Yankees Miss Out on Keuchel who Signs with Braves

The Yankees won't get their man after all. Former Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel has agreed to terms with the Atlanta Braves, ending his long holdout for a contract from someone.

The Yankees had been linked to Keuchel off and on ever since he turned down Houston's $17.9 million qualifying offer in the offseason. Keuchel took a risky gamble. He stayed out of the game for seven-plus months, waiting for the right contract to come along. He didn't pitch for a team, and anyone who signed him has to hope that the blowback from not having a spring training or even a first half won't hurt him.

Many Yankees fans are going to be disappointed - and with good reason. As good as the Yankees have been this season, the team still has a lot of questions in its rotation. Luis Severino, who has been out since March, is expected back sometime after the All Star Break. Meanwhile, Domingo German has done a yeoman's effort in Severino's slot in the rotation.

Mashairo Tanaka has been good, but his win-lose record is 3-5 thus far this season. James Paxton and J.A. Happ have been widely inconsistent this year, and CC Sabathia is getting older. No doubt the Yankees need starting pitching.

They hoped that Keuchel would bring his Cy Young caliber left arm to the Bronx to stabilize and lengthen a rotation that desperately needs it.

Instead Keuchel goes to the Braves, a team that is only two back of a Philadelphia Phillies team that has not taken off this season. The Braves have the talent to win the division, and if Keuchel returns to form, he could be the difference between the Braves and Phillies in the NL East. Plus pitching against the lineups of the Mets, Nationals and Marlins is a lot easier than facing the Red Sox, Rays and Blue Jays.

The question will be where do the Yankees go from here?

Clearly they will have to get a starter by the July 31 trade deadline. Early candidates could be Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco, Max Scherzer in Washington, and Marcus Stroman in Toronto.  Getting any of those pitchers would require giving up a lot, and the Yankees have a lot of solid prospects in their farm system that teams will try to pry away.

The ball is now in Cashman's court.