more starter!  

Will we get it? Who knows.

YANKEES CLAIM MORE RELIEF PITCHING

It's not exactly a relief that the Yankees scored another relief pitcher. It is annoying that they are doing their standard "lightning in the bottle" approach with their acquisitions.  I'll keep saying it, nothing has changed with the Yankees. There is no real interest in improving or pacifying the fan base. 

Wandy Peralta was a good soldier for the Yankees. There was never a doubt that he was not taking a discount resigning. The fact that the Yankees thought it would be easy to get him back is ridiculous. So Wandy walks and we claim Matt Gage.  

Look... here's the bottom line though on the state of the Yankees pitching. Matt Gage is good, but Matt Gage is not a starting pitcher that we desperately need.  Meanwhile Trevor Bauer, Blake Snell are walking around wondering what went wrong.

The great Pete Caldera writes:

"Still in search of impact pitching, the Yankees have been curiously quiet as some intriguing relievers have signed relatively low free-agent contracts.

Active in the bargain bin Monday, the Yankees claimed lefty reliever Matt Gage off waivers from the Houston Astros."

And this is why I love Pete, because he says it so much more eloquently than I do. I just come out and say it, the Yankees front office have their head up their ass.  For Pete, the Yankees are "curiously quiet" and they are "still in search of impact pitching."  All true, just professional. Bravo Caldera.

What are the Yankees doing?  When are they gonna make that splash?  Juan Soto for a year in Yankee pinstripes is not a blockbuster... it's a flash in the pan, a rental, a show of good faith.  Sadly however... there is no other piece to make me, a Yankee fan for life but now frustrated, any happier.

We need to do better. We really do.