The Yankees have let other teams know that right-hander Ivan Nova is available in trades, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. However, the team isn’t keen on selling low on Nova and is rather marketing the 29-year-old as a pitcher in his prime who will be stronger and improved next season when he’s a year further removed from Tommy John surgery.
The market for Nova figures to be something of a mixed bag, but it’s hard to envision a team paying full price considering he’s a year removed from free agency and coming off a season that was cut short by recovery from his aforementioned surgery. Nova logged just 94 innings with an unsightly 5.07 ERA, averaging just 6.0 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 with a 49 percent ground-ball rate this past season. He did manage a 3.72 ERA through his first 58 innings before perhaps wearing down and yielding four or more runs in four of his final seven outings.
That season certainly didn’t bolster Nova’s trade stock, but teams could look to be opportunistic in acquiring an arm who delivered strong results in both 2011 and 2013 and also projects to earn a modest $4.4MM salary in 2016 (in the estimation of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). In Nova’s peak season, 2013, he posted a 3.10 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 53.5 percent ground-ball rate in 139 1/3 innings of work. It should also be noted that for all of his struggles, Nova averaged 93 mph on his fastball in 2015 — the same mark he averaged in 2013 and a bit faster than his 2011 average.
Sherman notes that there are scenarios where the Yankees could package Nova with additional talent in order to acquire a starter with multiple years of control remaining, although that’s clearly a nebulous scenario with myriad possibilities. The Yankees are said to be very open-minded this winter, with outfielder Brett Gardner and closer Andrew Miller among the names who have been said to be available (though Miller would require a significant return). Both could conceivably net a controllable pitcher if packaged with Nova, though that’s just speculation on my behalf.
Eric D.
They may be able to get Chris Owings and a bag of balls for him.
Brixton
I wouldn’t even give up Chris Owings for him.
Ken M.
I wouldn’t give up the bag of balls!
ultimate913
What condition do these bag of balls come in
Eric D.
They’re all balls Paul Goldschmidt has mashed already.
jabmets
I’m not one to want the Yankees players but nova, Gardner and miller for zack wheeler and Brandon nimmo might make sense.
Brixton
Yankees would want more than that.
jabmets
Salary relief and another prospect.
Brixton
Yankees don’t need salary relief. Gardner and Miller are both below market value, Nova is only projected to make 4.4M
Voice of Reason
Yankees fans want carassco for Gardner. Nova and Gardner would command a mike trout?
davbee
Why would the Mets have any interest in Nova or Andrew Miller’s contract?
kent814
They have been looking for a lefty in their bullpen though i doubt they want nova given their rotation depth and novas salary so miller makes sense but nove doesnt
User 4245925809
Agree there. They still have Dillon Gee and Jon Niese as back end starters. Having Nova in his walk year, then wondering if he’s over TJ surgery, or healthy from it isn’t making him much of an asset right now. Tampa is supposedly shopping Matt Moore, who struggled after his return last year also, but he has 1y guaranteed, plus 3 team options left for between 7-10m each. I’d think Moore would be by far the most desirable of those 2 TJ reclamation projects.
wilymo
they don’t really have dillon gee, he’s a free agent. do have niese though
Eric D.
I think the Mets can get a lot more for Wheeler. An outfielder younger than Gardner, at least.
MB923
Agreed. I don’t see the Mets doing that.
yanks02026
Wheeler is overrated and injured. I don’t get why people would give up a lot for him.
jljr222
I get making Nova available, but it’s not like there is any value there to make a deal. He’s a complete unknown and even when he was healthy he wasn’t all that good. Always liked his power sinker and curveball, but he never developed a solid 3rd pitch. Can’t be a two-pitch starter and survive.
yanks02026
I always said the Yankees should have traded nova after his first break out year. I could tell me wouldn’t be s good pitcher for many years.
Gardner_012
I feel like Pittsburgh would take him on to be another remodel like volquez liriano and Worley. But other then that I really don’t see him pitching well anywhere he’s to uncertain with his health
Voice of Reason
After seeing what Yankees fans want in return for Gardner, I can only imagine what they think nova should bring.
MB923
Gardner is a 3-4 WAR OFer nearly every year despite having struggles and injuries in the second half of the season
His fWAR is 21st among 93 qualified OFers the past 3 years. Just 1 spot behind Nelson Cruz and just 3 spots behind Justin Upton who will probably get $100-150 Million.
Yankee fans don’t overvalue Gardner. It’s non -Yankee fans who undervalue him. Probably because of the uniform he wears.
Gardner is probably worth a #3 SP with a couple of years of control. Nova isn’t really worth much at all. Maybe a bench player or middle reliever.
Ken M.
Gardner’s 2.6 fWAR was 31st in the league this season. 4 spots ahead of him is Dexter Fowler, who is a free agent. Why would someone trade a #3 pitcher and pay Gardner $39M when they can just sign Fowler? Gardner’s days for 3+fWAR seasons are over.
MB923
1 – 1 season is a very small sample
2- He was ranked 30th among OFers which I admit isn’t great, but how it’s still ahead of some big names like one of the biggest FA in Ben Zobrist and a big trade target in Carlos Gonzalez. In the meantime, check out some notable pitchers who were ranked that low last year
3 – Fowler may sign a 4-5 year deal for all we know. Outside of 2015, he hasn’t been more valuable than Gardner. Fowler is also a very poor defensive OFer with a career -12.1 UZR/150
4 – So you can predict the future? Tell me the lotto numbers please
And finally, 5- Why am I arguing with a guy who says Refsnyder can be traded for an ace?
aznz
no one is giving up a #3 pitcher for gardner. sure you can look at what he has done in the past and claim he had this war and that war. but we all know what happens to injury plagued outfielders who primarily depend on their speed and defense for their value and are in their 30’s. he is basically micheal bourn in 2013. and he received a fa contract of about $13-14M per for 4 years, that puts gardner right at market value if he were a free agent. on top of that, you want me to give up something of value? no thanks, i’ll look on the fa market.
he and starlin castro are 2 of the most absurdly overrated players in terms of their perceived trade values by yankee and cubs fans, which is why swapping the 2 is a perfect match.
MB923
As I said, only reason people call Gardner overrated is cause he’s a Yankee. If he was say on the Rays, he’d be one of the most underrated players in baseball probably.
You think an All Star/3+ WAR OFer is worth a backend SP or something?
You can certainly look on the FA market. But obviously not all teams will be signing some key FA players. Hence why some teams do trades instead in the offseason and at the deadline.
Gardner is certainly worth a #3 pitcher. And of course I am not talking about a #3 pitcher on a stacked rotation like the Mets for instance.
aznz
here comes the woe is me, everyone persecutes us because we are the yankees cr@p. i don’t care who he plays for. the fact is, he is getting old and slowing down because of injuries. his days of putting up 3 war is over. he put up less than 3 this past year and fangraphs projects him to decline even more next year. i don’t care that he put up over 3 war in previous years. i and just about everyone else can tell that he is going to fall short of those marks in the future. everyone else lives in present and for the future while you keep living in the past with your 27 wc’s.
lets suppose, for argument sake, that gardner somehow beats father time and puts up 3 war per season over the next 3 years. on the fa market, you play approximately $5M per season for every war a player puts up. at 3 war, gardner should be paid $15M a season. paying him $13M a season is hardly a bargain and not much of a difference than just signing a fa. so why so i give up a #3 starter and get gardner when i can just go sign someone else for the same $ and production and give up no one?
MB923
“his days of putting up 3 war is over”
So you can predict the future? He has put up a 3+ WAR every single full season but last season (he was above 3 on rWAR FWIW).
” everyone else lives in present and for the future while you keep living in the past with your 27 wc’s.”
Now I know you’re trolling because nowhere did I mention 27 WS
“you play approximately $5M per season for every war a player puts up. at 3 war, gardner should be paid $15M a season. paying him $13M a season is hardly a bargain ”
1 – I don’t buy the $/WAR thing At All, but since you do it seems, 1 WAR is about $7 million, not $5 million. So a 3 WAR is $21 million. Hence why I said I don’t buy that because Gardner or any 3WAR player is not worth $21 million
“so why so i give up a #3 starter and get gardner”
” so why so i give up a #3 starter and get gardner when i can just go sign someone else for the same $ and production and give up no one?”
Nobody said they had to. I just said what he’s worth. Keep thinking he’s a scrub and worth nothing.
Keep using 1 year as a sample size buddy. John Lackey had a better 2015 than King Felix. By your and SlothBroth’s analogy, that trend will continue as long as Lackey keeps playing! Because it happened last year!
Ken M.
1 season, huh?
I guess we now know where you stand on Didi. I didn’t think he was any good either.
MB923
DiDi did have a good year. As far as the trade for him, I origianlly hated it
aznz
yup, i can project the future better than you can because i have put forth more evidence than you have. all you have done is say: hey look, he’s done it before, he will continue doing it forever and ever. meanwhile, i’ve pointed out:
1. he is injury plauged
2. he is over 30
3. he relies on his speed and defense to provide value
4. the combination of the top 3 hardly ever turns out well. case in point: micheal bourn. put up 4.8, 4.4, 3.8. and 6.2 war in consecutive years before signing with cleveland. what happened to him when he signed for 4 years at about the same money gardner is going to get?
5. fangraphs streamer projection projected 2.1 war next year. and i trust them far more than you
6. ill even add something new:
at home: 12 hr, .466 slugging
away: 4 hr, .336 slugging
when garnder gets away from the lefty hitters launching pad that is yankee stadium, he has very little power, so what happens when he goes to a different team?
that is a mountain of evidence on my side, nothing on yours except just pointing to the past. my comment about the 27 wc’s was more about what yankee fans in general keep shoving in everyone’s faces because they live in the past. it wasn’t calling you out for anything specific, so apologies on that.
Bob Smiley
maybe the Astros will take on Nova if they can get Miller in a deal.
batman
Nova plus to Pittsburgh for Walker?
MB923
With the Yankees trading catcher JRM to the Twins instead, the Pirates have refused to do business with the Yankees.
Jokes aside, that trade makes sense, but I think the Yankees are sticking with Refsnyder/Ackley
batman
Haha as a Pirates fan it hurt a liTitle when that happened.
But thanks. I’m just not sure what the plus would have to be. I’d love to get Wilson back but I know that won’t happen/the Pirates would have to add someone too.
MB923
Can’t expect to get much. Maybe a bench player or reliever.
davidimondi
Go for the gusto. Gardner, Nova and Mateo for Sonny Gray. I know Billy Beane said they’re not trading Gray but I don’t believe anything Beane says. Make the offer and go from there but I think it’s at least worth the shot.
Ken M.
Hahahaha
aznz
and that weak package won’t come close to changing his mind.
Gardner_012
To get gray from beane it’s going to cost judge at the least and a little more
aznz
if you classify severino as a little bit more, then you would be correct. i part with gray for nothing less than judge, severino and mateo. add in gardner and a’s throw in billy butler and a triple a depth starter.
for carrasco, i settle for nothing less than severino, bird, and gardner, with chris johnson and a depth triple a starter going the other way
pustule bosey
the dodgers could give puig – they need something in the rotation and it would get a cancer out of their clubhouse- not that I want the dodgers to get better.