It seems a tad dramatic to drone on about the starting pitching issues for a team that sits 14 games above .500, leading its division with the fifth-best record in Major League Baseball.
And yet …
The New York Yankees beat Kansas City 10-2 on Tuesday night behind a 7-inning effort from Max Fried, who gave up two runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts, improving to 9-1 overall with a 1.84 ERA. The Yankees improved to 39-25, 3.5 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.
But Fried is an outlier for a Yankees rotation that sits 13th in MLB with an ERA of 3.73. He and Carlos Rodon, who is 8-4 with a 2.87, have done their part to keep the team’s overall numbers in the mid-range.
As for the rest of the rotation, injuries have forced the Yankees to rely heavily on depth pieces, which have yielded inconsistent results. With hopes of getting another crack at the World Series title this season, New York will likely look for pitching at the trade deadline.
Mixing Merrill Kelly With Max Fried, Carlos Rodon Would Give Yankees a Dominant Trio
Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media has a suggestion to give the Yankees the all-important third starter that could make the difference in a playoff series.
With Arizona struggling this season, analysts speculate that 36-year-old right-hander Merrill Kelly could be changing teams this summer. Kerry Miller of Bleacher Reports ranked Kelly, who is in the final season of a three-year, $23 million extension, as the No. 2 pitcher to potentially be available.
“(I)f they do end up selling, Kelly’s $7M salary and his track record of success would pique a whole lot of interest around the league,” Miller wrote.
Garcia proposes that the Yankees send minor-league pitchers Brendan Beck, Griffin Herring, and Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz to Arizona in exchange for Kelly, who helped pitch the Diamondbacks into the 2023 World Series and is quietly having another solid season. It’s a heavy price for a pitcher who will only be with the team through the end of 2025, but that pitcher could go a long way in making it a very special 2025 for the Yankees.
In his first 14 starts of the season, Kelly has posted a 6-2 record with a 3.18 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He’s not a high-strikeout guy, averaging a little under one for every inning pitched over his career, but Kelly does have elite-level command and a deep repertoire of six pitches that he uses effectively to get outs and eat up innings.
Trading for Kelly may not generate a ton of buzz, but he’s the type of pitcher who makes quality starts and saves wear and tear on the bullpen. That plays well for a team hoping to make a run deep into October.
“I hope I can set an example for the young guys on what consistency and discipline can lead to in the long run,” Kelly said in a recent profile by Phoenix magazine.
Trading Prospect Trio for Merrill Kelly Signals ‘Win-Now Mode’ for Yankees
As for the cost, Kelly wouldn’t come cheap.
Beck was dominant at Stanford before Tommy John surgery derailed his timeline, but he’s healthy again and regaining form. He’s 5-2 with a 1.99 ERA after 10 appearances, eight of them starts, for Double-A Somerset. Beck has been drawing attention for his polished mechanics and ability to throw four pitches for strikes.
Herring, a lefty with a bulldog mentality and a wipeout slider, was recently promoted to High-A Hudson Valley after dominating lineups at the Single-A level. The addition of a “ridiculous” changeup to his fastball/slider mix has made a tremendous difference, and Herring, the Yankees’ No. 25 prospect, has posted a 1.27 combined ERA over his 10 starts this season.
Rodriguez-Cruz, acquired from the Red Sox in a December trade that sent catcher Carlos Narvaez to Boston, has blossomed in the Yankees’ system. The team’s No. 6 prospect, Rodriguez-Cruz is 3-2 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP that ranks fifth in the South Atlantic League.
That’s a lot of arm talent to part with, especially with New York’s rotation depth looking thinner than usual. But the Yankees aren’t in the business of hoarding prospects when a title’s within reach.
New York is in win-now mode, and Kelly is a pitcher who can further that goal. He won’t just fill innings. He can help win a championship.
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