Rather than shopping for infielders, the Yankees are asking other teams about starting pitchers.
As the trade deadline approaches, the Yankees are asking teams "almost exclusively" about starting pitchers -- rather than infielders -- according to a report from ESPN's Jayson Stark. Stark notes that the Yanks are only in preliminary negotiations at the moment, but their focus appears to be centered on adding to their rotation.
Masahiro Tanaka has been incredible, Hiroki Kuroda has been serviceable, and Chase Whitley has surprised through his first seven starts, but New York has struggled to get consistent production from the back-end of the rotation.
CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, and Michael Pineda are all on the disabled list at the moment, and Vidal Nuno has a 5.24 ERA. Whitley's contributions have been very useful for the Yanks as they chase the Blue Jays in the AL East, but he could regress as hitters adjust.
The top prospects in the organization are led by catcher Gary Sanchez, who most evaluators believe will be able to hit for considerable power at the major league level.
However, they don't currently possess an elite prospect with which to tempt sellers. You can pretty much forget about David Price. Jeff Samardzija is a possibility, but if the market gets competitive, the Yankees might not be able to compete with the more asset-rich contenders looking to acquire him. Jason Hammel, Ian Kennedy, and others could be secondary targets for the Bombers.