The New York Yankees have expressed interest in getting starting pitcher Robbie Ray in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The New York Yankees have expressed interest in Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray. Despite having a strong record at 65-35, the chink in the Yankees armor has been their pitching staff. Their starting pitchers have a collective 4.26 ERA.
Ray has had an up and down season in Arizona but has still been playing fairly well. He is 9-6 with a 3.95 ERA in 22 starts with 162 strikeouts and a .227 batting average against. The strikeout number is good enough for 7th in the majors this year.
To put that in context, the Yankees pitcher with the lowest ERA is Masahiro Tanaka with a 4.00 ERA and a 7-5 record with 98 strikeouts.
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Ray would instantly inject new life into the organization’s starting pitching staff and maybe the Yankees could even get him to perform better. He has been plagued by walks throughout his career and this year has been no different. He ranks 3rd in the majors with 58 walks.
Ray might be attractive because he is eligible for arbitration this next season and will be a free agent in 2021. That could lead the Yankees to maybe move someone to the Diamondbacks with a little more value.
It remains to be seen whether the Yankees will go after Ray, but there is definitely interest in him, especially with how few starting pitchers seem to be available. Madison Bumgarner appears as if he is going stay put as the San Francisco Giants are the hottest team in baseball and only a few games out of a wild card spot.
Trevor Bauer was also rumored to be on the move, but I don’t see him going anywhere either as the Cleveland Indians have also improved their situation and are in a position to take the first AL Wild Card spot.
There are two things that are certain. One is I think the Arizona Diamondbacks are at the critical part of their season where they need to decide if they are buyers or sellers. I think they are going to need to sell. The other thing that is certain is that the New York Yankees will need to add another arm to their starting rotation and I think that arm will more than likely be Ray.