Jon Heyman reported that the New York Yankees will be interested in signing Dallas Keuchel once the draft pick compensation goes away on June 2.
Other than A.J. Preller and the San Diego Padres going out and signing the former Cy Young award winner, Dallas Keuchel to the New York Yankees makes the most sense.
I won’t get into why the Padres signing Keuchel makes more sense other than they need a leader at the top of a young rotation who have their two best starters so far on inning limits.
As much as the Yankees are concerned, it is a perfect fit. Jon Heyman also reported that the belief is Keuchel would prefer a big market, and San Diego is not it.
Luis Severino is not going to be on the mound at Yankee Stadium until after the All-Star break.
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James Paxton, who they traded their top prospect Justus Sheffield for, is currently on the Injured list and J.A. Happ hasn’t been himself early on in the season.
Domingo German has really stood out in the Yankees rotation. He owns a 2.35 ERA in seven starts, with 9.2 strikeouts per nine.
CC Sabathia made headlines by getting his 3,000th career strikeout earlier in Arizona, but although he has the postseason experience and mentality needed to beat the Red Sox and Astros, New York undoubtedly needs a pitcher who gets ground balls and does not allow a lot of home runs.
That pitcher is Dallas Keuchel.
I know a lot of baseball people will debate on whether the Yankees should sign Keuchel because there is no timetable to when Keuchel would be ready to face big league hitters after he signs, but he is a very consistent pitcher.
In four of the last five seasons, Keuchel has an ERA under 4 with over 120 strikeouts. He also owns one of the best ground ball rates in the league.
The only thing Yankee fans care about is getting the 28th ring, and they won’t be able to get a ring this season without a true ace.
Luis Severino has already shown that he hasn’t been able to live up to expectations in big games.
Severino owns a 6.26 ERA in six games. He most notably struggles in the biggest start of his 2018 season. In Game 3 of the ALDS vs the Red Sox at home, Severino lasted three innings and gave up 6 earned runs.
Keuchel, on the other hand, has been very effective in the postseason. Keuchel has a 3.31 ERA, giving up just five home runs in 10 starts for the Astros over a span of three postseason appearances.
The Yankees drastically need Dallas Keuchel, but will only pull the trigger after the draft in June.