The New York Yankees might be forced to trade for another pitcher after Masahiro Tanaka was ruled out for at least six weeks due to a partial ulnar collateral ligament tear in his right elbow.
Ken Davidoff of New York Post reported that the Yankees could acquire second baseman Daniel Murphy from the NY Mets and veteran pitcher Bartolo Colon could be packaged in the deal.
Previous reports indicated that the Mets are open to dealing Colon and the team is reportedly confident that they can find a trading partner despite the fact that the 41-year-old pitcher is set to earn $11 million next season.
However, trading for Colon and Murphy is easier said than done because the Mets are expected to wait until the July 31 deadline before parting ways with the right hander, while Murphy is also drawing the interest of the San Francisco Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price also remains an option for the Yankees especially after 28-year-old pitcher, who is 8-7 with 3.42 ERA this season, said that he is open to moving to New York.
The Yankees are in dire need of another starting pitcher after losing Tanaka for the next several weeks. Aside from the Japanese, starting pitchers CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, and Ivan Nova are also out for the Yankees due to injuries.
The 25-year-old Japanese was the latest casualty as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed the ligament tear.
Tanaka will undergo rehab for six weeks, and Cashman is confident that the rookie pitcher will regain his form when he returns. But if the rehab fails, Cashman admitted that they will have no choice, but to led Tanaka undergo Tommy John surgery.
"The ligament tear is considered small, and we have had success with pitchers that have had these, we have actually had them continue to throw without incident and they have gotten back to their normal levels," Cashman said via ESPN. "It doesn't rule out the possibility of a Tommy John surgery in a failed attempt."
Tanaka started the season with an 11-1 record with 1.99 ERA, but went 1-3 with 4.25 ERA in his last four starts.
