The Detroit Tigers have been in the market for a left-handed reliever this offseason. The New York Yankees have been open to trading any of their players.
On Wednesday the two MLB clubs agreed to a deal that will send left-hander reliever Justin Wilson to Detroit. New York will receive prospects Luis Cessa and Chad Green.
Both teams announced the deal. Jennifer Hammond of Fox 2 Sports Detroit was the first to report the trade.
#Yankees acquire RHPs Luis Cessa, Chad Green from Tigers for LHP Justin Wilson.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) December 10, 2015
The #Tigers have acquired LHP Justin Wilson from the Yankees in exchange for RHP's Luis Cessa and Chad Green.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) December 10, 2015
The Tigers already acquired Francisco Rodriguez from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the offseason and signed reliever Mark Lowe to a two-year deal this week. Wilson, 28, went 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 66 strikeouts in 74 games (61 innings).
The Yankees acquired Wilson last offseason in a trade that sent catcher Francisco Cervelli to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On the flip side, New York gets Cessa, who the Tigers received from the New York Mets in the Yoenis Cespedes trade, and Green, who spent all of 2015 at Double-A Erie. The 23-year-old Cessa went 8-10 with a 4.52 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 119 strikeouts in 25 starts between Double-A and Triple-A last season and Green finished 5-14 with a 3.93 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 137 strikeouts in 27 starts.
It's not entirely known why the Yankees would trade from an area of strength, considering the bullpen was their best attribute in 2015, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post provides a few reasons why they might have:
#Yankees likely did this to 1) address lack of SP depth in upper system. 2) capitalize on LH ref depth. 3) Save about $1.5M in Wilson arb
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 10, 2015
There are a number of relievers available in free agency that the Yankees can probably sign in the event they feel the loss of Wilson will leave a big hole.
If general manager Brian Cashman is satisfied with the haul of young pitchers, we may no longer hear of trade rumors surrounding Brett Gardner and Andrew Miller, both of whom have been reportedly dangled in discussions to acquire starting pitching.
Wilson was an integral aspect of the team's bullpen last season, which means Cashman may not want to move any more players from that unit.
