Where Can The Yankees Go For Pitching Now?

Feb 18, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi (28) talk as they watch batting practice at Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Clearly the Oakland A’s pushed all of their chips to the middle of the table. Not only did they land Jeff Samardzija, they got Jason Hammel in the same deal, netting two of the biggest starting pitchers in the trade market. With CC Sabathia possibly done for the season (and maybe even for his career), where can the Yankees go for pitching help?

You can scratch Jon Lester and David Price off the list. No way they make a trade within the division, let alone the Red Sox. If Lester is a Yankee, that happens in the off-season.

They could look at Cliff Lee again, and possibly get him on the cheap, however, he’s been out for a while and may not be that close to returning.

There are the names like Ian Kennedy and Bartolo Colon out there. They would be serviceable parts to try and help the rotation. They would certainly be upgrades over Vidal Nuno and/ or Chase Whitley who has slammed into the regression wall.

They could take a chance on the recently released Joe Saunders for nothing or try and acquire Jeff Francis who was recently DFA’d by Oakland. They could rush Luis Severino up to the majors if they want to, but I don’t think they want to, nor should they.

Oakland gave up their top two prospects and went all in. The Yankees didn’t have the kind of prospects to get that kind of deal done. They were lucky it wasn’t Baltimore or Toronto doing that with Kevin Gausman and Aaron Sanchez.

The Yankees are still in a position to make a move for a starter. Should they and think about the future instead? We’ll discuss that in another post.