Ivan Nova is Available But Does Anyone Want Him?

The New York Yankees are going to have to get aggressive this offseason if they want to revamp the team and compete in 2016. The Yankees are not likely to enter the deep water of the free agency bin and may be stuck upgrading the team via trade. Brian Cashman has already pulled off a couple trades this offseason and has made it know that he's willing to do at least one more deal, a deal that includes the Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova.

Nova is available but is anyone going to really want him? We all know the Yankees rotation is crowded with possibilities right now and no one, not even Masahiro Tanaka, has their name etched in stone for the rotation in 2016. Nova is under team control through the 2017 season and will be entering his second year removed from Tommy John surgery next season. The second season removed is always the true indicator of how the arm and the UCL reacted from the surgery but will another team bank on that?

Nova struggled with his command in 2015 and was bumped to the rotation during the month of September where he finished the season with a 6-11 record with a 5.07 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in 94 innings. That's the bad. The good is that Nova is just 28-years old and prior to the TJS the right-hander had a career 40-22 record with a 4.20 ERA in 537 innings pitched.

So could the Yankees trade him? Absolutely, there will be a team that needs a durable innings eater like Nova at the back end of their rotation. The problem is the Yankees are going to want something useful for Nova but unless it's part of a bigger deal I just can't see that happening. Nova is a #3 starter at best and you have to give something to get something, and the Yankees won't get much for Nova in my opinion.