The New York Yankees have bolstered their starting rotation by acquiring Seattle Mariners lefty and Canadian James Paxton in a blockbuster deal, with three prospects headed to the Emerald City.
Per Corey Brock of The Athletic, the Mariners are getting prospects Justus Sheffield, Erik Swanson and Don Thompson-Williams.
Paxton - who threw a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays back on May 8 - enjoyed another stellar season on an otherwise mediocre Mariners team. He reached double-digit wins for the second consecutive season, going 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 160.1 innings pitched.
Paxton joins a stacked Yankees rotation that propelled them to another playoff spot in 2018, though the Boston Red Sox defeated them in the ALDS. With C.C. Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino in the fold, New York has arguably the deepest starting rotation in all of baseball now.
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As for the Mariners, trading Paxton appears to be the start of a rebuilding process. Second baseman Robinson Cano has been the subject of trade rumors, though moving out the 36-year-old is easier said than done.
Seattle has missed the playoffs every year now since the 2001 season, and despite having a solid core built around Cano, Kyle Seager, Paxton and Felix Hernandez, they just haven't been able to build up the right group to make a run.
What This Means
The Yankees are now built even further to embark on a championship run - and thus topple the Red Sox in the AL East race. They've stacked up on left-handed pitchers, and Paxton should be a great fit in The Bronx.
For the Mariners, they get a nice haul in return for Paxton. Sheffield is one of the top pitching prospects in the game - a player the Yankees refused to move out in previous trades.
It's a win-win for both teams, and it's safe to assume it's just the first of many big time moves for the Yankees and Mariners.