And the Yankees Get Jaime Garcia, Which Could Impact the Pitching Market
As expected, the Yankees will complete their deal for rental lefty Jaime Garcia:
yanks and twins are in agreement on a jaime garcia tarde
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2017
#Yankees are giving Zack Littell and 1 other lower-level prospect for Garcia. #Twins
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 30, 2017
twins pivoted quickly. think they are being realistic. the only game they won this week was the one jaime pitched. #yanks
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2017
Having added a capable arm (if nothing more), the Yankees now have slightly more leverage to hold out on the A’s if their demands for Sonny Gray do not fall. How that will impact Gray’s market with so many other teams – the Cubs, the Astros, the Dodgers, the Brewers, and the Braves, at least – interested remains to be seen.
The Cubs, for their part, are also definitely not looking to add Gray from a position of desperation. If the price really falls and/or the A’s love a particular Cubs player/prospect, then cool. If not, the Cubs can head into the offseason and look for additional pitching then.
Otherwise, the addition of Garcia takes a rental arm off the market for other teams, though Garcia was himself already traded to the Twins, so it’s not as if he was an expected rental arm at this time. I wonder if that ever-so-slightly depresses the market for a quality rental arm like the Cardinals’ Lance Lynn. I still hope the Cardinals don’t sell.
