The Yankees traded for Jaime Garcia to improve the №5 spot in their rotation

Nate Weiser
Jul 30, 2017 · 3 min read
Jaime Garcia — AJC.Com

According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees agreed last night to a trade with the Minnesota Twins for lefty Jaime Garcia. Triple-A lefty Dietrich Enns and Double-A righty Zack Littell went to the Twins in the trade.

The Yankees needed an established starting pitcher who can step into the №5 spot in the rotation, and the veteran Garcia will be able to do just that. Brian Cashman is still reportedly exploring a trade with the Oakland Athletics for Sonny Gray, which would send Garcia to long relief in the bullpen and then to possibly take over for Jordan Montgomery if he has to miss starts to do an innings limit.

After Michael Pineda was lost for the season as a result of needing Tommy John surgery, the Yankees have not been able to get anything out of the number five spot in the rotation. Garacia allowed a solid three runs and eight hits while striking out seven in 6.2 innings in his only start with the Twins. With the Braves this season, before being traded to the Twins, he had a 4.30 ERA in 18 starts with 85 strikeouts, 41 walks and a 1.319 WHIP.

This season, Garcia pitched six or more innings in 15 of his 19 starts which is important and is something that Caleb Smith wasn’t able to do, and even Pineda was not able to consistently go deep into games. This will also mostly allow the improved middle relief to not have to pitch as much on days that Garcia starts.

In his nine season career, the 31-year-old native of Mexico has a very respectable 3.65 ERA in 177 games (166 starts) with 815 strikeouts, 305 walks, a FIP of 3.62 and a 1.290 WHIP. Garcia will be a free agent after this season, which means that he is purely a rental.

Garcia spent the first eight seasons of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. His best season came in 2015 when he had an outstanding 2.43 ERA in 20 starts while throwing 129.2 innings. He would have had the 4th best ERA in the NL but didn’t make enough starts to qualify. Also, in 2015 he had a 161 ERA+, a FIP of 3.00, a WHIP of 1.049, a career-low 7.4 H/9, 97 strikeouts and 30 walks.

The 6–2, 215 pound Garcia finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2010 with a 13–8 record, a dominant 2.70 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 28 starts. According to Brooks Baseball, he has relied primarily on his fourseam fastball (91 mph) and sinker (91 mph), while also mixing in a change (84 mph) slider (83 mph) and curve (75 mph).

Littell and Enns are intriguing prospects but worth giving up as the Yankees make their playoff push. Littell dominated on all cylinders as he had a 14–1 record with a 1.87 ERA and a 8.5 K/9 rate with High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton this season. In seven starts with Trenton, he had a 2.05 ERA and 1.023 WHIP after being promoted, but it the Yankees likely would have lost him in the Rule 5 draft after this season. Littell was the 22nd ranked prospect in the Yankees system going into the season according to MLB.Com.

Enns is a player who the Yankees drafted in the 19th round of the 2012 draft out of Central Michigan University. Enns was not considered to be one of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects going into the season, but he has produced consistently above average seasons. He had a 2.29 ERA in seven starts with Triple-A Scranton this season. He seemed to be the missing piece that had to be included since he will be able to help the Twins sooner that Littell.

This was a valuable trade for improving the Yankees rotation to help keep this surging team, who has won six games in a row, in first place, but if Cashman trades even more prospects for Gray that will make the rotation even more potent.

Pinstripe State of Mind

A blog about the Yankees on the field and off the field.

Nate Weiser

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Pinstripe State of Mind

A blog about the Yankees on the field and off the field.

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