Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal just tweeted minutes ago that San Diego Padres closer Heath Bell is headed to the Texas Rangers, not the New York Yankees. Earlier Sunday morning, SI.com's Jon Heyman tweeted that the Yankees were still in the running for the top-notch closer. However, ESPN's Buster Onley did tweet later Sunday that Bell moving to New York was unlikely to happen. I guess, Onley was a bit more accurate.
But, here we go. Again, the Yankees are not able to land another arm for their starting rotation or bullpen, which means with less than two hours remaining before the trade deadline New York has not traded for anyone that can help their very thin and inconsistent pitching staff.
Now, I think the Yankees did the right move on not picking up Bell. I'm sure that whatever the Padres were asking for was way more than what GM Brian Cashman wanted to give. However, another problem arises from the Bell trade to the Rangers. Texas, which traded for solid-relief pitcher Koji Uehara Saturday, has (on paper) maybe the best bullpen in the American League. Come playoff time, where the Rangers and Yankees could face in the first round, it may not be a good match up for New York. But, that's a long way down the road.
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