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The New York Yankees are hopeful to get Clarke Schmidt back sometime in the near future, after the right-hander had a promising rehab start a few days ago.

However, for a Yankees team that still has Carlos Carrasco in the rotation, making a trade for a right-handed starter should be part of their plans in the near future.

In a proposed deal from Jonathan Vankin of Newsweek, the Yankees would accomplish just that. His trade proposal would help the Yankees land Chicago White Sox starter Sean Burke , citing the setbacks and below-average outings from Carrasco.

“But a new trade proposal would allow the Yankees to unload Carrasco and give his rotation spot to a promising, right-handed prospect while waiting for the return of injured starters Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil.

“But the trade, if executed by the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, would also allow the Yankees to build for the future by acquiring rookie starter Sean Burke, a Massachusetts native who was the White Sox’s third-round draft pick in 2021 out of Maryland. Burke, who started three games for the White Sox last season with an attention-grabbing 1.89 ERA over 19 innings, was the White Sox’s opening day starter this year. The 25-year-old’s rookie status remains intact through this year. Burke was the White Sox top-ranked pitching prospect in 2023, prior to his MLB debut,” Vankin wrote .

Schmidt Is Healthy, a Positive for Yankees

Schmidt looks healthy, which is all the New York Yankees have to concern themselves with for now.

However, at some point, adding an arm like Burke could make sense. The only issue the Yankees could face in a potential deal for the right-hander is that the Chicago White Sox don’t have much of a reason to trade him right now. 25 years old out of Massachusetts, Burke has proven to be a decent arm at the major league level, posting a 1.42 ERA in 19.0 innings last season.

Regarding Schmidt, however, he’s encouraged with how he’s looked, and is ready to return for the Yankees.

“Just being like a top-of-the-rotation type of guy,” Schmidt said, per the New York Times. “Just being able to go out there and have high expectations and expect every five days you go out there and give your team a chance to win, that’s like the No. 1 thing for me.

“So if you’re doing that as a starting pitcher, you’re doing your job, and you’re doing it at a high level, so just being able to be consistent and someone that they can rely on. And then, I think the rest of it will figure itself out.”

Aaron Judge Praises Schmidt

The New York Yankees understand that they need more pitching, and if they want to win a World Series, adding a starter might be something the team has to do to accomplish that.

However, getting Schmidt back sometime soon should help this team, as even Aaron Judge understands what the youngster brings to this rotation.

“Just a bulldog,” Judge told The Post. “You can see it. He’s intense. He’s focused. The guy prepares like no other. I think that’s something that he probably picked up from watching guys like Gerrit Cole for so many years now and how he prepares for games.”

It’ll be interesting to see how many rehab starts the Yankees want to give him, but this was an encouraging sign, to say the least.

Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan