Braves and Yankees Among Teams With Deadline Interest in Tanner Roark
By Kevin Aquino
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tanner Roark has fielded some interest from a few teams as the MLB trade deadline approaches. And the list includes a couple of contenders with eyes on bolstering their pitching ranks for a big run.
Braves and A’s join Yankees with interest in Tanner Roark
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2019
The Braves, A's and Yankees are all looking to land Roark. The six-year veteran is spending his first season away from the Washington Nationals, who traded him to Cincy for Tanner Rainey last December.
This year, Roark has lowered his ERA from last year's 4.34 to a reasonable 3.95. He's made 20 starts on the season so far, and his 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings would be a career high.
#Athletics do not figure to stop with Diekman and Homer Bailey, both of whom they acquired in separate trades from #Royals. Per sources, they have explored adding another starting pitcher, with #Mets’ Zack Wheeler and #Reds’ Tanner Roark among their targets. @TheAthleticMLB.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 27, 2019
In addition to Roark, the Braves have been linked to Edwin Diaz, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler to potentially fill out their pitching depth chart. The Yankees, who are shopping outfielder Clint Frazier, seem to be connected to just about every available pitcher in baseball, particularly after missing out on Marcus Stroman.
Roark was voted 10th in the NL Cy Young Award back in 2016, and is still very capable on the mound at 32 years old. Though he hasn't returned to that same form since then, the Illinois native is deserving of the interest he's garnering ahead of the deadline.