Yankees Trade Rumors: How Close to Landing Hiroki Kuroda or Ubaldo Jimenez?

Brian Cashman must be looking at the Yankees starting rotation and wondering how much longer Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and A.J. Burnett will continue their seasons.

Each pitcher is well into their 30s, and all are over-achieving.

Colon didn't pitch in 2010, and hasn't posted a quality earned run average since 2005. This year, he has a 3.29 ERA in 104 innings.

Garcia is doing even better. The veteran who struggled with the White Sox last season with a 4.64 ERA has turned it around with a 3.23 ERA after nearly four months of baseball.

Burnett has struggled in July, with a 4.94 ERA. Yet his overall ERA is 4.21, which is far lower than his 5.26 ERA in 2010. The fear with Burnett is that he will break down even more in August and September.

Cashman is apparently waiting for a good offer to bolster the rotation. At the moment, the only two serious starters that the Yankees are considering are the Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda, and the Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez.

Whether Ned Colletti knows it or not, the Dodgers are desperate for hitting prospects and could really use a catcher. The Yankees have three well-regarded catchers in the minor league system that would be better than any catching prospect the Dodgers have, but Cashman may not be willing to deal them. Jesus Montero, in particular, would probably be dealt for an elite pitcher. At age 36, and with his interest to return to Japan next season, Kuroda is not the elite pitcher Cashman would likely deal his top prospects for.

Kuroda may have pitched his last game with Los Angeles on Wednesday. In typical fashion, Kuroda pitched well (six innings, one earned run, and six strike outs), yet still got the loss. He currently has a 3.11 ERA.

Ubaldo Jimenez might be the pitcher the Yankees swing a major deal for. Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently stated that he could envision Cashman "offering a package of something akin to Montero, Hector Noesi and Corban Joseph for Jimenez."

However, Jimenez's stock is not exactly at its highest point, but the right-hander is still yielding interest from more than just New York. In his last start, Jimenez surrendered five runs in five innings. He currently has a 4.20 ERA.

The deadline is Sunday. It will be interesting to see how much Cashman has faith in the Yankee starters, or if he decides to pursue Kuroda or Jimenez further.