As recently as yesterday afternoon Tim Kurkjian of ESPN reported that the Yankees were “all over” Ubaldo Jimenez, but once the Rockies ace was traded to the Indians much different details emerged about New York’s interest level.
According to Marc Carig of the Newark Star Ledger the Yankees’ pursuit of Jimenez essentially ended several days ago when the Rockies refused to let him take a pre-trade physical exam and scared off general manager Brian Cashman with their prospect demands.
Given that the Rockies ended up with an impressive four-player package led by Drew Pomeranz and Alex White it’s easy to see why the Yankees may have balked at their asking price, which Carig reports as Ivan Nova plus two of Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, or Jesus Montero.
However, with the Yankees believing Jimenez’s drop in velocity could be a major red flag they insisted on studying his health before getting too deep in talks and the Rockies’ resistance to that basically made the asking price a moot point. And that’s a big part of how the most coveted starting pitcher on the trade market ended up in Cleveland.
