The Made in 1903 Yankees Blog

It’s an interesting topic for conversation, to talk about the Yankees potentially traded for the heralded major leaguer who is only 27 years old but has a major league track record full of success already.  Problem is, this current season he has been a bit subpar, with his 4.08 ERA and an ERA + of 111. (park adjusted, of course)  His velocity is apparently down, which coincides with the uptick in hits he has issued (his walk totals are around the same) which has increased his WHIP and obviously his ERA.

Question is, do the Rockies know something about Ubaldo that we don’t?  Any trade for him would have to include a physical examination and contract negotiation window, in my opinion.  While extremely valuable, Ubaldo, as stated in the previous paragraph, does not come without his question marks.

All this being said, if he has a clean bill of health I would chalk his down season this year to nothing but a tired arm as he has faced over 200 innings (or close to it) three years in a row, and he is not used to that innings load.  He never threw more than 159 innings in the minors, so this is a career high in his workload.  One might be worried that this means he cannot handle the workload, but that remains to be seen and is the risk in making any transaction.

I would trade Montero, Betances, and a few lower level minor leaguers for Ubaldo Jiménez, no doubt about it.  There is a long list of suitors looking to acquire the young, relatively inexpensive, potential ace, so the price would undoubtedly be steep, but this would be as far as I would be willing to go.