Yankees: Players Who Were Saved With 2020 Trade Deadline Unlikely

The 2020 MLB season will be shortened to 60-70 games, which means there probably won’t be a trade deadline.

The trade deadline is among the most exciting moments in sports for fans, but not so much for many players. Often times we see contending organizations offload prospects to crappy teams in exchange for stars who will expand their championship window (see: Astros trades for Verlander, Cole and Greinke).

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is no stranger to wheeling and dealing, and fans were expecting him to make big moves at the 2020 deadline to bolster the team’s chances at taking home World Series No. 28. Well, we can expect the deadline to not exist this year considering we’ll be playing less than a half-season (if there’s one at all).

Let’s take a look at some Yankees players who dodged a bullet with having to potentially relocate this year.

4. JA Happ

There’s no doubt the Yankees actually need Happ at the moment, but if the 2020 season started on time and was in full swing right now, the lefty would’ve become a possible trade candidate (after dodging all the offseason rumors) when Domingo German was able to return to action. Assuming Happ was doing a solid job and re-building his value after a lackluster 2019 season, Cashman would’ve had a much easier time finding a trade partner for the veteran. Trading Happ midway through the year would’ve given the Yanks an opportunity to give more starts/outings to guys like Jonathan Loaisiga, Jordan Montgomery, Michael King, and maybe even Clarke Schmidt. Oh yeah, and if Happ was on his way to reaching his 2021 vesting option, the Yanks would’ve definitely tried to expedite this move.

3. Mike Tauchman

Oh no! Not the Sock Man! We know, this is hard to even fathom considering how admirably he performed in limited time last year while filling in for Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, but what’s Cashman to do with this outfield logjam? We know those two as well as Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks aren’t going anywhere. Tauchman would’ve had the first half of the season to show the rest of Major League Baseball what he’s capable of considering the Yanks were supposed to be without Judge, Hicks and Stanton for at least a couple of months. Assuming Tauchman played anywhere near his 2019 levels, Cashman would’ve had a beautiful trade chip on his hands that could’ve gotten the Yanks some pitching or perhaps another prospect. New York has an embarrassment of riches in the outfield and there’s no way the team is going to sit on all of these assets, especially when they’re trying to win another World Series at the moment. In just 87 games last year, Tauchman played All-Star-caliber defense and slashed .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs and 47 RBI. His left-handed bat also brings significant value.

2. Miguel Andujar

Miguel Andujar was ready to jump into 2020 and get back on track after a season-ending shoulder injury derailed his 2019 campaign and paved the way for Gio Urshela to burst onto the scene. Unfortunately, Urshela’s glove at the hot corner made Papa Andujar a bit expendable, so the Yankees were ready to move the young slugger to first base as well as the corner outfield spots. He was expected to get a ton of playing time at the onset of the year (because of the slew of aforementioned injuries) and would’ve been crucial in rebuilding his value and proving himself to the Yankees or another team looking for young talent at the trade deadline. If Andujar got his bat back on track and proved he could be versatile on the defensive end, there’s no doubt teams would have been calling at the deadline once the Yankees got back to full strength as players returned from injury. It’s really disheartening to think about, but the 25-year-old has truly become an afterthought among fans despite slashing .297/.328/.527 with 83 runs scored, 27 home runs and 92 RBI his rookie season, in which he finished second in the ROY voting.