Yankees Finalize Pineda Swap With Mariners

After a very quiet offseason, the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners have completed a mega trade which will see Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for red hot rookie Michael Pineda and pitcher Jose Campos.

The trade significantly boosts the Yankees rotation less than month before pitchers and catchers report for spring training. Going into SSpring Training the Yankees Rotation looks to boast CC Sabathia in the number 1 spot, Hiroki Kuroda as their number 2 starter, Michael Pineda in the number 3 slot and Ivan Nova going up for number 4. The number 5 slot will be decided during spring training and could be A.J. Burnett, Freddie Garcia or Phil Huges.

The Yankees had had their eyes on Pineda and Kuroda for quite some time as the teams answer to what was perceived as being a weak rotation. The Yankees are confident that they have pretty much addressed all of their offseason needs for now. There is still a question as to whether they will still shop the market for a designated hitter but we will all see about that.

Speaking about Pineda, Yankees Ace CC Sabathia told Yankees.com,

“We made some good moves. Our team was good, but we made it even better. Anytime you can add an arm like Pineda and get a veteran like [Hiroki] Kuroda, it makes the team a lot better. I’m excited to see if we can stay healthy and try to win a championship.”

Pineda went 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA as a rookie with Seattle. He finished fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year Award voting while leading all AL rookies in strikeouts (173) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.11). He also held right-handed batters to a Major League-low .184 average.

Do you think this year the New York Yankees will win their 28th World Series Championship?