Days after trading for J.A. Happ to bolster their rotation, the Yankees added another starting pitcher by acquiring Lance Lynn from the Twins, the team announcded.
New York, which also traded Adam Warren to the Mariners, dealt first baseman Tyler Austin and minor league pitcher Luis Rijo to Minnesota. The Yankees will also receive some money from the Twins.
The 31-year-old Lynn is 7-8 with a 5.10 ERA in 20 starts this season, but has found success against other American League contenders. In four starts against the Red Sox, Astros and Indians this season, he is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA, giving up four runs (three earned) and 14 hits in 22 innings.
"As a fan of the game growing up, it's exciting for me as a young kid seeing them in their heyday winning a lot of World Series championships," Lynn said, according to The Athletic's Dan Hayes. "You look at their team now, they're going for it. I'm excited for that opportunity and that challenge. It's going to be a different experience. I'm just going to go in there and try to do everything I can to help wherever that may be."
Monday's trade comes just days after the Yankees acquired Happ from the Blue Jays in exchange for infielder Brandon Drury and outfielder Billy McKinney.
Austin, 26, has split his time between the majors and minors this season. With New York, he is hitting .223 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs in 34 games, while he has a .247 batting average, five home runs and 11 RBIs in 25 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Rijo, 19, is 9-6 with a 2.80 ERA since joining the Yankees farm system in 2016. Recently promoted to Short-Season Staten Island, Rijo is 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA in seven games (five starts) this season.
The Yankees found a replacement for Austin on Saturday when they acquired first baseman Luke Voit from the Cardinals in the Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos deal.
Chris Carelli, SNY.TV Facebook | Twitter | About Me | Archives
The Yankees clearly have a plan. However, sometimes the endgame is not visible, until, well, the end.
By the time the trade deadline passes Tuesday afternoon, the acquisition of Lynn might make a little more sense. And maybe it won't make any more sense than I can gather from it at the moment.
I suspect the Mariners had international pool money that the Yankees currently covet, which Seattle was willing to give away for Warren. In turn, the Yankees believe Lynn can provide better rotation depth than what they currently have available to them. I suspect when we learn about the money coming back along with Lynn from the Twins, it will be close to covering the difference to what they owed Warren the rest of the way.
In addition to the fine efforts against potential opponents noted above, Lynn has pitched to a 3.74 ERA in his last 12 starts after a terrible start to the season. Lynn can eat innings, and if one of the Yankees goes down, he should be able to keep the club in games in which he toes the rubber.
I'm not at all concerned about trading Austin; he should have been dealt last season in my opinion. The intriguing aspect to me is that the club is not ready to call up Justus Sheffield to see if he can provide what the Yankees expect Lynn to.
Sheffield, being a lefty, could excel out of the bullpen and gain some experience in lower-leverage situations along the way. I suggested the Yankees might be wise to use a sixth starter every so often, but I named Sheffield as the likely beneficiary. Maybe, that type of role is what they have in mind for Lynn beyond injury depth and bullpen help.