The New York Yankees just dropped a doubleheader against the Houston Astros, losing via the walk off in the first game and by poor pitching in the second game. The team from the empire state now sits with a 64-30 record and a 12-game lead over the second place Tampa Bay Rays. Nevertheless the Yankees are the best team in baseball still as they gear up to take on the 5th place 46-46 Baltimore Orioles tonight at 7:05pmEST. The Yankees will be in Baltimore for what will be a three-game set, game one will feature Jameson Taillon on the mound for New York with his 10-2 record that is accompanied by a 3.86 ERA.
Overall New York has had a great season so far from their starters as they have put up quality starts and kept the hits on a down low. With the first half of the season done and gone and the trade deadline nearing all the Yankees have to do is just get one more solid pitcher and that pitcher can be one of three options: David Phelps of the Toronto Blue Jays, he was formerly a Yankee several years ago in the starter role, now with the Blue Jays he had been used as a long reliever and has a ERA of 2.70 in 36.2 IP with the team. Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals flirted with a no-hitter earlier this season and has been the Cardinals number one starter for the past several seasons, a very low 2.54 ERA in 120.1 IP accompanied by a 7-7 record on a rebuilding team would make Mikolas a solid pitcher and easy to trade for without losing a lot. The final option is the most likely route the Yankees will go, trading for Cincinnati Reds ace Luis Castillo who has a 2.77 ERA through 78.0 innings and he absolutely dominates American League hitters, the only downside is that there is speculation that Castillo will refuse to shave his beard and cut his hair, which would be a violation of the Yankees’ rules leading him to be benched and miss playing time.
PROJECTED TRADE PACKAGES
DAVID PHELPS: Yankees send RP Albert Abreu and OF Marwin Gonzalez to Blue Jays along with cash considerations to TOR
MILES MIKOLAS: Yankees send OF Joey Gallo, OF Tim Locastro, C Kyle Higashioka and RP Jonathan Loaisiga to STL
LUIS CASTILLO: Yankees send MiLB C Austin Wells, MiLB SS Oswaldo Cabrera and UTI Tyler Wade to CIN
If the New York Yankees acquire those pitchers they can go to a six-man starting rotation (If NYY acquires David Phelps they can balance him between SR and BP as he has experience doing both and can be used to start games if there is an injury/rest needed or late in the season.)
The New York Yankees are almost guaranteed a spot in October ball, a six-man rotation would give big playoff factors such as Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes a break so they won’t be over used and give injury prone Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery less playing time so they do not get the dreaded ‘dead arm’ and decrease the risk of injury. The Yankees still have more than enough time to form a deal and they are expected to get a pitcher at the deadline, it is just a matter of who that pitcher will be.
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