Yankees land pair of pitching prospects for Wilson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Yankees dealt left-hander Justin Wilson to the Tigers for a pair of pitching prospects, right-handers Luis Cessa and Chad Green, on Wednesday.

New York got Detroit's No. 6 and No. 19 prospects in exchange for the 28-year-old Wilson, who was 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 74 appearances this past season.

General manager Brian Cashman acknowledged earlier on Wednesday that he would be willing to discuss Wilson -- who excelled as the Yankees' seventh-inning man last year, setting up for Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller -- as a trade chip.

"If I'm talking about Miller, I'd be willing to talk about Wilson," Cashman said.

The Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher and bullpen help as the Winter Meetings continue, suggesting that the Wilson trade may be a precursor to flipping the prospects toward one of those goals.

Yet Cashman said that he is also looking to improve the starting pitching depth of the Minor League system in the wake of top prospect Luis Severino's promotion to the big leagues last year.

"From Double-A on up, we're definitely trying to improve the starting pitching depth, because it's not an area of strength from the organization standpoint right now, especially with Severino promoted to the big leagues," Cashman said. "We're trying to close the gap on alternative choices between Bryan Mitchell and Rookie Davis, for instance."