The New York Yankees are certainly thin in the starting rotation despite their strong start to the season. With Gerrit Cole out for the season and Luis Gil out until at least the All-Star break, the team has had to rely on Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco to provide strong results on the mound.
Yankees could pursue Erick Fedde to boost the rotation
That group has struggled for the most part outside of Fried. Yankees starters have a 4.43 ERA so far this season, which is the fifth-worst in all of baseball. Additionally, the rotation is walking too many batters as they have allowed 54 base on balls, which is the eighth-most in MLB.
With that being said, they will likely be deep in the market for starting pitching this season, and they will be targeting some big names to help boost a weak rotation. Fansided’s Brendan Smith suggested that the Yankees should pursue St. Louis Cardinals veteran arm Erick Fedde.
“In an ideal world, Fedde would replace one of [Marcus] Stroman, Carrasco or Warren at the end of the rotation after moving to St. Louis at last year’s trade deadline,” Smith wrote.
Fedde could be a nice fit in the Yankees’ rotation
Fedde is on an expiring contract, which means that he would purely be a rental for the Yankees if they were to trade for him. However, he could be a guy worth pursuing as he can provide some major depth in the starting rotation.
This season with the Cardinals, he has a 3.33 ERA in five starts with 13 strikeouts in 27 innings. While he is not a big strikeout guy, he excels at limiting damage contact, as he has a 46.7% ground ball rate in his career.
With him being on an expiring deal, Fedde won’t cost too much to bring him in, either. The Yankees are sure to listen to all types of offers for several different players, and perhaps Fedde will be on their radar as the season progresses.