How do you feel about the Yankees trading for James Paxton?

As you probably know by now, Monday night saw the Yankees make a major move, acquiring starting pitcher James Paxton from the Mariners. In return, the Yankees sent them pitchers Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson, as well as outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams.

The 30-year old Paxton will be in his seventh seasons in the major leagues when he takes the field in 2019. When healthy, Paxton has been a pretty good starter with a career 3.76 ERA, 117 ERA+, and 3.13 FIP.

His major drawback has been the “when healthy” part, as his 160.1 innings in 2018 was his career high — by over 20 innings.

Over the past couple of days, you’ve probably read plenty of takes on the trade. We at Pinstripe Alley have written plenty on it. However, now we want to know how you feel about the deal for James Paxton.

In general, the people who are in favor of the trade like it because the Yankees needed pitching. In getting Paxton, the Yankees have seemingly gotten one of the better arms available.

On the con side, one of the main sticking points is the price the Yankees paid. Justus Sheffield was one of, if not the best, prospects in the Yankees’ system. While prospects are far from a given, the Yankees have had success bringing them through over the last couple seasons. Giving up a high caliber one like Sheffield is going to sting somewhat.

However, the Yankees didn’t really give up another truly highly ranked prospect.

Paxton doesn’t have the history of success as say a Corey Kluber, but he also didn’t coast as much as Kluber would have. As good as Sheffield could be, the other two aren’t highly ranked, at least not yet.

There’s also this side of it when it comes to giving up someone like Sheffield.

“There is no such thing as a pitching prospect” didn’t become a saying on accident. Sheffield could become an ace. Baseball history is littered with people who “could have become an ace”. Paxton is a good pitcher right now, and it appears the Yankees decided that was more valuable.

One of the other main points on the con side is the injury history.

It’s true that Paxton has spent a decent amount of time on the disabled list over the years. Just this last season, he went to the DL in July with a back injury.

It’s also true that none of the injuries have been the really bad ones for pitchers. It hasn’t been major arm or shoulder trouble so far in his career, but those can’t really ever be ruled out either. He is a pitcher, after all.

Here’s one final perspective of the trade on a point that hasn’t really been mentioned, by a Twitter user who definitely isn’t also the author of this post.

In losing Thompson-Williams, the Yankees are losing a solid nickname from their farm system, and that hurts too.

In all seriousness, it’s time to tell us what you think of this deal. Vote in the poll and tell us your opinions in the comments!