Yankees to follow through and pursue Patrick Corbin in free agency

The New York Yankees will surely be hunting for starting pitching this offseason, and Patrick Corbin may be atop the list.

Starting pitching was an Achilles’ heel for the New York Yankees in their ALDS loss to the Boston Red Sox, as J.A. Happ, Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino and CC Sabathia pitched to a 10.38 ERA and only Tanaka pitched more than three innings.

Leashes are shorter in playoff games, but the Yankees clearly have a need to address this winter.

Sabathia and Happ are set to become free agents, and Sonny Gray had a 4.90 ERA this season. After Severino and Tanaka, the drop-off is steep.

The Yankees may be in the mix for some big free agents, and Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports has reported they will pursue free agent left-hander Patrick Corbin.

Corbin will head into free agency off the best season of his career this year with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as he went 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA, a 11.1 K/9, and a 2.2 BB/9 over 200 innings (33 starts).

Since missing all of the 2014 season after Tommy John surgery, he has worked his way back to an All-Star level.

Corbin is a New York native who grew up a Yankees fan, and in an early season interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today he declared how he might like to pitch for them.

"“It would definitely be great to play there,’’ Corbin says. “I grew up a Yankee fan. My whole family are Yankee fans. My mom, my dad, my grandpa, everybody. Really, every generation of my family has been Yankee fans."

The Yankees were in trade discussions with the Diamondbacks regarding Corbin last offseason, so their interest is not new. It seems to be a perfect marriage of need and a player who wants to be there, but the Yankees will surely have some competition for Corbin’s services.