The Tampa Bay Rays denied reports that they were unwilling to trade David Price to the New York Yankees before the 2014 MLB trade deadline.

The Yankees aggressively shopped for a starting pitcher before the trade deadline with reports indicating that they are very interested in Price and Boston Red Sox veteran Jon Lester.

However, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in a post-deadline interview that both the Rays and the Red Sox were unwilling to talk trade with them because they don't want to help an American League East rival improve their roster.

"The pitcher in Tampa, the pitcher in Boston, they were less willing to move them -- if willing to move them at all -- within the division, which I understand," Cashman said via NJ.com

But in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Rays president Matt Silverman insisted that they were willing to talk trades with all 29 teams in the major league, including the Yankees.

"We don't have a no-fly list," Silverman said. "We have 29 potential trading partners, and we have explored trades with each and every one of them."

The Rays eventually traded Price to the Detroit Tigers in a deal where they acquired Drew Smyly and Willy Adames along with Nick Franklin from the Seattle Mariners.

Price, who is 11-8 this season with a 3.21 ERA and 205 strikeouts, would have been a perfect fit to the Yankees after losing CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova for the remainder of the season due to injuries.

Japanese ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is also out with an elbow injury. But good thing for the Yankees, Michael Pineda will reportedly make his return from a back injury on Wednesday.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced on Monday that Pineda, who has not pitched in the major league since being ejected on April 23 for using pine tar, is ready to return to action.

"We feel he's ready now. It's nice," Girardi said via ESPN. "This is a guy who threw very well before he went on the DL, and it'd be nice to have him back. I feel good about him taking the mound. We need him to pitch well these last seven weeks or whatever we have left."

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