Yankees: Which starting pitcher could they acquire before the trade deadline?

Francisco Liriano

Following this trend of expiring starting pitchers, next on the list is 34-year-old Dominican Francisco Liriano.

Another lefty, Liriano has not seen the same level of performance as Hamels nor Happ, but could still be a factorable piece to a successful playoff run for this Yankees team.

Liriano is currently on the DL with a right hamstring strain but is expected to be back before the all-star break. Before being placed on the DL, Liriano has shown some flashes of brilliance including an eight inning, one hit, outing against the second place Seattle Mariners back in May.

But Liriano does not have the much of the flashy stats to back up his abilities, meaning he could be undervalued in the trade market. A 3.90 ERA accompanied by an average 6.4 hits per nine innings.

Now you might be thinking that doesn’t sound too impressive; over six hits per nine innings? Well, as a matter of fact, this is only slightly higher than Luis Severino’s 6.3 hits per nine innings. And we are all more than impressed with the performance of Severino this season.

So Liriano may not have the same high strikeout rates as other “better” starters, or the electric fastball, or the potential to develop into a better ball player. But he gets the job done, he gets outs.

And you get what you pay for. Liriano’s contract ends after this season which again would be in favor of the Yankees. Plus his $4 million salary wouldn’t hurt the team much; would certainly leave the Yankees with room until hitting that luxury tax threshold which they so dearly wish to stay below.

Plus the Tigers, although only 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians for first place, recently lost 2x MVP, Miguel Cabrera, to season-ending left bicep surgery, only adding insult to injury (pun intended).

For a team not recognized to be all that great, the Tigers should be willing to part ways with Liriano for one of the many displaced Yankees.