1:50pm: The A’s have now released a correction that lines up with the Yankees’ announcement (hat tip: MLB.com’s Jane Lee). Francis and cash considerations are indeed heading to the Yankees for a player to be named later.
1:17pm: The Yankees, however, have announced that they will be receiving Francis and cash considerations in exchange for a player to be named later. The discrepancy is puzzling, but it appears Oakland could be receiving what would likely be a marginal player to be named later in the deal.
1:03pm: The A’s have announced the trade of Francis to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.
12:39pm: The Yankees have acquired veteran lefty Jeff Francis from the A’s, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Francis was designated for assignment last week.
Francis, 33, has pitched 18 1/3 innings this season for the A’s and Reds, allowing 12 runs (5.89 ERA) with a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio. Formerly the ninth overall pick in the draft (2002), it’s been awhile since Francis enjoyed success as a member of a big league rotation. He posted a 4.19 ERA in 414 1/3 for the 2006-07 Rockies — no small feat in Coors Field, as evidenced by his park-adjusted 116 ERA+ — but it’s been a struggle since that time for the Canadian hurler. Francis owns a 5.22 ERA in 632 2/3 innings since that time.
The Yankees are undoubtedly on the lookout for pitching depth with yesterday’s news that Masahiro Tanaka has a slight tear in his right elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament. Francis has pitched well over the past three seasons in Triple-A, registering a 3.75 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 163 1/3 innings between the Reds and Rockies organizations.
At this point, 20 million means nothing. CC isn’t worth 20 million, so we shouldn’t assume that a 20 million pitcher would put the team over the top for winning.
They very well could let Lester, but slim chance on the other two.
Hasn’t worked? All except for 2008 and 2013 the Yankees have been in the postseason. Try having them in your division. Sure, the free agent market isn’t the same anymore, but the Yankees still find ways to win.
I don’t think you read my comment properly. I’m talking about how most of the free agents the Yankees signed haven’t really paid dividends to the team this season to the point where they are winning like they were the past decade or two. Guys like McCann and Beltran have vastly underachieved, and they were given relatively big contracts.
Surprisingly, the Yankee finished over .500 and almost made the postseason last season. Yet, this season they sit right at .500. That’s a pretty low win percentage for a team who spent many millions trying to regain the crown of the AL East. Even moving forward with how few stars making the free agent market, the Yankees are going to have to adapt and find another way to win again. They simply can’t buy stars like they used to for this reason and unlike in the past, there are now many teams like the Dodgers, Angels, and even the Cubs (who will have a ton of money to spend in the future) that can compete for free agents due to increased TV revenue deals (well maybe not the Dodgers for this reason, but they have ownership that is willing to spend.)
That’s what everyone said about the Yankees midseason 2007 (that the team just wasn’t talented enough), and look what happened there.