The New York Yankees and Washington Nationals reportedly had talks earlier in the season regarding one of the Nationals’ starting pitchers, says Josh Norris of the Trentonian Blogs.
The deal would have involved infielder Eduardo Nunez, Single-A left-hander Nik Turley and an outfielder from Charleston. The outfielder would likely have been either Ben Gamel or Kelvin DeLeon, as Mason Williams and Tyler Austin appear to be untouchable at this point.
In return, the Yankees likely would have received Edwin Jackson.
Although there are no reports confirming that exchange, it makes sense logically.
The package the Yankees were offering would be nowhere near enough to acquire Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez or Jordan Zimmermann, while it would be entirely too much to give up for the likes of John Lannan, Ross Detwiler or Chien-Ming Wang.
The Nationals, a pitching-heavy team, definitely have a surplus of starters. However, the team may not want to trade one of its four best starters (Jackson) for essentially only one piece that can help the club this season.
While the Nationals struggle at times offensively, Nunez’s inconsistent bat would not be enough to warrant trading Jackson.
According to Norris, a Yankee official, on Saturday morning said that he had heard nothing of a potential deal between the two clubs, but “wouldn’t be surprised” based on the team’s perception of Jackson.
There’s no denying the fact that Jackson would greatly strengthen the Yankee rotation, and it seems as if their patience is wearing thin with Nunez.
This deal would likely help the Yankees more than it would the Nationals, but it seems as if talks have silenced since the initial discussions.
We’ll have to see how this plays itself out as the deadline gets closer.
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