Oh my god that could be the single worst trade idea in the history of the world. Give up on Kennedy for a half season rental of Garland ??? He eats innings, but is average, at best. The top 4 innings guys for the Yankees ALL have better numbers than Garland.

Would he be better than, say, Darrel Rasner ? Sure. But not at the cost of Kennedy. Talk about 1980′s thinking. Maybe we could get Ken Phelps to come out of retirement for just the cost of Austin Jackson.

And you think that makes Garland expendable instead of say, Weaver and his 4.56 ERA? And Weaver I think still has minor league options.

~~why would they dump one of their pitchers, which is the primary strength of the team?~~

Escobar, IIRC, is coming back – and this means they would have 6 starters, no?

I don’t know about the second half of your question but with the Angels comfortably in front of the A’s but outplaying their pythag, why would they dump one of their pitchers, which is the primary strength of the team? Are you wondering what the Angels would do if they fell out of the race between now and the trade deadline? Because trading Garland would require that they decide to give up on the season. Particularly if the offer is Kennedy for Garland. I’m pretty sure the Angels would like to compete for another championship this year, so I don’t think there’s a chance in hell for them to shop Garland.

If Garland does become a free agent (I have no idea if the Angels are actively thinking about re-signing him), then yes, the Yankees should consider him. When you factor in the innings limitation Hughes will be under, there will be a clear need for a durable, decent innings-eating pitcher.

But at the same time, he’d be a better bet than just about any free agent pitcher of the last few seasons, which means a lot of teams can be expected to have his agent on speed dial. That could mean crazy money/years get thrown at him, to the extent that your friend Brian errs on the side of caution and let’s someone else run the risk of making that commitment.