On Monday, the New York Yankees remained active in advance of MLB’s trade deadline acquiring starting pitcher Lance Lynn from the Minnesota Twins for Luis Rijo and Tyler Austin.
Jon Heyman of Fancred first reported the news with the 31-year-old starter headed to the Yankees in exchange for the 19-year-old Rijo and 26-year-old Austin. Minnesota will also send cash considerations to help cover some of the remaining money on his contract.
Trade: The Yankees have acquired RHP Lance Lynn and cash considerations from Minnesota in exchange for INF Tyler Austin and RHP Luis Rijo.
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) July 30, 2018
Lynn, who signed with Minnesota in the offseason, had drawn interest from New York in February. Now the veteran righty heads to the Yankees after a miserable stint in Minnesota that saw him post a 5.10 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and walk 62 batters in 102.1 innings.
While it’s not immediately clear if he will serve as a long reliever or back-end starter for the Yankees, there is some reason for optimism with Lynn.
In his past 12 starts, he posted a 3.74 ERA with an 8.17 K/9 and a .232 batting average allowed to opponents.
He could give the Yankees enough flexibility to use him in a switch role, alternating between making starts when a pitcher goes on the disabled list or covering innings in a blowout.
In return, Minnesota lands a 19-year-old pitcher who has flashed decent stuff in 2018 and gives the organization a raw arm to try develop. However, he was not ranked among New York’s top-30 prospects this year by MLB.com.
Austin, who was ranked as New York’s No.14 prospect in 2017 by MLB.com, will hope the change of scenery can turn his career around. In 244 career at-bats with New York across three seasons, the first baseman slashed .238/.287/.459 with 15 home runs and 106 strikeouts in 244 at-bats.