The New York Yankees reportedly have interest in a potential trade for Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Luis Garcia.
According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the Yankees are joined by the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals and some other teams with interest in Garcia.
Adding to the bullpen is one of the biggest needs for the Yankees ahead of the deadline. They already made one trade to acquire Jazz Chisholm from the Miami Marlins, sending over three prospects.
A 12-year veteran, Garcia has a 3.80 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched this season. He has 40 strikeouts and 14 walks to go along with a 1.195 WHIP.
What might be most encouraging about the 37-year-old is the fact that righties have a 65 OPS+ against Garcia this season.
Garcia has spent most of the 2024 season as a late-innings reliever for the Angels with 31.2 of his innings coming in the seventh and eighth. That's an area the Yankees need help in desperately.
He features a five-pitch mix that relies heavily on a sinker (51.3%) and split-finger (19.2%) combination. He also throws a slider (10.3%), sweeper (10.2%), four-seam fastball (7.2%) and cutter (1.8%).
Though his strikeout rate (49th percentile), whiff rate (48th percentile) and walk rate (52nd percentile) are all near the league average, he does have high chase (78th percentile) and ground ball rates (85th percentile.
Garcia will be a free agent following the 2024 season.
