The New York Yankees have been rumored to be shopping both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain at the trading deadline and now that appears to be starting, as Ken Rosenthal reports the team is shopping the players aggressively.
According to Hardball Talk, the two players are likely to be moved to an NL team ahead of the deadline, but so far nothing close has come up yet. The National League could be prefect for Hughes and some teams include the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Pirates, Nationals and others. The Yankees are ready to move both as they are about to become free agents and the team needs some depth after dealing with so many injuries.
Yankee Stadium is not kind to fly ball pitchers and that is exactly what Hughes is, meaning he could be effective in a more spacious ballpark for teams like the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets or Seattle Mariners. According to Yahoo Sports, those are three possible destinations for Hughes and if the Yankees want to get some veteran pitching help or some relief from all their injuries depending on how long it takes to get Jeter and Rodriguez back (if A-Rod ever comes back...reports say MLB is looking to suspend him and other players for 100 games..whoa).
The Yankees have been tempted to trade Hughes in the past but decided to hang onto him and although he has been a solid starter for the team and an effective reliever over the years, he likely will be one of the first names mentioned in trades since his contract ends after this year. Under those circumstances Joba Chamberlain could also be in that conversation and let's just say he will be the second one named, but he is less likely to go as the Yankees may want to hold onto the bullpen depth. Hughes has been up and down this season but like he has for most of his career, he has given up too many home runs.
Another factor in a Hughes deal is the status of pitcher Michael Pineda, as he is looking like he is ready to return after rehabbing all last year from a shoulder injury after coming over in the Jesus Montero trade. If Pineda can come back and be an effective starter, the Yankees will have less of an issue in trading Hughes, as they would have a suitable replacement. Hughes has given up over 50 home runs in 300 innings at home since moving to Yankee Stadium 2009, while he has only given up 28 home runs on the road and his ERA on the road is lower as well.
AL exec: "Yanks aggressively pushing Joba, Hughes. Joba could happen soon to NL team." Source says #Yankees talking on both, nothing close.