Trade Targets: Wandy Rodriguez

Could he be in Yankees pinstripes this year?

First of all Wandy is on the DL right now with Elbow fluid, but he is projected to be 100% after his DL stint however if he does not recover then a trade for him is no longer practical. Wandy is a 32 year old LHP with a newly signed deal for 3 years $34 million and a 4th year team option that becomes a player option with a trade. Wandy currently has a 3.41 ERA in 66IP this year and from 09-10 he combined for 400.2 IP , a 3.30ERA and a 8.3 SO/9 rate. He also possesses a 44.2% GB rate and HR/FB rate of 10.7%. The Yankees have been incredibly lucky this year as Bartolo Colon has beeen able to fill the hole left by Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes is going to throw BP tonight and if it goes well then he may go for some rehab starts which would be great. That being said you can never have enough pitching depth and having Silva, Nova, Noesi, Mitchell, Phelps and Warren for depth would be great. Freddy Garcia has done a more than adequate job in the Yankees rotation but the Yankees would like to have another LHP and somebody who can help the Yankees down the road instead of just this season. Wandy could be a solid mid rotation guy behind CC, Burnett and Hughes and if Colon can remain healthy then he could be a solid back of the rotation guy and the Yankees would have a very solid rotation for the next several years and cold easily insert Nova or other AAA prospects into the rotation if anyone breaks down. Wandy could also be a very effective placeholder while we wait for Betances and Banuelos to develop and the Yankees would not have to fill any major holes in their rotation until at least 2013 when AJ Burnett's contract expires.
There is always a downside as transitioning from the NL to the AL can be difficult for some pitchers especially when you are going to the AL East and you can never tell what will happen as evident by Javier Vazquez. Also the current trade market does not have many top pitchers and the Astros could bring in a lot for Bud Norris, Brett Myers, J.A Happ and Wandy Rodriguez and it could be more than what the Yankees want to offer. The Astros will look for some decent prospects and they will want at least a prospect as well as one of our AAA arms that they can put into the rotation because while they have their top pitching prospect Jordan Lyles who they could bring in to the rotation, they could end up trading all of their rotation this trade season. If the Yankees want Wandy they will probably trade one or two of the AAA arms, possibly Nova, and probably Romine or Cervelli and Houston native and former Houston Rule 5 draft pick, Lance Pendelton just to sweeten the deal. I'm sure that the Yankees would trade Cervelli or Romine unless Jesus Montero is traded already or is planned to be traded, but in that case we probably would not be looking at Wandy Its also possible that Brackman could be traded along with another prospect due to his struggles just as top pitching prospect Zach McAllister was traded to Cleveland last year. There is a new ownership in Houston and with their release of Bill Hall earlier today, I would have to believe that they are looking to build for the future and will be very much sellers this year as their inning eating veterans could bring them a good load due to the lack of available top pitchers. I think Wandy would be good for the Yankees as much as I like Cervelli he could be a stater with Houston wheras with the Yankees he would likely always be a backup. If Cervelli is traded then it would also give the Yankees the opportunity to promote Jesus Montero who could play fulltime as back catcher and part time DH. Overall I think this is the best pitcher for the Yankees to target and while the price may be high it will be very beneficial to both teams.