Yankees Free Agent Keep Or Dump: Brandon McCarthy

We continue our look at the Yankees impending free agents by going over to the pitching side. The Brandon McCarthy for Vidal Nuno trade was one of the best trades anyone made all season long, and a trade that helped stabilize a leaky rotation because of all the injuries. 

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After going 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA for Arizona, McCarthy went 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA in 14 starts for the Yankees. McCarthy completely re-established his value and is now one of the most intriguing free agent starting pitchers available in the market.

There are two reasons that the Yankees may struggle to keep him due to outside bidders. One, he won’t cost as much as Max Scherzer, James Shields or Jon Lester. Like Lester, McCarthy won’t be subject to draft pick compensation since he was traded mid-season.

The Yankees have a TON of question marks in the starting rotation next year. How’s CC Sabathia‘s knee? Can Masahiro Tanaka‘s elbow hold up? Can Michael Pineda put it together for a full year? When does Ivan Nova come back? Can Shane Greene be an option?

The Yankees will sign one, possibly two new starters to join the rotation for next year because of all those questions.

Clearly, McCarthy can pitch in New York which is a huge factor. It looked like he re-discovered his cutter, which is a huge pitch for him.

All in all, I’d love to see McCarthy back in a Yankee uniform. He was nothing but solid down the stretch for the Yankees. He can be that guy in the rotation that you know is going to give you a solid performance every time.

Final Verdict: Keep