It’s trade deadline season, and though this has been a tame deadline period so far, the continuous swirl of rumors and (eventually) actual transactions will be the focus of much of the baseball world in the coming days. Yesterday, we discussed which players the Yankees were most likely to move, and today, we ask: what weakness do the Yankees most need to address, and which one are they most likely to address?
The answer to this question has been fluid throughout the year. Early on, it seemed obvious to most that the Yankees would need to make big additions to their bullpen, yet here we are at the end of July, and the Yankee relief corps has the second-best ERA in the majors. Paul Blackburn has proven to be the second coming of Luke Weaver, Brent Headrick almost never allows runs, David Bednar has been the top-tier closer the team envisioned, and Matt Blake’s latest reclamation project, Angel Chivilli, has looked dynamite since his most recent call-up. Add in the fact that players like Will Warren and Ryan Weathers (and perhaps Carlos Lagrange?) could get shifted to the bullpen if they’re not traded, and the unit looks like an area of strength, not weakness.
At other times, the matter of the infield appeared to be most pressing. Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each got off to nightmarish starts, and the shortstop duo of Anthony Volpe and José Caballero has had its ups and downs. But even on the dirt, things don’t look nearly as shaky as they did two or three months ago. Since seeing his OPS bottom out at .498 on April 22nd, Chisholm has played exactly as expected, with a .239/.309/.463 slash line and 16 homers plus 21 steals. McMahon has run a roughly .750 OPS over the last two months while bringing his usual quality defense at third base. And despite his penchant for high-profile miscues, Volpe’s combination of high-OBP and good range at short has made him a valuable contributor.
Then, there’s the most obvious need now, at catcher, with Yankee backstops having combined to “hit” .181/.261/.284. But even adding a catcher comes with major complications, as most teams are loath to make significant changes to their caching room midseason. For as awful as Austin Wells and Co. have been with the bat this year, a catcher’s primary job is to catch, to field his position, to manage his pitching staff. The Yankee backstops have done that portion of their job with aplomb this year (it’s probably not a coincidence that the Yankees prioritize defense at catcher and have the best team ERA in baseball), and it’s not trivial to just add a plus bat to that room without shaking things up on the run-prevention front.
Add it all up, and it leaves the Yankee roster in a weird spot heading into a crucial deadline. The roster has been slammed by injuries and has some seemingly clear places to upgrade, but actually making those upgrades is less straightforward than it might appear. What do you think? Where are the Yankees most likely to make moves in the next four days?
On the site today, Josh analyzes Matt Chapman as a possible hot-corner target, and Jeff writes up the great Casey Stengel as part of our Yankee Birthday series. Also, Andrew provides the day’s Rivalry Roundup, Matt delivers the All-July Team, and Peter provides his Sequence of the Week, which features great work from David Bednar.
Today’s Matchup:
New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox
Time: 2:10 p.m. EST
TV: YES Network, Chicago Sports Network
Venue: Rate Field, Chicago, IL
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