New York Yankees Editorial: Scott Kazmir Possible Trade Target?

Much is being made of the New York Yankees pitching rotation this year. Not only if it can stay healthy, but also if they can perform up to expectations consistently. There are a couple pitchers the Yankees could look at before the July 31st trade deadline, right now let’s take a look at the Oakland Athletics’ Scott Kazmir.

The 31 year old left-handed pitcher is currently 5-5 with a 2.56 ERA. His record would probably be much better if he received useful run support, which is something all A’s pitchers could use this year. Though he doesn’t have the best defense around him, or hitting to help make his record look prettier, his ERA is still 2.56, and that should be a big positive in the Yankees organizations’ eyes. If they did trade for Kazmir, he would be an automatic upgrade and can make them immediate contenders in the American League. However, of course he comes with a couple “ifs”, which is always something the Yankees are used to.

A set back on Kazmir would be his minor injuries he’s been dealing with, such as what the Yankees saw last night when they got a first hand look at him. After three innings Kazmir left with triceps tightness. He had four Ks while allowing two hits and an unearned run. Do the Yankees want another injury prone pitcher added to the team, at the same time of having to give up useful role players in return?

In my opinion there is greater chance of success for the Yankees if they do make this trade, but not much actually guaranteed, and it not being a large amount of time succeeding. It’s clear the Yankees tried to go in a younger route this off-season (as much as they could), and with that came no trades to acquire past-prime stars. Trading for Kazmir would give the Yankees about three more years of his full talent (if they were to keep him), while letting go of some younger or more valuable players in return. If they want to win now, they can go for it cautiously, but if you have that uprising farm in mind, it probably isn’t the best move. Besides, that’s all the Yankees really have to offer with how much they use their bench players on a daily basis. Also, with the injuries that this team deals with, trading farm right now is basically the same as trading bench players.

If the Yankees were to make this trade I think it would be a C+ grade for both sides. The Athletics were arguably the best team in baseball last year before trading some of their key players, this trade would not be setting them in a total direction for success with how much they’ll realistically get for a 31 year old with lingering health problems.

New York Yankees Editorial: Scott Kazmir Possible Trade Target?

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