Status of the Yankees: Trade Deadline Buyers

 

With the trade deadline approaching the Yankees find themselves in a very intimidating spot given that this team had title aspirations ever since Aaron Judge agreed to come back and take care of some “unfinished business”.  However, this season has been pretty much a full-blown nightmare and borderline unwatchable at times and now this team is in limbo, unsure whether they should trade their prospects for rentals or sell what they can to build up the farm system and regroup for another run next year. Let’s take a dive into the appeal of buying and whom the Yankees should look to buy at the deadlines and be on the lookout for the next edition coming 7/27 on the reasons to not buy as well as my thoughts on how the Yankees should proceed.

The appeal of buying:

On paper, this rotation should be elite come October assuming everybody stays healthy and plays to their expected ability.  Cole has been as advertised, going out every 5 days and dominating and he is currently the favorite to win the AL Cy Young (+160 on Fanduel).  The rest of the Yankees playoff rotation would include 160m man, Carlos Rodon, Nasty Nestor Cortes, and Clarke Schmidt.

The Yankees need to hope that Carlos Rodon will regain the all-star and Cy Young Candidate form he has had the past couple of years that got him a well-deserved $160m and that his recent starts have just been working off the rust.  They also need to hope that Nestor’s shoulder was the reason for his struggles earlier this season and that the all-star pitcher he was for the previous year and a half is still in there. Clarke Schmidt seems to have figured out his lefty issue and has pitched to an ERA of 3.52 since the beginning of May.  A rotation with a healthy Cole, Rodon, Nestor, and Schmidt would be the best playoff rotation in baseball as of now.  

The Yankees are also expecting to get Aaron Judge back this weekend and this team is different when their captain is playing.  According to Statmuse the Yankees without Judge in 2023 are 23-29, hitting .221 with a .292 OBP.  With Aaron Judge, this team has won over 60% of their games with a record of 30-19.  A returning Judge, Gleyber Torres, and Rizzo and Stanton remembering how to hit the baseball hard and consistently would be a scary top/middle of the order.

Who to buy?

If the Yankees were to buy, they need to start in Left field.  It’s hard to determine what's been worse in left field: the defense or the offensive production as both have been atrocious.  The main target the Yankees should look at to resolve this is Cody Bellinger from the Cubs.  Cody Bellinger –someone I wanted the Yankees to sign this offseason since he was a prime change of scenery candidate—and his swing that is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium is currently hitting .314/.363/.540 and has won a gold glove.  Cody could also fill in at first base or centerfield when Rizzo/Bader needs a day off while providing some much-needed balance to the righty-heavy lineup the Yankees currently roll out night after night. 

The Yankees top level bullpen has also not been the same this year and even with Loaisiga coming back the Yankees could use a back-end bullpen arm or two to help shorten games and prevent Albert Abreu and Ron Marinaccio from seeing high-leverage situations for the rest of the season.  Someone I would like to see the Yankees target would be David Robertson who has been excellent for the Mets this year and has had plenty of experience pitching in high leverage situations in the Bronx. Robertson also is an FA after the season and shouldn’t cost too much prospect-wise as he would only be a half-season rental.

One team we need to discuss a trade with is the Cardinals.  The Cardinals have been a massive disappointment this year and are looking to sell from their logjam of outfielders.  Unfortunately, a trade for Brendan Donovan would cost more than it’s worth as the Cardinals have no reason to trade him, but a trade package of Jordan Hicks and Dylan Carlson would fill both the needs listed above.  Additionally, the Yankees could attempt to get the Cardinals to add Jack Flaherty or Jordan Montgomery to the deal if the Cardinals insist on the Yankees giving up Clarke Schmidt, as both of these pitchers would be rentals but are more than capable of being a number 4 starter for a team with world series aspirations.