Miguel Pineda to Yankees

Miguel Pineda has been traded to the Yankees (along with righty Jose Campos) in exchange for Hector Noesi and Jesus Montero. Yankees fans, we have given up a potential great bat to get a likely-to-be great pitcher. What do you think of this deal?

Michael Pineda leaves the best park to pitch in the AL to go to a team that will scpre more runs in a game than the Mariners scored in a month. Pineda’s fantasy value goes up as Jesus Montero’s goes down a notch. The Yankees did give up a bit to get Pineda, including Noesi, but it’s a great trade for the Yankees. With Montero gone I wonder if the Yankees fill the DH spot with free agent Carlos Pena? Or do they seek out fan favorite Johnny Damon who needs 277 hits for the magical 3000 mark? Pitching for the M’s, Pineda managed only 9 wins. The rookie did have a 3.74/1.10 ERA/WHIP, 133 HA and a stout 173/55 K/BB in 171 IP. Montero was a good one too in his brief month with the Yankees hitting .328 in 61 AB, 4 HR and 12 RBI. But to get something, you have to give up something and the Yanks also included Noesi in the deal. The Yankees get a young, All-Star pitcher while giving up their top prospect (Montero), whom the Mariners long coveted. Noesi will contend for a back-of-the-rotation spot for the Mariners in spring training. He lacks dominant stuff but has excellent command and could find success at Safeco Field. Keep an eye on Noesi this spring as his fantasy value rises if he’s named to the rotation.

The Yankees big night continues with the signing of long time Dodger Hiroki Kuroda to a 1 yr deal for a reported $10-mil. This is right on the heels of the trade with Seattle that sent Hector Noesi and Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda and a minor leaguer. Kuroda pitched a career-high 202 innings for the Dodgers last season. He turns 37 in February, but didn't show any age-related decline last season when he posted a 3.07/1.21 ERA/WHIP, 196 HA, and a 161/49 K/BB. Right after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, general manager Brian Cashman said his priority for the Yankees this off-season was pitching. But he balked at bidding on the top free agents in what was considered a weak year for starters. For his career Kuroda is 41-46 with a 3.45/1.19 ERA/WHIP, 667 HA, and a 523/163 K/BB in 699 IP. It’s a good move by the Yankees whose pitching got a lot stronger tonight. The 22-year-old Pineda was 6-2 on May 21 with a 2.16 ERA but tired down the stretch and finished 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA. In 171 innings he gave up just 133 hits and struck out 173.

The Pineda deal is a great move by the Yankees. Montero is going to be a good one but they have Martin this year and they have two other good catching prospects including next in line, Austin Romine. They get a potential stud starter in return. Getting Kuroda, however was not necessary. Are they going to boot both Burnett and Garcia now?

For a team that seemed to be penny pinching a few months ago....what a bombshell....I give it up to Brian Cashman for pulling it off as Pineda is a stud and Yankee Stadium is going to love the kid. I think the Red Sox Nation just got a huge lump in their throat and it ain't good Bobby V. I like this trade. The Yankees are defensively solid in the infield and in the outfield. The glaring weakness was in the starting rotation. I read the posts and the nay sayers are all saying basically the same things. Kuroda is old and Pineda is unproven. Even if that turns out that this isn't a great as billed, the Yanks starting rotation will still have more horsepower than last years starters. So what if Kuroda is 37 years old? He'll be a 3 or 4 man in the rotation, he doesn't have to be an ace. If we can get one solid year out of Kuroda it will give Betances and Banuelos another year to develop. Burnett can fight it out with Garcia and Hughes for the 5th spot. If Garcia pitches as well as last year we can let Hughes stay in the bullpen where he is a stud. This move gives the Yankees options that they didn't have before. Options mean they will have flexibility for making personnel moves or other trades. When the Yankees have options, they can go after missing pieces by the trade deadline for a run in October. My biggest concern about this team is the offense. We don't know exactly what we'll get from Jeter or A-Rod. Tex needs to be a little more clutch this year. The batting coach needs to fix that giant uppercut swing that Tex has. Granderson is good and I don't think we've seen the best of Cano yet. Martin and Swisher need to be solid and the DH needs to produce. So, maybe the Yanks need to go after a bat for DH or get a 3rd baseman with a bat and put A-Rod at DH. If the Yanks can score runs, I like their chances this year.

Hughes also won 18 games two years ago. Now we want to banish him to the pen. Ridiculous.