MLB executives expect the New York Yankees’ trade deadline decisions to come down to the wire, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported.
“Rival executives expect that the Yankees will add help before the deadline, and in keeping with [general manager Brian Cashman’s] long history, they believe that he’ll make some of the moves in the last hours,” Olney wrote.
Cashman held true to that reputation in 2022, when the Yankees flipped pitcher Jordan Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Harrison Bader and other considerations in a deal reported less than five minutes before the trade deadline.
Executives reportedly expect more of the same from the Yankees Tuesday before the deadline rolls around.
The Yankees’ trade deadline status is complicated by the club’s place in the standings.
If the season ended today, there would be no New York team in the playoffs—but that could conceivably change by October, especially with star outfielder Aaron Judge back in action.
The Yankees looked like a club headed to the playoffs earlier this year, before Judge suffered a toe injury on June 3.
The Yankees are 30-20 with a .238 team batting average with Judge. Without their team captain, they are 24-29 and batting .221.
That offensive slump can’t be blamed on Judge’s absence alone, however. Anthony Rizzo batted .131 through the first three weeks of July. After a June slump, DJ LeMahieu is facing the lowest batting average of his career.
Even when Judge finally returned Friday, the Yankees were shut out 1-0 in a critical division game against the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles.
That game showed Judge might not be the answer to all of the club’s problems. With him back, however, could a few roster tweaks make the 2023 Yankees a playoff competitor?
New York leadership is planning on looking at the team’s position in the standings as of Sunday or Monday—after the Yankees wrap their series with the Orioles—before making any big trades, a source told The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty.
Any buzzer-beating moves on Tuesday could depend on whether or not Judge and the Yankees are able to bounce back this weekend from Friday’s disappointing loss.
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