Yankees’ Jaime Garcia trade: How do you feel about the deal?

Brian Cashman got his man in Sonny Gray, but before they added the Athletics ace, the Yankees acquired Jaime Garcia from the Twins in an attempt to improve the team’s most glaring question mark. It was never a move to put them over the top in starting pitching, but Cashman needed leverage and a plan B in negotiations with Billy Beane.

Reactions to the trade were all over the place. Many thought that this meant no Sonny Gray, but rumors remained that the team was still in on negotiations. The move for Garcia was strictly to ensure that the Yankees could fill out the back of the rotation.

While he has experience, Garcia hasn’t been too impressive this year, and you have to wonder if his best days are behind him. Still, he is an improvement over Caleb Smith and Luis Cessa, as the back of the rotation has been anything but productive during their search of a replacement for the injured Michael Pineda.

So, is a rental fifth starter worth the departure of two pitching prospects? Zach Littell was the #22 prospect in the Yankees’ system and boasted an ERA just over two with a K/9 rate over 10 at Double-A this season. Lefty Dietrich Enns is having a nice season in the minors, but is already 26 years old. Littell would be the only prospect that Yankees fans would be bent out of shape about parting with, particularly with a rental starter who was just traded a week ago before being shipped to the Bronx.

There are a lot of moving parts in this deal. Having a stockpile of prospects like the Yankees have makes it difficult to protect everybody from the Rule 5 draft, so would the Yankees even have Littell and Enns in the future? There is also the innings limits of Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino. You would have to imagine that Garcia can provide more innings than Smith or Cessa did, which could free up the bullpen to give the younger starters some more rest. In these aspects, the deal makes sense.

Does this make the Yankees better? Maybe by a win or two, but adding Gray will really put the rotation in a great spot. This trade looks a lot different when you look at it before and after the Sonny Gray deal, but Cashman got what he could for a relatively reasonable price.

Enough from me, what does everyone else think? Is Garcia’s experience a valuable addition, or are his best days behind him and experience doesn’t matter much at this point? Are you okay with parting ways with Littell and Enns? Does this deal improve the Yankees’ chances this season?