Yankees acquire Brandon McCarthy for Vidal Nuno

The Yankees' rotation will receive a boost from a former Diamondback who is likely on the rebound after an up-and-down first half.

After missing out on Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Oakland Athletics, the Yankees have made their deal to acquire a new pitcher for their depleted rotation. Brian Cashman has pulled a fast one and has acquire Brandon McCarthy from the Diamondbacks for Vidal Nuno.

Sources: #Yankees were working last night to acquire Brandon McCarthy from #DBacks for Vidal Nuno. Deal appears close.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 6, 2014

On the surface this probably doesn't sound very exciting. He has a 5.01 ERA, 1.23 HR/9 and McCarthy is no Samardzija, but he is a solid veteran option that is an upgrade over the likes of Vidal Nuno and Chase Whitley. Given his very solid peripherals with a 3.79 FIP, 7.63 K/9 and 1.64 BB/9, there is reason to believe, and even expect, McCarthy to be worlds better than Nuno, even if he will give up some home runs. As RailRiders beat writer Donnie Collins says, the right-hander has a 55.3% ground ball rate compared to Nuno's 37.9%, which will make things less painful, even with the Yankees' ugly infield.

Everyone was focused on the big splash that needed to be made, but the Yankees really only needed an upgrade to league-average to improve the team. Perhaps the best part about this deal is that it doesn't stop them from upgrading again. Instead of using actual prospects that would prevent them from improving the offense or the rotation even further, Brian Cashman turned an ex-indy ball, junk-balling lefty into an actual pitcher. What's even more is that Arizona is even eating much of the money McCarthy is owed:

Brandon McCarthy owed about $4.8 million for the rest of the season,plus gets a $1 million assignment bonus. AZ eating more than $1m of that

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 6, 2014

Sure, he didn't get the big prize, but Cashman got the steal. Whether it ends up working out or not, right here, right now, Brian Cashman made a great move. We'll actually get to see competent pitching one more day a week.