CASHMAN IS LOOKING FOR A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK TO UPRGRADE THE YANKEE ROSTER

On a good day, I am worried about what Brian Cashman can accomplish. Even when conditions are the best of the best and can't get any better I still worry. The Yankees have some holes they want to fill by the trade deadline and this season, it looks very damn difficult.

Remember in Spring Training when Cashman said there wasn't a lot out there for starting rotation help after the Gerrit Cole news dropped? There's always hope that some team is going to turn into a seller after a poor start but...it's not looking so good right now. We've been riding with Ryan Yarbrough and Will Warren but that's not an ideal situation. The Yankees have World Series aspirations, so a proven starting staff is needed. The Yankees are still searching....and I think Cashman is going to keep searching late into summer. He may come up empty handed, or he may go dumpster diving again.

As hard as a starting pitcher may be to find, rumor has it the Yankees are narrowly focused on finding a right handed infielder. If that wasn't specific enough, if that right handed infielder could play third base that would be the perfect scenario. Yup, let's just go from super hard to damn near impossible. That's what's running around the socials though. Cashman may be crazier than I thought he was.

So even if we eliminate the right handed infielder that plays third and just play on the diamond somewhere the pickings are still slim. Otto Lopez of the Marlins, Lenyn Sosa of the White Sox, or Amed Rosario of the Nationals could fill a need, but we are so far from the trade deadline that none of these teams are so far out that they are sellers yet. A lot could happen still.You could look at other teams like the Colorado Rockies or the Baltimore Orioles who have massively disappointed but even that could be challenging. That also assumes that the Orioles would even be willing to engage with the Yankees in a trade, which I wouldn't hold my breath on. 

The Yankees roster flaws have created some very difficult challenges when trying to make meaningful editions to improve it. I guess you can credit that to another Cashman fail, because now he is really looking for a needle in a haystack to fix it. It's going to be interesting to see how this unfolds over the next 9 weeks.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj