New York Yankees acquire righty Brandon McCarthy

The New York Yankees have acquired right-hander Brandon McCarthy and cash considerations from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for southpaw Vidal Nuno, both teams have announced.

McCarthy adds depth and experience to a Yankees rotation that has struggled at times during the season. However, at 43-43, the Yankees are still trying to contend. Adding a seven-year veteran in McCarthy that may have had just some bad luck this season could be the difference in making the playoffs at the end of the season.

On the season, McCarthy has not been superb. He is 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA and a 3.79 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) in 18 starts. His 75 ERA+ is the lowest of the career. Some of McCarthy's struggles could be pointed at the fact that he has a high HR/FB% a high BABIP, while retaining a good ground ball rate. While pitching in Yankee Stadium might hurt McCarthy's HR/FB% even more, there still is that pitcher that had a 3.32 ERA in 2011 in there somewhere.

"McCarthy's an expericed starter," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told MLB.com. "We expect him to pitch well for us and give us distance. I know he's had his struggles, but he's seemed to turn it around. He's got a good arm, and we need him to help us."

McCarthy's past few outing have been pretty good. In his last start against the Pirates, McCarthy went 5 2/3 innings, allowing only two runs. Previous to that, against the Padres, McCarthy allowed one run in seven innings. He might be turning a corner on his season, just when the Yankees are getting ready to try and contend.

McCarthy may only be a three month rental for the Yankees. The soon-to-be 32-year-old (McCarthy turns 32 tomorrow) is in the final year of his two-year, $18 million contract signed with the Diamondbacks before the 2013 season.

In return, the Diamondbacks will be getting left-hander Vidal Nuno. The 26-year-old Nuno has gone 2-5 with a 5.42 ERA and a 5.15 FIP in 17 games (14 starts) on the season. In his 78 innings pitched, Nuno has a 60:26 strikeout to walk ratio.

By acquiring Nuno, the Diamondbacks are showing that they are sellers and want to build for the future. Nuno has only 98 big league innings under his belt, and will remain under team control through the 2019 season. They are willing to give up a seven-year veteran to get a young, talentend starter with potential.

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