Yankees: 40-Man Roster Crunch Makes Them Explosive At The Deadline

In a different world, the Yankees would probably want to keep all of them. But since they can’t, they will need to turn to the trade method of subtracting by adding to solve their problem.

What this means is that we are likely to at least one or two of those blockbusters in which the Yankees add one proven and quality major league player in exchange for the subtraction of two or three prospects, similar to the deal in which the Red Sox landed Chris Sale last winter.

The trick, of course, is to do this without depleting the depth the team currently has and Brian Cashman worked so hard to get. Unfortunately, there’s no other alternative. And at least in this way, the Yankees are guaranteed to get value in return for the players they are losing.

Which leads us to the most intriguing questions as to who stays, who goes, and who do you trade for?

The current season and the production of each player will determine most of the answers as to who stays and who goes, but as we look at the players in question, the Yankees will have more of a need for position players than pitchers shortly. Presently, they have nine pitchers on their 40-man roster who aren’t yet pitching in the major leagues.

Couple that with the eventual loss of Gardner, Headley, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Matt Holliday, who is signed only for this season, and the Yankees would seem to have a need to retain the likes of Miguel Andujar, Tyler Austin, and Jorge Mateo at the very least.

Beyond that, everything else is only speculation at this point in the season.