Report: Mariners Scouting David Phelps

Via George King:

"The Mariners had a scout watch Phelps, who is the leading candidate to be the Yankees’ fifth starter but who could be expandable with Adam Warren or, possibly, Michael Pineda finding his way into that slot."

It's no secret that Seattle is hurting big time for starting pitching right now.  It's also no secret that the Yankees have very good depth at that spot and there's a long recent history of the M's and Yanks as trade partners, so it's only natural that Seattle would be scouting the Yankee staff.  King's report makes David Phelps the target and in theory this could be a good match.  Phelps would be an upgrade over every non-King Felix pitcher currently penciled into the Seattle rotation and Nick Franklin, former top infield prospect who's become expendable as a result of the Robbie Cano signing, would be an ideal player for the Yankees to target for their infield.

Between this and the continued scouting and rumors involving the Brewers, ChiSox, and D'backs, it's looking more and more like we're going to see a trade at some point before the end of Spring Training.