Bleeding Yankee Blue: IS THE NEWEST YANKEE WAITING IN MIAMI?

Monday, July 10, 2017

IS THE NEWEST YANKEE WAITING IN MIAMI?

Thank goodness the All-Star break is here. The Yankees need this break more than words can explain. Now that the All-Star break is here it means the trade deadline gets closer and those rumors continue to heat up. Could one of these be in the works?

Rumor has it that the Yankees are tied to two new targets in their two biggest weaknesses....and one of them has us and sports writers everywhere scratching their heads a little.

1) Padres - Yankees trade in the works?

This weekend the Padres sent special assistant David Post to watch the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team. The Padres are going nowhere in their division and are 22 games behind and are expected to trade valuable left hand reliever Brad Hand before the trade deadline. Lefty Hand is in the middle of a breakout season and although he has good numbers the workload is going to be a serious concern. Hand pitched 111 innings in 2014, 93 1/3 in 2015, 89 1/3 last year and 47 so far this year, so some could make the case that Hand’s been overworked.

But the Yankees could welcome Hand’s addition because of the struggles with the bullpen especially with Tyler Clippard and Dellin Betances. We've been pretty critical of Clippard lately and some of us at BYB have more faith in him then all of us. Personally, I see Clippard as a liability at this point. He finished June with an 11.17 ERA and has a 13.50 ERA in his two July appearances so trying to justify putting any faith in Clippard in tough game situations is impossible at this point. Would Hand be an upgrade? Do the Yankees think so? I guess we will wait and see.

2) Miami has the All-Star game and the next Yankee?

Photo: Getty Images

The Yankees are desperate to get some production out of first base. The Yankees have DFA'd Chris Carter twice in a two week time span and Tyler Austin and Greg Bird are on the shelf. The Yankees need a consistent face at first base that can give them some offense and rumors suggest Justin Bour may be on the Yankees radar.

The list of possible first base trade candidates is extremely short and considering that the Yankees are dead last in production from first base at .200 they will likely have some competition from other teams looking for upgrades. Bour is 29 and in his fourth year in the majors and has a .286 this season with 20 home runs and 57 RBIs. He would certainly give the Yankees more production at first base but would probably cost the Yankees more then they would want to part with.

Photo: Getty Images

I really don't know how to predict just how costly he would be but considering he is on a very team friendly. Bour is a late bloomer and he is not a young guy. You have to wonder if this is just an abnormal strong year for him. His previous three seasons were not as impressive so how do you value a guy like Bour? This is what has me scratching my head.

I get why the Marlins would want a nice package in return for him. He is someone that they consider a valuable piece and cost effective. I would hate the Yankees to overpay for a guy that is not proven or consistent. I just don't know you come up with a fair price to make this happen. Is the Yankees farm and building toward the future worth a guy like Bour? I want to see more production at first, but this seems like a very risky gamble. Bour is playing in the Home Run Derby for his home town crowd so maybe he will show the Yankees something they can't ignore and make them want to pull the trigger.

The Yankees definitely need improvements at these positions but who knows if these new rumors have any more truth to them. I guess we will have to wait and see and hope that the trade deadline brings us some much needed support.