I know the trade deadline is looming. And the Yankees record is well, in a word, ugly. So what do teams do when they think all hope is gone ahead of the trade deadline—They firesale. By now you are re-reading the headline and thinking, would the Yankees actually firesale Aaron Judge? Ridiculous, right? Yet, anything can happen and no one is safe.
According to MLB Rumors, "The Braves could take advantage of the Yankees terrible time by throwing out an offer for All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge. Judge is one of the only good things about the Yankees this season. He’s batting .284/.379/.523 with an OPS of .902. He has 19 home runs."
Aaron Judge not only helped ease the pain of the retirement of Derek Jeter but he quickly became a fan favorite and some would say a franchise player. To even consider Judge as part of a firesale at the trade deadline is simply ridiculous. Giving up is even more disturbing.
"Among the Yankees’ issues is they aren’t one or two moves away from being a contending team — and they don’t have a ton to sell if they do change course. The biggest potential piece to move would be Aaron Judge, but trading a star in the prime of his career is not something that’s in the Yankees’ DNA — especially a star who has become the clear face of the franchise," wrote the New York Post. Darn right it's not in the Yankees' DNA to trade a player like Judge!
As the MLB Season cruises into midway, the Yankees are in a tough spot and not where anyone expected them to be. But that does not mean that they are giving up. And it certainly does not mean that they will give up Aaron Judge to get to the next level. That's not the answer to their woes. Not sure what the next move is but you better believe it does not involve Judge.
--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
Totally agree. The trade deadline is about contending teams picking up expiring contracts, starting pitchers, relievers..etc. Non-contending teams are looking to shred expiring contracts in exchange for prospects this time of year. It's like the media suddenly forgot what the trade deadline is all about.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the Yankees do or don't do leading up to this deadline is going to be part of an overarching strategy for this off-season's "rebuild on the fly."
I can think of four or five deals the Yankees could make with contending teams and likewise there are two or three deals they could make with non-contending teams.
The Yankees might be willing to move a few prospects if it positions them for where they want to be next season - thinking specifically of Brian Reynolds or Ketel Marte.
I highly doubt the Yankees will pick up any expiring contracts.
They might also become much more agreeable to the idea of a small scale sell off and I would bet contending teams might kick the tires on Leutge, Chapman, Britton, O'Day, German or Sanchez.
The last thing the Yankees would do is dump players they're planning on building around such as Judge, LeMahieu, Urshela, Green, Loasiga..etc.
This off-season Cashman might make a few deals as part of an overarching strategy to get more balanced. If Voit bounces back here in the second half the Yankees might move him and take a run at a left-handed hitting first baseman such as Freddie Freeman or Anthony Rizzo.
If the Yankees are able to get Giancarlo Stanton back in the outfield to whatever degree there might be some West Coast teams that would have some desire for him and I wouldn't be surprised if Cashman works to get Stanton playing the outfield again because he may ask him to wave his no trade.
This coming off season is one of the biggest and best free agent classes of all time. Unloading Stanton would free up the Yankees to take a run at Max Sherzer and Corey Seagur, along with Freeman or Rizzo. This is why it's the wrong time of year to be thinking about moving Gleyber Torres.
One strategy for next season would be to move DJ LeMahieu to 1B & insert Torres at 2B, providing they signed Corey Seager.
Trevor Story is another free agent that the media loves to write about but it makes little sense to sign him because he's yet another right-handed hitter. If Cashman is going to fix the Yankees he might as well do it right and so he does need at least two if not three good left-handed bats.
Certainly you can make a case that Aaron Hicks would be a guy you don't want to build around so he might be a guy that gets traded during this off-season contingent on whatever the Yankees can do to get a center fielder either here at the deadline or perhaps at the start of next off season.