The New York Yankees are doing a good job calming fans’ nerves about the starting rotation during their current five-game winning streak.
Starting pitching has been the biggest source of drama during this Yankees season, and the recent wins haven’t necessarily proved New York has the right formula. Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt will remain in the rotation if healthy, but the rest is a bit of a question mark.
The Yankees don’t need to panic and make a move right away, but at some point this season, a trade for another starting pitcher almost seems inevitable. The real question is how high the Yankees will reach on the trade market.
On that subject, one baseball writer proposed a fairly low-cost target who Yankees fans would be wary seeing wear the pinstripes for a second time.
In a recent article, Yankees on SI’s Nick Ziegler urged the Yankees to acquire Pitsburgh Pirates lefty Andrew Heaney, who had a brutal first stint in New York during the second half of the 2021 season.
“Since the Pirates don’t look like contenders this year, the southpaw is likely to be traded at some point before the deadline,” Ziegler wrote. “For the Yankees, adding a more proven arm to the rotation makes a lot of sense considering it seems hard to trust anyone outside Fried right now.”
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“While Heaney has never been a superstar, he is a solid option to provide depth for a rotation that needs healthy arms. Furthermore, the cost in terms of prospects wouldn’t be anywhere near the asking price as one of the potential aces who might be available on the trade market.”
Heaney, 33, was a member of the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers, and compiled a 4.22 ERA across 307 1/3 innings in his two years with the club. This season in Pittsburgh, he’s rocking a 2.13 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings.
However, Heaney’s summer in the Bronx was by far the worst stint of his career. He put up a 7.32 ERA in 12 starts in a Yankees uniform, allowing a remarkable 13 home runs in only 35 2/3 innings of work.
All would be forgiven if Heaney returned to New York and performed. But it can be a serious deterrent for a front office to reacquire a player they’ve already seen struggle wearing their colors.
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