Yankees: What would it take to acquire Cole Hamels?

The Yankees are set to face Rangers ace Cole Hamels Tuesday night in a matchup that is sure to be watched closely by the Yankees front office. Hamels is one of the top pitchers expected to be available around this year’s trade deadline and a trade to New York could be a possibility.

The Yankees offense continues to dominate with 28 runs and 14 home runs over their last three games, but the starting pitching still remains a work in progress. On paper, it’s a solid rotation with Luis Severino at the forefront contending for the Cy Young, however, after him, consistency has been an issue.

Masahiro Tanaka is as inconsistent as it gets, Sonny Gray had pitched very poorly before throwing a gem on Sunday and even the normally reliable CC Sabathia has scuffled over his last two starts. Rookie Domingo German has been solid replacing Jordan Montgomery but he got banged up his last time out after throwing six no-hit innings in his first career start.

The Yankees clearly lack a second “ace” to go behind Severino and while Cole Hamels may not be the ace he once was he should be considered as a potential trade target. As I said before, Hamels isn’t the dominant pitcher he used to be with the Phillies but at age 34 you could argue that he’d still be a better option than anyone else in the Yankees rotation outside of Sevy.