YANKEES: Potential Trade Targets

The Yankees went into the 2011 season knowing that they need pitching help.

The staff features only one and a half aces in C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and with Joba Chamberlain out with an injury that could require Tommy John surgery, The Yankees are in need of both starters and relievers.

Here's a look at some pitchers that the Brian Cashman could potentially trade for to improve the rotation.

Hiroki Kuroda SP (L.A. Dodgers)

The Dodgers are struggling financially and should be looking to move Kuroda's expensive one-year contract. The Dodgers also may be in the beginnings of a youth revival so they may want to ship the 36-year old veteran in return for catching prospects, of which the Yankees have good options. Kuroda is 5-7 this season with an ERA of 3.35 and he has 63 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched.

Chris Carpenter SP (St. Louis Cardinals)

The rumors surrounding Carpenter suggest that the Cardinals are likely to pick up his $15 million option for 2012, but as they get closer to the offseason and the expensive reality of trying to resign Albert Pujols, the Cardinals may trade the 2005 National League Cy Young winner to shed some salary. Carpenter is 1-5 with an ERA of 4.25 and has 67 strikeouts in 84.2 innings pitched.

Ryan Dempster SP (Chicago Cubs)

Considering the bloated Cubs' payroll, and how badly they're performing this season, Chicago may be tempted to shed Dempster's salary and try to find younger cheaper starters. The righty is 5-5 with an ERA of 5.96 and has 75 strikeouts in 80 innings pitched this season.

Derek Lowe/Jair Jurrgens SP (Atlanta Braves)

Depending on how the Braves perform for the rest of the season they may decide to use some of their pitching surplus to fix other needs, mainly hitting. If the Braves did choose to trade a starter both Lowe and Jurrgens could potentially be on the block. Lowe is 3-4 with an ERA of 3.73 and has 64 strikeouts in 79.2 innings pitched.

Jurrgens is 8-2 with an ERA of 1.82 and has 46 strikeouts in 79 innings this season. The Yankees would have to give up significant value to bring the 25-year old righty to New York so this is a long shot, but if they managed to trade for him Jurrgens could add depth to the rotation for several seasons.

Relievers

Losing Joba Chamberlain to injury weakened the Yankees bullpen, so between now and the trading deadline they should be searching the market to find one or more solid relievers to take some pressure off of the starters and make sure that they have the bullpen depth they'll need to make a deep run in the playoffs.