Yanks look for Garcia to be innings eater

THE YANKEES have gotten greedy as they have played well in late July.

They know the strength of their team now is a deep bullpen that could be key in getting them to the playoffs. But they also know this kind of relief corps — more than ever — becomes of greater value in winning in October.

So a big part of their thinking in acquiring Jaime Garcia from the Twins was a hope to protect the bullpen more. They don’t want to get to the playoffs having burned out their pen doing so and then not have it as an asset.

Garcia is a back-of-the-rotation piece, but one who 15 times in 19 starts this year worked at least six innings.

On Sunday, for the fourth time in the last 12 games, a Yankees starter failed to even pitch four innings. The first three times were by either Luis Cessa or Caleb Smith in the No. 5 spot, which is where Garcia will jump in.

The Yankees had talked quite a lot to the Braves about obtaining Garcia, but were adamant Atlanta take on the brunt of what was left on his contract. The Braves balked and Monday traded him to the Twins.

Minnesota’s poor second-half play convinced it to reverse course and become a seller. The Twins were willing to take on almost all of the roughly $4.2 million Garcia was owed the rest of the season as a way to get a better prospect return ( Dietrich Enns and Zack Littell) from the Yanks. Remember that they are taxed at the highest penalty, 50 percent, so Garcia would have cost them some $6.3 million if they were paying.

As has been the case for at least 24 months part of this maneuver for the Yankees was about 40-man roster cleanup. A burgeoning farm system does not allow them to keep all the commodities they value.

Enns, a 26-year-old lefty, was on the 40-man, but was not expected to stay on it this winter, which means he would have been available to every team without the Yankees getting a return. Littell had to be placed on the 40-man roster this winter or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft and he was considered a borderline decision.

Littell was obtained in a 40-man roster cleanup move last November when the Yanks sent James Pazos to Seattle. He was 14-1 with a 1.87 ERA between Single-A and DoubleA this year.

Littell was the key for the Twins, the reason they were willing to pay off Garcia’s contract. There are scouts who really like Littell because he has a pitcher’s frame, is competitive and has an understanding of how to use a four-pitch mix. Thus, if he gets stronger (he turns 22 in October) and his fastball gets more pep, his value will grow.

Those less enamored believe the righty’s stuff will become more fringy as he climbs to higher levels — the Twins are going to push him to Triple-A within an organization trying to build greater pitching depth.

The Yanks had not talked to the Cardinals in days about Lance Lynn and honed in on Garcia.