The New York Yankees so far are having an excellent season, but they are still fighting for first place in a really tough AL East division.
The Yankees want to get to the playoffs, and to get there they need to pursue bottom of the rotation help during this trade deadline, and from what it looks like, the Yankees have interest in the Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco.
On Friday night during Nolasco’s start in Arizona, there were numerous scouts from many teams; one of those scouts belonged to the New York Yankees.
It is unclear what the scouts were looking into, but from assumption we can guess that they were looking into both starting pitchers of that game, Dan Haren and Nolasco. The Yankees may have certain interest in Dan Haren, but the pitcher of the most interest to the Yankees was probably Nolasco.
Nolasco pitched extremely well in that game, demonstrating consistency as he pitched seven innings of two-run ball. Nolasco can be consistent and will almost always pitch five innings or more in a start, something that could help the Yankees greatly in maintaining their AL East lead.
The Yankees are probably interested in Nolasco due to the familiarity that he has with manager Joe Girardi. During the 2006 season when Joe Girardi managed the Florida Marlins, he had a great selection of rookie pitchers, and one of those pitchers was Nolasco.
Girardi knows Nolasco’s stuff and will know how to manage him appropriately, giving the Yankees a huge bonus that no other pitcher on the trading block can provide. Nolasco is a low-risk innings eater that can definitely benefit this Yankees team.
Though he is having a rough season, he is showing signs of improvement, and since the Cliff Lee trade, the Yanks need a backup plan.
From what it looks like Ricky Nolasco might just be Plan B for the New York Yankees during this 2010 trade deadline.
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