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The New York Yankees have seen their starting rotation perform admirably without ace Gerrit Cole, maintaining the second-best ERA in the big leagues so far.
But after a disappointing 2023 season, the Yankees are “hell bent on being a champion,” as manager Aaron Boone put it, per the Associated Press. And reliable starting pitching is one thing that playoff-caliber teams simply cannot have enough of.
With that in mind, the Los Angeles Angels should consider the Yankees an ideal trade destination if they opt to deal starter Tyler Anderson by the deadline.
Tyler Anderson Seems Poised to Give a Playoff-Bound New York Yankees Team a Trade Deadline Boost
After nine big-league seasons, Anderson is enjoying a stellar 2024 campaign, with a 2.74 ERA and 32 strikeouts across 42.2 innings. The 32-year-old southpaw was an All-Star in 2022, when he racked up 15 wins with a 2.57 ERA, but he regressed last season. Now, it seems he’s found his groove again and could be an asset on a contending team, with the Angels rapidly declining toward seller status.
“The Angels came into 2024 hoping to compete, despite losing Shohei Ohtani to free agency, but it’s not going well so far,” as Darragh McDonald put it for MLB Trade Rumors. “Barring a miracle in the next few months, they are going to be deadline sellers in the months to come.”
Skeptics will be quick to note that Anderson is likely to regress from his current performance, and the advanced stats do back that up. Though he’s limited the damage, he has a .205 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), which marks as the sixth lowest in MLB and a top-11 strand rate, which suggest luck might catch up with him. But if he’s still performing well at midseason, the Yankees might see him as a necessary boost just before the playoffs.
“Though his results will likely dip a bit as the year goes on, pitching is always in demand at the deadline and the Angels could be able to eat some of his salary to get a deal done,” McDonald added.
Anderson’s contract might be another appealing factor for the Yankees. He signed a three-year, $39 million deal with the Angels after his All-Star 2022 season and it will expire after next season.
If the Angels do enter rebuild mode at the deadline, the Yankees would likely have to part with some prospect depth to add Anderson, but it seems that a deal could get done even if they hold onto prized outfielder Spencer Jones.
Jones was withheld from trade discussions for Dylan Cease over the offseason, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. But Anderson does not have the same upside that Cease does, and the Angels would likely be willing to part with him for a lighter package.
The New York Yankees Might Have Several Pitching Option on the Trade Market
Of course, if the Yankees are willing to part with some young assets to boost their pitching staff ahead of the playoffs, there should be a number of options available. Another struggling team, the Chicago White Sox, seems even more set to sell than the Angels and Nightengale projected that they will make pitcher Chris Flexen available.
“Acquiring Chris Flexen could be the perfect project for (Yankees pitching coach) Matt Blake, as we’ve seen him elevate plenty of relievers for the Yanks,” Nicholas Rome noted for Empire Writes Back. “As Flexen is currently stretched out as a starter, he could become the Yankees long reliever while transitioning back into a relief role.”
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