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Michael Pineda has been the source of nigh-endless frustration since he was acquired in the now-infamous Jesus Montero deal in January 2012. First came major shoulder surgery that knocked him out for two years, and then came a pine tar suspension and more missed time in 2014. Ever since a hot start to 2015, he has been horribly inconsistent with a team-high 5.63 ERA and 27 homers allowed in the past calendar year.
At this point, the Yankees only have Pineda under control for another year and a half. Yet there are still teams interested in the right-hander to see if they can be the ones to unlock his potential. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported that the Marlins might just be that team, as they are considering adding a talented starter who has fallen on hard times lately. Pineda was one of three pitchers mentioned, including the Padres’ Andrew Cashner, another player who has lost plenty of value over the past couple years. Former Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson is the third one, and he somewhat fits that bill too since 2016 is the first time he has looked like even a league-average pitcher since 2012.
So it would seem that the time is now for the Yankees to move Pineda. He is not helping any extremely long shot at a playoff berth with his pitching, they have more intriguing future cogs to potentially replace him in Luis Severino, Chad Green, and Luis Cessa, and even a better second half won’t restore that much value when 2017 is his last year of control anyway.
AND YET....
#Marlins working to add starter, sources say. Hellickson, Cashner, Pineda on their list. #Yankees not ready to move Pineda yet. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 19, 2016
“Yankees not ready to move Pineda yet.”
There just doesn’t seem to be much to gain at all from pushing back discussions about moving Pineda. Hopefully this is just a ploy because the Yankees should really just excise what little value they can from him at this point. Maybe it comes back to bite them, but Pineda hasn’t looked like a reliable starter since Mother’s Day 2015. It’s time to cut bait, and a few more starts (good or not) really aren’t going to do much to swing the pendulum either way.
If the Marlins want Pineda, they can have him. The Yankees really need to talk to them about it. It’s time.
