Why Cardinals' Lance Lynn is option for Yankees if Sonny Gray talks fizzle

If the Yankees fail to reach an agreement with the Oakland Athletics on starting pitcher Sonny Gray this weekend, there's a likelihood New York looks into the availability of a veteran arm in the National League. According to John Harper of the New York Daily News, the Yankees could fill their pitching void in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals' for right-hander Lance Lynn, who's bound for free agency this upcoming winter.  Per Harper's report: At age 30 the righthander has bounced back after missing last season due to Tommy John surgery to pitch well -- 8- 6 with a 3.21 ERA in 21 starts. He gets a lot of ground-ball outs and is very tough on righthanded hitters, holding them to a .183 batting average, but has also given up 21 home runs. Lynn, as a rental, obviously wouldn't cost nearly as much as Gray, and he'd give the Yankees a solid starter so they can get Luis Cessa out of the rotation. More significantly, he's the type of starter who could get them to their stacked bullpen in good shape on most nights. Like Gray, Lynn has pitched well of late, allowing a total of four earned runs in his last five starts. Ideally, however, the Yankees don't want to give away any valued prospects to go all-in this season. Part of Gray's appeal is that he's under control at arbitration-eligible salary cost for two more seasons before reaching free agency. One team executive told Harper that the current price for Gray is "too high for a guy with some red flags," which certainly could deter the "careful buying" Yankees from making a deal -- even if they're recognized as frontrunners to acquire the 27-year-old. Those "red flags," according to the executive, refer to three arm injuries Gray has endured over the last two seasons. On the flip side, Lynn is only a year removed from Tommy John surgery, which is also nothing to sneeze at. The latest reports indicate that Athletics' scouts have set their sights on Yankees' prospects Jorge Mateo and Estevan Florial, with the hope that the two up-and-coming farmhands would be packaged together for Gray. But Harper's source believes Oakland may ask for an additional two prospects, and if New York is hesitant to part ways with the aforementioned names, perhaps moving a total of four players for one isn't feasible.  This explains why Lynn's name has been put into circulation, as he's a rather affordable alternative. Harper's source suggested that a deal between the Yankees and Cardinals could occur if Lynn is packaged with pitching prospect Jack Flaherty. Flaherty, a 21-year-old right-hander, is ranked No.3 on MLBPipeline's Top-30 Cardinals' prospects list. It's unknown if St. Louis would want Mateo or Florial, and there's no indication that they would be inclined to part ways with Flaherty, either.  Regardless, Lynn could be the next-best choice for Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman, should he refrain from offering too much for Gray. If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at thanslin@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.