The Yankees weren’t flinching.
With hours to go before Wednesday afternoon’s MLB trade deadline and desperately in need of pitching reinforcements, the Yankees rejected a massive price tag for Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray.
According to Jon Heyman, the Diamondbacks asked for a four-prospect package headlined by mercurial outfielder Clint Frazier. Right-hander Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees’ 2017 first-round pick, who is currently pitching at High-A Tampa, reportedly was also part of the requested package.
Ray, 27, is 9-7 with a 3.91 ERA and 12.1 strikeouts and 4.0 walks per nine innings. He is under team control through 2020. On Tuesday, Ray — who was at Yankee Stadium with the visiting Diamondbacks — had said, “If I get sent somewhere, I definitely want to compete for a World Series. So, that’s definitely a big part of it.”
According to The Post’s Joel Sherman, the Yankees also engaged in talks on Mets rental Zack Wheeler on Wednesday before bowing out of those negotiations as well. Top starting-pitching targets Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman previously came off the board, and the Mets removed Noah Syndergaard from the block.