Now, more than ever, the New York Yankees need starting pitching. The club placed CC Sabathia on the injured list with knee soreness on Thursday. He joins ace Luis Severino and left-hander James Paxton on the shelf.
So will general manager Brian Cashman make a move to add some depth to his depleted rotation?
Sure sounds like that’s what Cashman is thinking. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports the Yankees are hard at work looking at San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner.
There were several clubs, including the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, scouting Bumgarner last weekend, with Bumgarner saying afterwards, “I feel like I threw the ball as well as I ever have.’’
However there are three caveats that come with trying to trade for Bumgarner:
1. He has a no-trade clause for eight teams.
According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, here is the list: Yankees, Braves, Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Brewers, Phillies and Cardinals. Yes, all of those clubs are contenders. Which means Bumgarner has leverage for a new contract if one of those teams wants to deal for him.
2. Bumgarner will be a free agent after the season.
The 29-year-old southpaw is making $12 million this year according to Spotrac and will be looking for a big payday after the season, meaning any club trading for him could end up giving a deal approaching $100 million to a pitcher who will be on the wrong side of 30 for most of the contract.
3. Bumgarner is 3-4 with a 4.21 ERA in 10 starts this year.
Coming into 2019, the four-time All-Star had never posted a full-season ERA higher than 3.37. Yes, Bumgarner is a three-time World Series champion. Yes, he’s one of the best postseason pitchers (8-3, 2.11 ERA) in MLB history. But at this point, he’s not the same pitcher who contended for the National League Cy Young Award for four straight years (top-10 finishes each season from 2013-17).
Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.