Yankees Rumors: Justin Upton and Shane Victorino

The New York Yankees are currently more focused on the outfielder market than they are on pitching, as the club has checked in on Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com:

The Yankees are looking harder at the outfield market than the pitching market, as they still have concerns about Brett Gardner's elbow situation.

They've talked to the Phillies and Shane Victorino and the Diamondbacks about Justin Upton, but Upton is a major long shot for them and right now they see the price tag as too high on either. Victorino may be slightly more realistic eventually, though.

Heyman admits that Upton would be a long-shot, and last night Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger tweeted that there is "nothing going on" between the Yankees and Upton.

FWIW, re: Diamondbacks OF Justin Upton, I'm told by a person with knowledge that there's "nothing going on with the Yanks."

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 17, 2012

However, Heyman does call a Victorino trade "slightly more realistic," but Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said yesterday he’s "very skeptical" regarding his team’s chances of finding significant improvements on the trade market.

Heyman notes that the Yankees interest in outfield help has been driven by Brett Gardner’s injury. While Gardner’s expected back later this month, he’s had his timeframe for return pushed back before this season. New York doesn’t want to tax their fill-ins for Gardner, Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez, but Cashman said yesterday that he’d rather gamble on the veteran duo than overpay on the trade market.

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Do the Yankees need to add an outfielder this summer?

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