Yankees: 3 trade deadline targets New York should avoid

Yankees should avoid trading for Ian Kennedy

This might seem obvious and that’s because it is. Nevertheless, Ian Kennedy is someone the Arizona Diamondbacks will surely look to shop this summer once they clearly fall out of the playoff picture. His teammate, another former Yankees pitcher Mark Melancon, has already ruined much of his trade value. He has an ERA over 6.00 and is far less interesting of a candidate to insert himself into a contender’s bullpen later this year.

Kennedy, meanwhile, has been okay for the Diamondbacks but not great. Last year, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies from the Texas Rangers and saw his solid season go up in flames. His grand tour before retirement of returning to the Diamondbacks could make sense to officially end with his original team, the Yankees, under different circumstances.

Kennedy is the kind of player the Yankees would trade for to get some late innings from. Not really a candidate to close for them even if they were to lose a few arms, there’s far too much risk in adding a guy with as many miles on his arm as Kennedy has.

The Yankees are beginning to see bullpen arms go down with injuries. They’ve lost Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Chad Green. They should be on the hunt for some relief help. Kennedy is not the answer.

If they are feeling nostalgic, it’s Cubs reliever David Robertson that might make a little more sense. Far more costly right now and about the same age as Kennedy, the great thing about Robertson is that despite his injuries he has had a lot of success in the Bronx before and just about everywhere else he has pitched.