MLB Hot Stove: Yankees Have Entertained Idea of Trading for Marlins’ Jose

Fernandez, 23, is under team control through the 2019 season.

While it remains a long shot for any team to complete a trade for Fernandez, the behind-the-scenes digging on the right-hander suggests the conversations about him are far from dead, according to sources. His numbers speak for themselves and he would be a worthy addition to the Dodgers young lineup as they hope to win the NL West once more this upcoming season.

Jose Fernandez has been excellent early in his career and is extremely young, making him one of the most valuable players in baseball.

Two teams that have already come out and tried to inquire on the 23-year-old Fernandez are the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team many feel who can land Fernandez if needed, although they did just sign Hisashi Iwakuma over re-signing Zack Greinke, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have the prospects necessary, but have also invested money in Greinke this past week. Even if they are it is questionable if the Dodgers can offer the right ingredients to satisfy Miami.

Hernandez made $651,000 last season, and will be eligible for arbitration after the 2016 season. If the Dodgers were to give away one of their prospects in the minor leagues my bet would be on Jose Deleon, another solid pitcher.

That is not to say that Fernandez could not be pried loose. All that being said, a trade seems unlikely given Miami’s demands, but this is the Dodgers we’re talking about, and it is the Marlins, so “never say never” is the kind of thing that applies to this situation, no matter how implausible it might sound. The Dodgers will have to add (not Seager) to the deal, and if they add enough maybe Miami can throw in Marcell Ozuna, who they reportedly want to get rid of because Loria doesn’t like him.

Essentially only a team going for it all would trade for Fernandez.

There will not be a similar contract for Fernandez in Miami, and not just because of the difficulty in dealing with agent Scott Boras. In three seasons, he has a 2.40 ERA.

That was before David Price got seven years, $217 million from the Red Sox and Greinke signed the six-year, $206 million shocker with the Diamondbacks.

“For us to move something off of our team, it needs to be something that we think is an upgrade and significantly makes us better”, Hill said last week.