Yankees: Every win shrinks the team’s need to be buyers or sellers

If the Yankees continue their winning ways, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t, the trade deadline on July 31 is shaping up as just another day on the schedule when the Bombers will be in Tampa to play the Rays.

The Yankees, just like all teams at this point in the season, have holes on their 25-man roster. With the release of Tommy Layne, who was immediately claimed off the waiver wire, the team is functioning without a lefty relief specialist.

They’re also continuing to operate with a sub-par, but adequate, first baseman. And if Jacoby Ellsbury continues to have lingering effects from the concussion he suffered, a distinct possibility, the team is going to need a fourth outfielder.

And if last night’s performance by Masahiro Tanaka in Anaheim proves to only be a positive blip on the radar, the Yankees could need another starting pitcher down the road.

Do not chase Headley out of town

Or, you could turn to Chase Headley, who started the season off with a bang but is now barely a whimper in the lineup. But again, not so fast. Headley, along with Matt Holliday and Brett Gardner are position players who bring a veteran presence to the team every day.

Cashman’s business hours are 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M., Monday thru Friday. Please leave a message. I may get back to you.

And that’s a presence that will be needed in the playoffs when you can consider that more than half the team has never seen a playoff series, much less a World Series. Much like Chris Carter, Headley is not going to hurt the Yankees.

His defense has slid of late (11 errors) and that needs to be buttoned up, but overall Headley is the kind of player you want out there when there are money and pride on the line.

The rumor mill has the Yankees interested in Todd Frazier (.217, 10 HR, 31RBI) and/or Kyle Schwarber (.170 11, 26) in a trade. Like the Yankees need a dose of more power in their lineup? In return for a Mendoza line batting average?

Take messages, Brian

The fact is that the Yankees are not only getting by and staying ahead of their competition in the American League East, but they’re crushing their opponents, and the win column keeps expanding.

So, why change anything? Why shouldn’t Brian Cashman unplug his phone or set up
Open For Business hours of 2:00-4:00 P.M., Monday thru Friday between now and the deadline, keeping outgoing calls to a bare minimum.

To be sure, and Cashman has said this numerous times that if the phone rings and another General Manager is proposing a knock your socks off deal, why not listen, evaluate, and possibly pull the trigger on a deal.

If it aint broke, don’t fix it

But more likely than that happening is the call coming in from a GM who wants to rape the Yankees farm system as a return, for instance, on a very mediocre Sonny Gray (2-2, 4.37, 1.3 WHIP), or Chris Archer (4-4 in 2017, 44-55 lifetime), or that ever popular, but suddenly not as desirable, Jose Quintana (2-8, 5.30).

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Orioles are bailing out Yankees and AL East by botching free agency
• 4 blockbuster trade targets that could be Yankees next ‘big’ move
• MLB Network Radio host thinks Yankees should shell out for Dansby Swanson
• Guy who caught Aaron Judge record HR ball cost himself tons of money in auction
• Did Yankees fans bully Hal Steinbrenner into signing Aaron Judge, Carlos Rodón?

Injuries, should they occur, can turn everything upside down. But that’s a bridge that you cross when you come to it. And, for the Yankees, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to go outside their organization to replace an injured player.

Using Ellsbury as an example again, the Yankees have not one, but two, outfielders on the back burner, should the need arise. Calling up either Clint Frazier if you need to replace power, or Dustin Fowler, who by the ways has ten home runs himself at Triple-A, will not hurt the team. And you’ve lost nothing from your farm system in going that route as opposed to a trade.

We are all familiar with the old saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. With the Yankees in 2017, that is likely to be their mantra, at least until the September call-ups. By then, any number of starting pitchers and position players will be available for Joe Girardi to use in game situations.

And use them he will. Because by then, the Yankees should be in a position to shift back a gear, allowing the regulars and starters a bunch of days off to get ready for the playoffs.

The Yankees “can’t win it all just by hitting home runs” – who said so?

The respected New York Post writer, Ken Davidoff, once thought that the Yankees can not win with just the home run. Wonder what he thinks today.

Brian, take a vacation for a few weeks. Unlike last season, these Yankees appear to be all but set.