Yankees Trade Rumors: NY Interested in Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, More

The New York Yankees are interested in improving their pitching this offseason and reportedly have eyes for players like Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and James Paxton in potential trades and free agent options like Patrick Corbin, J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred.

Kluber is the marquee name on that list, and his inclusion isn't a surprise—ESPN's Buster Olney reported last week that Cleveland would consider moving him in a trade:

Kluber is one of three AL CY Young finalists after finishing 20-7 with an impressive 2.89 ERA, 0.99 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 215 innings. At 32, there are questions about how much longer Kluber will remain an elite, top-of-the-rotation ace, though he's been downright dominant for the past five seasons. 

He's also under contract for a reasonable $15 million in 2019, with club options for $15.5 million in 2020 and $16 million in 2021, according to Spotrac.com. For a pitcher of his stature, that's a fairly team-friendly deal, though he does have salary escalators up to $4 million in those seasons, a consideration for Cleveland as it attempts to shed some payroll. 

Carrasco, 31, would be a strong consolation prize for the Yankees, fresh off another excellent season that saw him finish 17-10 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 231 strikeouts in 192 innings. Carrasco has continued to miss bats at an impressive rate the past two years, even if he isn't quite on the overall level of Kluber. 

Paxton, 29, is coming off a career year for the Seattle Mariners, finishing 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and career highs in strikeouts (208) and innings (160.1). He'll also almost assuredly be available on the trade market, given that recent rumors have suggested the Mariners will consider trading just about anybody on their roster: 

Of the free-agent options listed, Corbin is the most intriguing. The 29-year-old is also coming off a career year, going 11-7 while setting career bests in ERA (3.15), WHIP (1.05) and strikeouts (246) in 200 innings. He'll be a popular option for teams looking to improve their rotation this winter.

The Yankees will be among them. While the Yankees had one of baseball's most fearsome lineups in 2018, finishing second in the American League with 851 runs, the team's starting pitching was not on the same level

"Our starting pitchers, except for [Masahiro] Tanaka, they were not good," Yankees managing partner Hal Steinbrenner said, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, referring to the rotation's performance in the postseason. "All of a sudden, your hitters are down three, four, five, six runs in inning three or four, and it really puts the pressure on them and changes the dynamics somewhat of the whole process. Their pitchers get emboldened, so that just makes it makes it more difficult."

In other words, expect the Yankees to aggressively pursue upgrades to join Tanaka and Luis Severino.