5 pitchers the Yankees will target after missing out on Patrick Corbin

2. Nathan Eovaldi

A certain subset of the Yankees fan base will never forget Eovaldi for helping the Red Sox win the World Series last season. Most fans understand that baseball is a business. For that matter, the best way for Eovaldi to make fans forget about his stint in Boston would be to return to the Bronx and help the Yankees end their title drought.

Inking Eovaldi to a big-money deal is certainly going to be risky. He’s had multiple Tommy John procedures. He was relatively healthy in 2018, but he still only managed to throw 111 innings with an ERA of 3.81.

It’s fair to ask the question of whether or not Eovaldi would be anywhere on this list without his October heroics. The short answer is probably not. However, October pitching counts a lot in the Bronx. The fact that Eovaldi has already proved his ability to thrive on the big stage will raise his stock with the Yankees.

One other thing working in Eovaldi’s favor is that he’s just 28 years old. Injuries are one thing, but he’s only thrown 850 innings during his seven-year career. If his injury problems are actually behind him, he might be one of the freshest arms available to the Yankees.