The New York Yankees' Achilles' heel seems fairly obvious at this point in the 2025 season: starting pitching.
We've known the rotation would be a question mark for the Yankees ever since Gerrit Cole was ruled out for the season in March. Max Fried has been a godsend, but the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are still available for anyone to claim.
While it seems obvious that the Yankees will pursue starters at the trade deadline, one can't be sure just yet which starters will be available. It's a win-at-all-costs kind of season in New York, so any and all measures should be taken to ensure this pitching staff is playoff-ready.
With that in mind, one baseball writer believes New York could pursue the Opening Day starter from a disappointing American League East rival.
The Baltimore Orioles are 13-22, and righty Zach Eflin is in the final year of his contract. That prompted Newsweek's Andrew Wright to label the Yankees as a candidate to land Eflin before the Jul. 31 trade deadline.
"Eflin is in the final season of a three-year, ($40 million) contract, making him a prime candidate to be moved if Baltimore falls out of contention and feels it could get a nice return from a team that desperately needs to add a starting pitcher," Wright wrote.
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"The Yankees... (are a team) that should have interest in Eflin, should he become available."
Eflin, 31, has never quite been an All-Star caliber pitcher, but he's been an effective one for the last two years. He's got a 3.52 ERA and 6.9 bWAR in 62 starts since the start of the 2023 season.
Though Eflin is currently on the injured list with a strained lat, he is slated to make his return to the big leagues on Sunday. Perhaps the Orioles would be hesitant to trade him within the division, but if they're far enough out of the playoff race, they shouldn't care all that much.
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