Yankees deal for Canadian southpaw pitcher 'Big Maple'

Canadian southpaw pitcher James Paxton, known to Major League Baseball rivals as "Big Maple," was traded to the New York Yankees on Monday by the Seattle Mariners. The 30-year-old left-hander, who tossed a no-hitter on May 8 against the Toronto Blue Jays, joined the Yankees in exchange for minor-league pitchers Erik Swanson and Justus Sheffield and outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams. Paxton went 11-6 for Seattle last season with a 3.76 earned-run average, setting a career high with 160 1/3 innings and striking out a career-high 208. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he seeks multiple new pitchers to bolster New York's starting rotation, which already features Japan's Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino and veteran C.C. Sabathia. "We need multiple starting pitchers," Cashman said last week. "I'd like to get two more starters in here, the better-quality-type starters. I'm talking about high-end and elite, as close to elite as we can get." Paxton had 12 wins and a 2.98 ERA in 2017 in his first full major league campaign. Over parts of six seasons with the Mariners, he went 41-26 with a 3.42 ERA in 102 starts.