Yankees Trade Rumors: Who should they keep and who is trade bait?

Next comes the curious case of Tyler Wade. Wade is a twenty-four-year-old utility player, with his home being the middle-infield. Wade has been up and down with the Yankees over parts of the last three seasons, showing flashes of the lightning speed and incredible defense that kept him in the conversation as one of the top prospects in the Yankee organization for the last four years.

The lingering question with Wade is whether or not he’ll ever be able to hit enough to warrant a stable roster spot at the major league level. In 173 career at-bats, Wade is a .173 hitter slugging only .237. The same type of injuries that gave Thairo Estrada an opportunity this year have given Wade opportunities to establish himself as a viable everyday player for the Yankees.

Unlike Estrada, Wade has been unable to take advantage of those opportunities thus far in his career. The jury is not out on Wade quite yet, but he would be better suited getting the chance to play close to every day on a rebuilding team with the ability to exercise more patience than the World Series contending Yankees. Wade could either be a strong secondary piece for a big-name trade target or headline a smaller package as a major league ready utility player.

Verdict: Trade Bait

The fourth and final player on this list is first-basemen Mike Ford. Ford signed with the Yankees as a non-drafted Free Agent after his senior season at Princeton. Ford owns a .272 batting average and .820 Slugging Percentage in his minor league career, offering a solid combination of on-base ability while also hitting for power.

The problem is that Ford has always been blocked at first base. Besides the likes of Luke Voit,  Greg Bird, and D.J. Lemahieu at the big-league level, Ford has oftentimes had to split playing time with multiple other first basemen in the minor leagues.

Ford had a rather unsuccessful cup of coffee with the Yankees earlier this season but that shouldn’t deter a team from giving him the opportunity to prove he can be a big-league ballplayer. Unfortunately, Ford really does not have a place on this Yankee team, nor will he have a spot on the 40-man roster when injured stars begin to be activated off the 60-day Injured List. Ford probably doesn’t have much value but he could be traded as a secondary piece in a larger trade in the coming weeks.

Verdict: Trade Bait

As is always true for the Yankee fan base, never underestimate or assume the obvious with Brian Cashman and his team of Baseball Op. geniuses. For all we know, Yankee evaluators could be giving Frazier, Estrada and others extended at-bats this season only in hopes of increasing their trade value for a blockbuster trade this July.

All I know is the Yanks have great organizational depth that every team dreams of having. Depth is good, but excess depth can also be used to improve the 25-man roster, especially for a Yankee team that is looking to end a 10-year World Series title drought.