New York Yankees acquire Brandon McCarthy from Arizona Diamondbacks
By Hayden Kane
With the All-Star Break still over one week away, the trades are already starting to fly in Major League Baseball. The Oakland Athletics started the action with their trade for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, and now the New York Yankees have made a move to bolster their rotation.
On Sunday morning the Yankees finalized a trade to acquire right-handed starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks:
Sources: #Yankees acquire Brandon McCarthy from #DBacks. Done deal.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 6, 2014
As for the return for McCarthy, it sounds like it will be built around Vidal Nuno.
Sources: #Yankees were working last night to acquire Brandon McCarthy from #DBacks for Vidal Nuno. Deal appears close.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 6, 2014
McCarthy’s bad but actually good season is well known by now. His 3-10 win-loss record and his 5.01 ERA do not tell the whole story of a guy who is pounding the strike zone with better velocity and a better strikeout rate than he has put up in previous seasons.
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His 7.6 K/9 is the best of his career and his fielding independent pitching (FIP) sits at 3.79, one of the top marks in the National League.
The Yankees have been working the phones for a deal for a starting pitcher for a while now, and while they were long shots for any of the big fishes such as Samardzija or David Price, it seemed inevitable that they would get a second tier guy like McCarthy.
Any deal that involves a player heading to the Yankees has to also account for how that guy will hold up under the pressure of the New York media. It would seem that McCarthy is well-equipped for that challenge given his thoughtfulness and sense of humor. Presuming McCarthy’s good stuff this season can handle the challenges of the American League, this stands to be a solid pick-up for Brian Cashman and the Yankees.