What scout says about Yankees’ James Paxton trade

The Yankees acquired lefty starting pitcher James Paxton from the Mariners in exchange for prospects, including highly regarded young pitcher Justus Sheffield.

In left-hander James Paxton, the Yankees may have secured the best years of a No. 2 starter whose prime has yet to be realized, an American League scout told NJ Advance Media on Monday night.

But the scout, who requested anonymity to speak about another team’s player, added that the flip side could be that the Yankees added a player similar in maybe the worst way to one of their biggest headaches: Jacoby Ellsbury.

Paxton, whom the Yankees got from the Mariners in exchange for a prospect package topped by 22-year-old lefty Justus Sheffield, uses a fastball-heavy attack from a funky three-quarters angle that’s “deceptive, and even more (so) because he doesn’t look like he uses all that much effort” to generate mid-90-mph velocities, the scout said. “It on you, all of a sudden.”

Yankees get Paxton | What it means

The scout also raved about what he’s heard regarding the work ethic and the ability to make adjustments of Paxton, a 30-year-old who won’t be a free agent for another two seasons.

But the scout also said that for years, Paxton has been “doing the Ellsbury,” and that the Yankees, of any team, should be wary of a player who suffers injury after injury, though they all appear to be disconnected.

Ellsbury was hurt often, with various injuries, with the Red Sox before the Yankees gave him a seven-year, $153-million contract before the 2014 season. That trend continued with the Yankees.

Of course, there are plenty of differences between the situations of Ellsbury and Paxton, namely that Paxton won’t be making anywhere close to the amount of money Ellsbury has been collecting.

But Paxton has been on the disabled list five times in the last three seasons — though the injuries haven’t been extreme. On Monday night, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters the Yankees’ medical staff was comfortable with Paxton’s health.

Paxton has a strong 2018, going 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA. He set career highs in starts (28 games) and innings pitched (160 1/3). Paxton also struck out a whopping 208 batters in that span and walked just 42.

He figures to slot in just behind Luis Severino, but perhaps ahead of Masahiro Tanaka in the Yankees’ rotation. CC Sabathia is expected to be the No. 5 starter and Cashman said the Yankees will continue to hunt high-end starting pitching. J.A. Happ and Patrick Corbin are still free agents.

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